# Nautilus User Manual

v1.0.4
Dan
Mueth

d-mueth@uchicago.edu

Vera
Horiuchi

vera@eazel.com

2001
Eazel Inc. and Dan Mueth

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of this license was provided with this software in the file `COPYING-DOCS`.

Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and those trademarks are made aware to the members of the GNOME Documentation Project, the names have been printed in caps or initial caps.

This is version 1.0.4 of the Nautilus User's Manual.

## Introducing Nautilus

Nautilus is a core component of the GNOME desktop environment. Nautilus provides an easy way to view, manage, and customize your files and folders, as well as browse the Web.

Nautilus integrates your access to files, applications, media, Internet-based resources, and the Web, making it easy and fast for you to locate and use all the resources available to you.

### The Nautilus Window

#### The Nautilus Window

Diagram of Nautilus

Menu Bar

The eight menus contain options for most file- and folder- management tasks and let you personalize your view of all the applications, folders, and files on your hard disk. The Preferences menu lets you specify your level of Linux and GNOME experience.

Toolbar

The toolbar lets you use a single click for browsing and searching your computer's directories as well as locations on the Web. Click the Home button to move to your home folder.

Location Bar

Use the location bar to enter path names, Web addresses (URLs), or other types of addresses. The pop-up menu on the right end of the bar lets you choose various views - for instance, View as Icons or View as List. Click the + and - signs to enlarge or reduce icon or list view. Click the magnifying glass to return to original size. (If you've changed your theme, the magnifying glass may be replaced by another symbol.)

Sidebar

The sidebar displays information about the current file or folder. Each of the tabs at the bottom of the sidebar provide additional information or help:

- The Tree tab displays the tree, a hierarchical view of your computer's organization of folders and files.

- The History tab lists the path names or addresses of locations you've previously visited.

- The Help tab gives you quick access to information resources - manuals, GNOME info pages, Linux man pages, and more.

- The Notes tab provides a space where you can jot notes about the current folder.

- The News tab displays the latest news items from your favorite news sources on the web.

Note: Depending on your user level and Preferences settings, you may not see all of the sidebar tabs.

Status Bar

The status bar contains information about menu items. To see an description of a menu item, point to it and read the status bar text.

Main Panel

The main panel in the Nautilus window is where you do most of your browsing. Files, folders, and applications are displayed here. You have several options for modifying and customizing your views.

### The Nautilus Desktop

The desktop is the background area of your screen. If Nautilus was pre-installed on your GNOME system, Nautilus draws the desktop. The desktop on your computer can look like your physical desktop - it can be full of folders, icons, and works in progress, or it can be clear. Nautilus lets you organize it the way you want.

If Nautilus doesn't already draw the desktop on your system, do this:

1. Open the Preferences menu (shown below) and choose Edit Preferences.

2. Choose Windows & Desktop and select "Use Nautilus to draw the desktop."

3. Click OK.

#### The Preferences Menu

Screenshot of Preferences Menu

Initially, the desktop contains three items: a house icon that represents your home location, an Eazel Services icon that takes you to Eazel's Web site, and a Trash icon.

You can create folders on the desktop or drag additional files and folders from the Nautilus window to the desktop. For instance, you can create a folder that contains your current projects and keep it on the desktop for easy access. You also mount disks (such as floppies or CD-ROMs) on the desktop.

To see the options for using your desktop space, right-click anywhere on the desktop (outside a window).

### Setting Nautilus to Start Automatically

You can adjust your GNOME settings so Nautilus starts automatically whenever you start GNOME. Follow these steps:

1. Make sure Nautilus is running. You should see the Nautilus desktop or an open Nautilus window.

2. Make sure that the other applications you would like to be started each time you start GNOME are also running. If there are any applications running which you would not like run when GNOME starts, quit them.

3. Open the GNOME Main Menu (footprint icon) and select Programs Settings Session Save Current Session . GNOME will remember any applications which you have open and will start them each time you start GNOME in the future.

#### Saving Startup Programs On Logout

Note that whenever you log out of GNOME, the logout dialog allows you to select to have GNOME record the actively running programs and restart them the next time you start GNOME. If you do this, GNOME will forget the old list of startup programs and replace it with the programs which were running when you logged out.

