Keep Chrome’s Linux Proxy Argument in a User Launcher

A proxy argument that works in a terminal can also belong in Chrome's desktop launcher. Use a user override of the installed desktop entry so package updates do not overwrite the edited system file.

Locate the launcher actually used by the installation, then copy that entry into $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications, normally ~/.local/share/applications, with the same desktop-file ID. The user entry takes precedence over the system entry.

For an installation whose existing command is google-chrome-stable, an Exec line can be:

Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable --proxy-server=http://proxy.example:8080 %U

For browsing allowed through a public HTTP intermediary, choose the launch argument’s endpoint from the HTTP proxy list. Preserve the executable and wrapper required by the actual package. Snap, Flatpak and distribution Chromium launchers can use another command. Preserve the other desktop-entry fields and inspect separate desktop-action Exec lines if those actions must use the same route.

%U is the desktop specification's URL field code. Exec is not an ordinary shell script: shell variables and command substitutions are not expanded merely by placing them there.

Fully exit the browser using that profile before testing its new startup arguments. An already running Chrome process can receive the newly opened URL without restarting with the launcher's proxy option.