If you’re a Ubuntu user, you know that there’s a built-in application launcher called Unity. Unity is a great launcher for managing your applications, but it can be difficult to remember which applications you used last time you ran them. To help you remember which applications you used last time you ran them, Ubuntu has a built-in feature called " remembersession ." When you run an application in Unity, Ubuntu records the session information and stores it in the ~/.local/share/unity3d/session directory. You can use this information to automatically remember running applications by adding the following line to your ~/.bashrc file: #Remember sessions with unity3d enabled unity3d_session_store=/usr/share/unity3d/.local/share/unity3d

You’ve set up the programs you need. Your windows are arranged just right. Then, something else demands your attention and you have to shut down. No worries. You can have Ubuntu remember all your running applications and restore them the next time you log in.

To have Ubuntu remember the applications you have running in your current session and restore them the next time you log in, you will use the dconf-editor. This tool replaces the gconf-editor available in previous versions of Ubuntu but is not available by default. To install the dconf-editor, see the instructions in this article.

NOTE: When we say to type something in this article and there are quotes around the text, DO NOT type the quotes, unless we specify otherwise.

Once the dconf-editor is installed, click the Dash button at the top of the Unity Launcher bar.

Start typing “dconf editor” in the search box. When the “dconf Editor” item displays, click on the icon to start the tool.

In the “dconf Editor” window, click the right arrow next to “org” in the left pane to expand that branch of the tree.

Under “org”, click the right arrow next to “gnome.”

Under “gnome,” click “gnome-session.”.In the right pane, select the “auto-save-session” check box to turn on the option.

Close the “dconf Editor” by clicking the “X” button in the upper-left corner of the window.

The next time you log out and log back in, all of your running applications will be restored.