To stop Nautilus from launching automatically, quit Nautilus and then follow the instructions above to save your session.

### About Nautilus and GNOME

Nautilus is developed by Eazel, a founding member of the GNOME Foundation, and other contributors in the GNOME community. Nautilus and GNOME are Free Software, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

## Navigating Your Computer and the Internet

This section explains how to use Nautilus to keep track of the folders and files on your machine, as well as browse Web pages on the Internet.

### Viewing Your Home Folder

When you first launch Nautilus, you'll see your home folder in the Nautilus window. Three areas of the Nautilus window contain information about your folder:

The location bar, which contains your folder's path name

The sidebar, which contains a folder icon representing your folder

The main panel, where you see icons representing the items in your folder

#### Location Bar, Sidebar, and Main Panel

Diagram of Nautilus

Your home folder also appears on your desktop, represented by a house icon. Double-clicking the house icon opens a new Nautilus window with your home folder displayed.

Note that depending on your user-level setting, your home folder may be the default Nautilus home folder, which contains basic information about your computer and pointers to some useful applications, or the home folder defined for you in your Linux settings (normally /home/your_name).

### Navigating Your Files and Folders

You can move among your folders by using the navigation buttons in the toolbar and the icons in the Nautilus window.

#### Try this

Using your home folder as a reference point, navigate your hard disk:

- To view your home folder, click the Home button.

- To move to the folder that contains your home folder - that is, to move one folder up in the hierarchy - click the Up button.

- To return to the home folder, click the Back button.

- To view the contents of any folder, double-click its icon (normally a folder icon).

- If you think that the contents of a folder have changed while you've been viewing it, click the Refresh button to update the information.

- To stop an item from loading, click the Stop button.

### The Tree

You can get an overview of all of your computer's files and folders by using the tree. Many people find using the tree to navigate is faster than selecting and opening folders.

To see the tree, click the Tree tab at the bottom of the sidebar. Click the tab again to put the tree away.

If you don't see the Tree tab, right-click the sidebar and choose Tree.

The starting point - the top of the tree - is the root directory, represented by a slash (/). Click the disclosure triangle next to the root directory to open or close the list of all your computer's folders and files. The items on your computer are arranged hierarchically. The root directory may list network locations in addition to locations on your computer. (Note: In addition to the root directory identified by a /, there is a directory named root.)

#### Try this

Open and close a folder in the tree:

- To open or close a folder in the tree, click its triangle.

- To display the contents of a folder in the main panel, click the folder's name in the tree.

### Viewing and Opening Files

In Icon and List Views

The first time you launch Nautilus, you see folders and files represented as icons. This is the icon view.

#### Try this

Look at your files and folders in two views:

- To see the contents of a folder as a list, click the View as pop-up menu and choose View as List.

- To sort the items displayed in list view, click the column headers (Name, Size, Type, and Date Modified).

- To return to icon view, open the View as pop-up menu and choose View as Icons.

- To sort the items in icon view, open the View menu, choose Lay Out Items, and then choose a layout option. (For more about the layout options, see Choosing File Layouts.)

#### The View as Pop-up Menu

Screenshot of view menu

Zooming In or Out

You can enlarge or reduce the size of items in either list or icon view and stretch individual icons in icon view.

#### Try this

Enlarge and reduce icons in either icon view or list view:

- To enlarge or reduce all the icons simultaneously, click the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols in the location bar.

- To return them to their original size, click the symbol between the - and + symbols (normally a magnifying glass).

#### Try this

Stretch an icon in icon view:

1. Click to select the icon you want to stretch.

2. Open the Edit menu and choose Stretch Icon. A box appears around the icon, with "handles" in each corner.

3. Click and drag the handles to resize the icon. To cancel the stretch, press the Escape key.

4. To remove the stretching handles, click away from the icon.

To return an icon to its original size, select the icon; then open the Edit menu and choose Restore Icon's Original Size.

Previewing Files in Icon View

You can preview many files in the Nautilus window just by looking at their icons in the main panel - you don't need to open the files.

