Not able to launch .desktop files from desktop.

I am using kubuntu and recently my .desktop files no longer launch from my desktop. If I go to ~/desktop in dolphin I can double click the same files and they launch just fine from there.

When I do try to launch from desktop it just shows a blank file icon very briefly.

Only new thing I've done since they stopped working is install virt-manager and QEMU to set up a Windows vm.

I also tried creating a new user and the problem still persisted, which means it is not anything in my home directory.

I've tried googling but haven't found anyone with the same problem as me.