How do I add and remove the Workspace Switcher launcher from the Unity launcher?

1. To disable workspaces completely
   • See @fossfreedom answer https://askubuntu.com/a/211169

2. To just remove the icon but still preserve workspaces

   • Open the terminal and execute:

     gsettings get com.canonical.Unity.Launcher favorites
     

   the output will be something like,

   ['application://nautilus.desktop', 'application://chromium-browser.desktop', 'application://ubuntu-software-center.desktop', 'application://ubuntuone-installer.desktop', 'application://ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop', 'application://UbuntuOneMusiconeubuntucom.desktop', 'application://gnome-control-center.desktop', 'unity://running-apps', 'unity://expo-icon', 'unity://devices']
   

   To remove the workspaces icon from the dock you should just take out 'unity://expo-icon' from that list. Taking it out, for this case the command should be:

   gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher favorites "['application://nautilus.desktop', 'application://chromium-browser.desktop', 'application://ubuntu-software-center.desktop', 'application://ubuntuone-installer.desktop', 'application://ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop', 'application://UbuntuOneMusiconeubuntucom.desktop', 'application://gnome-control-center.desktop', 'unity://running-apps', 'unity://devices']"
   

   (Don't forget the double quotes for the list on gsettings set)

Currently I'm using eight workspaces with the help of Unity Tweak Tool. I like to have multiple workspaces, but didn't like the unremovable Unity Launcher icon that much, even more because it could only resemble four workspaces while I was using eight instead.

For 14.04

Drag the undesirable icon on the trash can.

For 13.04

By default, the workspace-switcher is not enabled in the Launcher. This setting is toggleable via the Appearance - Behaviour tab in System Settings

Untick the option shown in the following picture to remove the workspace-switcher icon.

12.10

If you are prepared to work with just one virtual desktop (i.e. no additional workspaces) then the following will work for 12.10 and later.

gsettings set org.compiz.core:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/ hsize 1
gsettings set org.compiz.core:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/ vsize 1

Before:

After:

For Ubuntu 11.10 & Ubuntu2D

Edit the file /usr/share/unity-2d/launcher/Launcher.qml with your favorite text editor, ie:

sudo nano /usr/share/unity-2d/launcher/Launcher.qml

For Ubuntu 12.04 & Ubuntu2D

Edit the file /usr/share/unity-2d/shell/launcher/Launcher.qml with your favorite text editor, ie:

sudo nano /usr/share/unity-2d/shell/launcher/Launcher.qml

Locate these lines

    Component.onCompleted: {
        items.appendModel(bfbModel);
        items.appendModel(applications);
        items.appendModel(workspaces);
        items.appendModel(devices);
        shelfItems.appendModel(trashes);
    }

And change them to

    Component.onCompleted: {
        items.appendModel(bfbModel);
        items.appendModel(applications);
/*        items.appendModel(workspaces);*/
        items.appendModel(devices);
        shelfItems.appendModel(trashes);
    }

Ubuntu

Unfortunately the desktop switcher is hard coded to unity and cannot be removed without making source code modifications.

Make sure you have the package dpkg-dev installed

sudo apt-get install dpkg-dev

To modify the code and compile it your self you need to do the following

mkdir ~/code
cd ~/code
mkdir build
cd build
apt-get source unity
cd unity*

Open plugins/unityshell/src/LauncherController.cpp with your favorite text editor, ie:

nano plugins/unityshell/src/LauncherController.cpp

Locate the lines

num_workspaces_ = WindowManager::Default()->WorkspaceCount();
if (num_workspaces_ > 1)
{
  InsertExpoAction();
}

Change them to

/*num_workspaces_ = WindowManager::Default()->WorkspaceCount();
if (num_workspaces_ > 1)
{
  InsertExpoAction();
}*/

Build the package

sudo apt-get build-dep unity
debuild -us -uc

Wait for it to finish and install when done

cd ..
sudo dpkg -i unity*.deb libunity*.deb netbook*.deb