- Text files: The icons for most text files display the files' first few words or lines of text. If you enlarge a text file's icon by zooming or stretching, you can see more of the text.

- Image files: The icons for most image files appear as thumbnails - small versions of the image.

- Music files: You can preview common types of music files by positioning the mouse pointer over the icons. Music plays as long as the pointer is over a music file's icon.

Using Nautilus as a Viewer

You can use the Nautilus window to look at a file's contents without opening it for editing in an application. Using a viewer instead of opening an application can save time and memory.

Most text files automatically appear in the Nautilus window when you double-click their icons. However, some files open automatically in their applications. For such files, right-click the icon and choose Open With. Then choose the appropriate viewer.

Note: You can control which viewer or application an individual file automatically opens in. See Choosing Applications to Handle Files.

Here are some of the file types for which the Nautilus window can act as a viewer:

Text | ASCII text, HTML
Image | GIF (without animation), JPEG, PNG, SVG (without interactive features), XPM
Music | AIFF, MP3 (for MP3 files located on your hard disk), RIFF, WAV

Opening Individual Files

You can open files in Nautilus in several ways:

- Double-click the file's icon (unless you've changed your preference so that a single click activates items).

- Click the file's icon, open the File menu, and choose Open or Open With.

- Right-click the file's icon, and choose Open or one of the Open With options.

- Click the file's icon, and press the Enter key.

Note: If the application you want to use is not listed when you choose Open With, you can add the application to the list. See Choosing Applications to Handle Files.

### Viewing and Playing MP3 Files

Nautilus provides a special set of features to help you enjoy your MP3 files. Using the View as Music option, you can set up a folder of MP3 files as an album containing tracks of your choice and represented by an album cover (custom image) that you specify.

#### Try this

Use your collection of MP3 files to create a custom music album:

1. Go to the folder containing your MP3 files.

2. Click the View as pop-up menu and choose View as Music.

#### The View as Pop-up Menu

Screenshot of View Menu

Only the MP3 files in your folder are visible in this view. For each file, you see a listing of titles, artists, bit rates, and playing times.

To begin playing the tracks in your album, click the music player's play button. The selected track begins to play; when it has finished, the next track begins playing automatically. You can also double-click a file to play it.

#### The Music Player

Screenshot of Music Player

Play button

Pause button

Stop button

To rewind or fast forward, drag the slider.

If you wish, you can choose a cover image to be displayed for your music folder:

1. Go to the folder containing your MP3 files.

2. Click the View as pop-up menu and choose View as Music.

3. Click the Set Cover Image button in the bottom right corner of the Nautilus window.

4. Browse to find the graphic you want to use; then select it.

5. Click OK.

### Mounting Floppy Disks and CD-ROMs

If you have a disk in a CD-ROM or floppy drive, you can mount it from the desktop. Do this:

1. Make sure the disk is in the drive.

2. Right-click anywhere on the desktop (outside a window) and choose Disks Floppy or Disks CD-ROM from the pop-up menu.

### Navigating the Internet

You can use Nautilus as a browser for viewing Web pages and FTP sites.

To view a Web page, type its Web address (URL) in the Location bar.

#### Try this

Connect to the GNOME Web site by typing gnome.org in the location bar, and pressing Enter. It's not necessary to type http: or www.

#### The Location Bar

Screenshot of Location Bar

When you're viewing a Web page, Nautilus gives you additional browser choices in case you want to use a full-featured Web browser. To select a different browser, click one of the buttons in the sidebar.

#### The Sidebar

Screenshot of Sidebar

### Viewing Your Navigation History

When you navigate your computer or the Internet, you may want to return to a page, file, or folder you've previously viewed.

You can view your navigation history in three ways:

- Look at the bottom section of the Go menu to see a list of the things you've viewed during the current session.

- Click the History tab at the bottom of the sidebar. (To put the History tab away, click the tab again.)

- Right-click the Back or Forward button.

You can have Nautilus clear the list of locations you've previously visited. This removes the previous locations listed in the Go menu, the History tab, and under the Back and Forward buttons.

