Nautilus File Manager

This chapter describes how to use the Nautilus file manager.

• Introduction to Nautilus File Manager

• Nautilus Windows

• Navigating Your Computer

• Managing Your Files and Folders

• Running Scripts From Nautilus

• Modifying the Appearance of Files and Folders

• Assigning Actions to Files

• Customizing Nautilus

• Using Removable Media

Introduction to Nautilus File Manager

The Nautilus file manager provides an integrated access point to your files and applications. Nautilus enables you to do the following:

• Display your files and folders.

• Manage your files and folders.

• Run scripts.

• Customize your files and folders.

Nautilus also manages the desktop. The desktop lies behind all of the other components in your desktop environment. The desktop is an active component of the user interface.

Nautilus windows enable you to display and manage your files and folders. You can open a Nautilus window in any of the following ways:

• Double-click on the Home object on the desktop.

• Choose Applications -> Home Folder.

• Right-click on the desktop to open the Desktop menu. Choose New Window.

The Nautilus window displays the contents of your home location in the view pane.

Nautilus Windows

Nautilus windows enable you to display and manage your files and folders. Figure 7-1 shows a Nautilus window that displays the contents of a folder.

Figure 7-1 Contents of a Folder in a Nautilus Window

Table 7-1 describes the components of Nautilus windows.

Table 7-1 Nautilus Window Components

You can also open a popup menu from Nautilus windows. To open this popup menu right-click in a Nautilus window. The items in this menu depend on where you right-click. For example, when you right-click on a file or folder, you can choose items related to the file or folder. When you right-click on the background of a view pane, you can choose items related to the display of items in the view pane.

View Pane

The view pane can display the contents of the following:

• Particular types of files

• Folders

• FTP sites

Nautilus contains viewer components that enable you to display particular types of file in the view pane. For example, you can use an image viewer to display Portable Network Graphics (PNG) files in the view pane. The following figure shows a PNG file displayed in the view pane.

Displaying a file in the view pane provides the following benefits:

• Uses less system resources than when you launch an application.

• Takes less time than when you launch an application.