Helix Text Editor: Opening through Thunar file manager

Posted on 14-Nov-2025:: software

While I am still using the Micro text editor, I have also been testing out the Helix editor as an easier introduction (for me) to vim and Neovim.

You can use any terminal with helix. I'm using kitty so be aware that some of the guidance below relates to kitty. I am on Sway and Hyprland.

As with the Micro text editor a couple of problems I came across were:

Right-clicking in the file manager Thunar to open a file in the Helix editor, I would get an error message "Unable to find terminal required for application".
Copying text from Helix into another application.

Find where helix is installed with this command:
```
sudo find /usr -type f -name hx 2>/dev/null
```
For me the file location was at /usr/lib/helix/hx
Edit the system-wide desktop entry using the text editor of your choice, e.g. nano
```
sudo nano /usr/share/applications/helix.desktop
```
Within the file find the line that starts Exec= and edit it so that it now contains the following:
```
Exec=kitty -e /usr/lib/helix/hx %F
```

You may need to change /usr/lib/helix/hx depending on the file location of helix.

When you have saved the file (ctrl+O and ctrl+x to exit) you can then update the desktop database:

sudo update-desktop-database /usr/share/applications

If you then reload thunar and then right-click a file → Open With → Helix, kitty should open correctly and run /usr/lib/helix/hx.

As I am using Sway and Hyprland you need to ensure that wl-clipboard is installed:
```
sudo pacman -S wl-clipboard`
```

The copy and paste function should now be working in Helix!