To clear the list of previously visited locations:

- Open the Go menu and choose Forget History.

### Bookmarking Your Favorite Locations

You will probably discover that you frequently visit certain locations - Web pages, folders on your computer, and favorite photos or text files. You can bookmark these items in Nautilus, so that you can return to them easily.

Creating a Bookmark

To bookmark an item:

1. Go to the item you want to bookmark. For example, go to http://www.happypenguin.org.

2. Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Add Bookmark.

3. To use your bookmark, open the Bookmarks menu and choose your bookmark from the bottom of the menu.

Using the Built-In Bookmarks

Nautilus comes with some built-in bookmarks arranged in folders in the middle part of the Bookmarks menu. They take you to the Web sites of organizations and companies of interest to Linux users.

If your user level is set to Intermediate or Advanced, you can turn off the built-in bookmarks:

1. Open the Preferences menu and choose Edit Preferences.

2. In the left-hand column of the Preferences dialog box, select Navigation.

3. Select Don't include the built-in bookmarks in the Bookmarks menu.

4. Click OK.

Editing Your Bookmarks

You can rename a bookmark, change its location, or remove it altogether:

1. Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Edit Bookmarks.

2. Select the bookmark you want to edit.

3. Type a new name or location for the bookmark, or click Remove.

4. When you're done editing bookmarks, close the dialog box.

### Reading the News

The News sidebar in Nautilus allows you to see the latest news headlines from each of your favorite news sources.

To view the current news headlines for each news site:

1. Make sure the News sidebar tab is visible. If it is not visible, right-click on the background of the sidebar and select News.

2. Show the News sidebar by clicking on the News sidebar tab.

3. Open or close the news items for each site by clicking on the arrows to the left of each news source.

4. To read any of the articles, simply click on its title. To go to the web page for a particular news source, click on the icon representing the source.

#### The News Sidebar

Screenshot of News Sidebar

If new articles appear since you have last checked your news sites, a small logo of a newspaper with a red exclamation mark is displayed to show you that there is unread news. This icon is also displayed beside any headlines which are appeared while Nautilus was running and which have not been read.

Nautilus allows you to choose the news sites you would like to track from a long list of possible news sources. You can also add news sites which are not on this list.

To change which news sites are displayed:

1. Make sure the News sidebar tab is visible. If it is not visible, right-click on the background of the sidebar and select News.

2. Show the News sidebar by clicking on the News sidebar tab.

3. Click on the Select Sites button.

4. Check the buttons for any sites you would like to start tracking, and uncheck the buttons for any sites you would like to stop tracking.

5. If you would like to track the news from a site which is not listed, choose Edit. Enter the name and RSS URL for the site and then click Add New Site.

6. Click Done.

### Keeping Notes

Nautilus allows you to keep a note in each folder on your computer. You can use this to keep track of what the folder is used for, details about the files in the folder, or other information. A small note icon will appear in the Note sidebar tab for folders with Notes so that you can easily identify which folders have notes.

To edit the note for a given folder:

1. Make sure the Notes sidebar tab is visible. If it is not visible, right-click on the background of the sidebar and select Notes.

2. Show the Notes sidebar by clicking on the Notes sidebar tab.

3. Edit the note by clicking in the note area and then entering and deleting text.

### Reading Help Documents

Nautilus has a Help sidebar which acts as a help browser for various types of documentation on your system including GNOME documents, manual pages, and info pages. The GNOME help documents are sorted into categories by their topic. The manual and info pages are show in their own sections.

To read help documents:

1. Make sure the Help sidebar tab is visible. If it is not visible, right-click on the background of the sidebar and select Help.

2. Show the Help sidebar by clicking on the Help sidebar tab.

3. Browse the various categories and documents. To read a particular document or section of a document, simply select its title and the document will be shown in the main panel.

#### The Help Sidebar

Screenshot of Help Sidebar

## Searching the Internet

To search for pages on the Web, click the Web Search button in the toolbar. The Google search page appears. Type the word or phrase for which you want to search, and click Search.

You can choose a search engine from the ones listed above the Search box. For instance, choose Google by clicking the Google link.

If you like, you can set the Web Search button to take you to your favorite Web search service:

1. Open the preferences menu and choose Preferences.

2. In the left-hand portion of the Preferences dialog box, click Search.

3. In the Search Engines section, enter the Web address (URL) for your favorite search service.

4. Click OK.

## Managing Your Files and Folders

This section explains how to use Nautilus to organize your files and folders.

### Moving and Copying Files and Folders

Using Two Windows

The easiest way to move a file or folder is to work with two Nautilus windows.

To move a file or folder to a new location, do this:

1. Open the File menu and choose New Window. You now have two Nautilus windows.

2. In one window, locate the file or folder you want to move. In the other window, locate the destination folder.

3. Using the left mouse button, click the file or folder you want to move and drag it into the folder in the other Nautilus window.

Note: If your hard disk is divided into partitions (volumes), dragging a file or folder from one partition to another copies the file or folder instead of moving it.

To copy a file or folder to a new folder while retaining the original, do this:

1. Open the File menu and choose New Window. You now have two Nautilus windows.

2. In one window, locate the file or folder you want to copy. In the other window, locate the destination folder.

3. Click and hold the right mouse button on the item; then drag it to the destination folder. A pop-up menu appears.

4. Choose Copy Here to place a copy of the item in the destination folder. Choose Link Here to create a link to the item.

Using Cut, Copy, and Paste

You can also move and copy files using the Cut, Copy, and Paste features.

To move a file or folder to a new location, do this:

1. Select the file or folder by clicking it with the left mouse button.

2. Open the Edit menu and choose Cut File. (Note that the file or folder is not removed until you Paste it somewhere.)

3. Select the folder you would like to move the item into.

4. Open the Edit menu and select Paste File.

Tip: You can select multiple files by holding down the Shift button while clicking on them. Or, you can click on the background of the main panel and hold down the mouse button while dragging the selection box over multiple files or folders.

To copy a file or folder to a new folder while retaining the original, do this:

1. Select the file or folder by clicking it with the left mouse button.

2. Open the Edit menu and choose Copy File.

3. Select the folder you would like to copy the item into.

4. Open the Edit menu and select Paste File.

### Creating New Folders

You can create a new folder anywhere in the folder hierarchy on your computer, as long as you have the appropriate permissions.

Do this:

1. Go to the folder that will contain the new folder.

2. Open the File menu and choose New Folder.

Nautilus creates a new folder inside the current folder. It has the name untitled folder. You can rename the new folder.

### Files and Folders on the Desktop

You can treat the desktop as an extension of the Nautilus window and move, copy, and create folders there.

To move a file or folder to the desktop, use the left mouse button to click and drag it to the desktop. You can put the file or folder anywhere you like on the desktop.

To put a copy of an item on the desktop or to create a link to it, do this:

1. In the Nautilus window, locate the file or folder you want to copy.

2. Click and hold the right mouse button on the item; then drag it to the desktop. A pop-up menu appears.

3. Choose Copy Here to place a copy of the item on the desktop. Choose Link Here to create a link to the item.

To create a new folder on the desktop, right-click anywhere on the desktop (outside a window), and choose New Folder from the pop-up menu.

Tip: If you're working on the desktop and you want to open a Nautilus window, right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose New Window from the pop-up menu.

### Duplicating Files and Folders

To duplicate an item, do this:

1. Click the icon of the item you want to duplicate.

2. Open the File menu and choose Duplicate.

A copy of the item is added to the current folder. You can rename the new folder.

Shortcut: In either icon or list view, right-click the item you want to duplicate and choose Duplicate from the pop-up menu.

### Renaming Files and Folders

To rename an item in icon view, do this:

1. Click the icon of the item you want to rename.

2. Open the File menu and choose Rename. The icon label now has a text box around it.

3. Type a new name for the item, and press Return.

To rename an item in list view, do this:

1. Click to select the item you want to rename.

2. Open the File menu and choose Show Properties.

3. Type a new name for the item in the space provided in the Basic tab.

4. Close the dialog box.

Shortcut: In either icon or list view, right-click the item you want to rename. In icon view, choose Rename from the context menu; in list view, choose Show Properties.

### Deleting Files and Folders

Using Trash

To move an item to the trash, do this:

1. Click the icon of the item you want to move to the Trash.

2. Open the File menu and choose Move to Trash.

3. To empty the trash, open the File menu and choose Empty Trash. (Empty the trash only if you're sure you want to permanently delete the items in it!)

Shortcuts: In either icon or list view, right-click the item you want to delete and choose Move to Trash from the pop-up menu. Or click and drag the item to the Trash icon on the desktop.

Using Delete (Advanced)

If your user level is Advanced, you can delete items without moving them to the Trash folder. Note that this will permanently delete your file and it cannot be retrieved from the Trash.

To permanently delete a file or folder, do this:

1. Click the icon of the item you want to delete.

2. Open the File menu and choose Delete. The Delete menu item will only be present if your user level is Advanced.

### Changing File Permissions

You can change permissions for folders and files you own. If you're logged in as root (for experts only), you can change permissions for any folders and files on your computer.

1. Click to select the item for which you want to change permissions.

2. Open the File menu and choose Show Properties. The Properties dialog box opens for the file or folder you selected.

3. Click the Permissions tab.

4. From the File Group menu, choose the group that this file or folder belongs to.

5. In the table, click to put a checkmark under each type of permission you want to grant. For instance, you might give the owner and users in the group permission to read (view), write (edit), and execute the file, and give others permission to read the file but not write to it.

6. When you are done managing permissions, close the dialog box.

Note: Execute is normally used only for programs and for folders with directory listings that you wish to make available.

## Customizing Nautilus

You can customize Nautilus in many ways so that its appearance and behavior meet your needs and taste. This section explains how.

### Setting Your User Level

When you first lanched Nautilus, you were asked to choose your user level: Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. The user level dictates the amount of detail you see while navigating your files and folders:

- Beginner: For users who have no previous experience with Linux or GNOME.

- Intermediate: For users who have had some experience with Linux or GNOME but don't want to see every detail of their system.

- Advanced: For users who like to see every detail of their system, including the ugly stuff.

To change your user level, open the Preferences menu and choose the level you want.

#### The Preferences Menu

Screenshot of Preferences Menu

One way to see the difference between the levels is to go to your home directory and then compare what you see as you select each level in turn. Be sure to return to the level with which you're comfortable when you're done.

### Setting Preferences

Several preference settings that you can adjust are located in the Preferences dialog box. The available settings depend on your user level - intermediate and advanced users have access to more settings than beginners.

The preference settings adjust the appearance of Nautilus, the behavior of files and folders when you view and click them, the type of searches performed when you click the Find or Web Search buttons, and more.

To customize preferences:

1. Open the Preferences menu and choose Edit Preferences.

2. From the left column in the Preferences dialog box, choose the type of settings you want to adjust (for instance, Icon & List Views).

3. Adjust each group of settings as desired.

4. When you are finished setting preferences, click OK to close the window.

### Showing and Hiding Bars

The Nautilus window shows these bars by default:

- sidebar

- toolbar

- location bar

- status bar (at the bottom of the window)

You may want to hide one or more of these bars to save space on your screen.

To hide and show bars:

- Open the View menu and click one of the options in the second section. For instance, to hide the sidebar, click Hide Sidebar.

- To see the bar again, open the View menu and choose one of the Show options.

Note: If you hide a bar in your Nautilus window and then open another Nautilus window, the bar is not hidden in the new window. To specify which bars should be hidden or displayed in new windows:

1. Open the Preferences menu and choose Edit Preferences.

2. In the left column of the Preferences dialog box, click Windows & Desktop.

3. In the Opening New Windows section, deselect any bars you want hidden in new windows.

4. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog box.

### Choosing File Layouts

File Layout in Icon View

To change the layout of files you're viewing, open the View menu and choose Lay Out Items. Then choose how you want the files arranged.

Manually | You can drag icons to arrange them as you like.
By Name | The files appear alphabetically by name.
By Size | Files are displayed from largest to smallest.
By Type | Files are arranged in groups, such as text, image, and so on. All folders are grouped.
By Modification Date | The most recently modified files appear first.
By Emblems | If you've added emblems to icons, the files are grouped according to emblems (files without emblems are at the end).
Tighter Layout | Icons are closer together.
Reversed Order | Reverses the order for the option you've chosen.

File Layout in List View

In list view, you can change the layout of files by clicking the column headings. For instance, to arrange files by type, click the Type column heading. Click again to reverse the order.

See also Viewing and Opening Files.

### Changing Themes and Backgrounds

You can customize the decor of your Nautilus window by choosing an overall theme and by changing the background color or image of specific objects.

Choosing a New Theme

1. Open the Preferences menu and choose Edit Preferences.

2. Select the Appearances item from the left side of the Preferences dialog box.

3. Choose a theme. The appearance changes immediately, so you can see how the theme looks.

4. When you're finished, click OK.

Changing Backgrounds

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Backgrounds and Emblems.

2. In the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog box, choose Patterns or Colors.

3. Drag a tile to a part of the Nautilus window. For instance, change the color of the sidebar by dragging the yellow tile. To restore the orginal setting, drag the Reset tile.

4. When you're finished, click Done.

Note: The Backgrounds and Emblems dialog box also lets you drag emblems to attach to individual file and folder icons.

Adding and Removing Custom Backgrounds

If your user level is set to Intermediate or Advanced, you can add and remove backgrounds and colors in the list of customization choices.

Any image file can be used as a background. To add a background to the customization choices:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Backgrounds and Emblems.

2. In the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog box, choose Patterns

3. Click Add a New Pattern.

4. Locate the image file you want to add to the set of background patterns.

5. Select the image file and click OK. The image is added as a new tile.

To add a new color to the background color choices:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Backgrounds and Emblems.

2. In the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog box, choose Colors.

3. Click Add a New Color.

4. On the color wheel, click the color you want to use and click OK.

5. Type a name for the color and click OK. The color is added as a new tile.

To remove a custom pattern or color from the set of pattern and color tiles:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Backgrounds and Emblems.

2. In the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog box, choose Patterns or Colors.

3. Click Remove a Pattern or Remove a Color.

4. Any patterns or color tiles you have previously added are displayed. Click the one you want to remove.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any other pattern or color tiles you want to remove.

6. Click Done.

Note: If you remove a pattern or color tile that you have applied as a background for an object, the object continues to display that pattern or color.

### Customizing Icons and Icon Captions

Icons appear with information in their captions - normally the directory name and number of items for directories and the name and size for files. If you zoom in for a closer look at icons, more information appears.

Customizing Icon Captions

You can customize the information below icons - the icon captions. Although the file name must always appear first, you can specify which other information to show and change the order of the information.

1. Open the Preferences menu and choose Edit Preferences.

2. Select Icon Captions in the left side of the Preferences dialog box.

3. Click the first button and choose from the list. The information you choose will be the first thing shown below an icon, after the file name.

4. Repeat step 2 for the second and third buttons.

5. When you are done customizing icon captions, click OK.

Note: To see the entire icon caption, you may need to zoom in (click the + symbol in the location bar).

Customizing Icons

You can change the icon for an individual folder or file, giving it a custom icon:

1. Click the icon for the file or folder.

2. Open the File menu and choose Show Properties.

3. In the Basic tab of the Properties dialog box, click Select Custom Icon.

4. Find and select the image you want to use as a custom icon; then click OK.

5. Close the Properties dialog box.

You can also drag an image file to an icon you want to customize:

1. If you have a tab (Tree, Notes, History, Help, or News) open in the sidebar, put it away so that you can see the icon you want to customize. (To put away a tab, click it.)

2. Double-click the item you want to customize so that its icon is displayed in the sidebar.

3. Drag an image to the icon. The image replaces the icon.

#### Creating a Custom Icon

Screenshot of Custom Icon

Tip: You may want to work with two Nautilus windows when you customize an icon. Open the File menu and choose New Window. You can drag an image from one window to the icon you're customizing.

Adding Emblems to Icons

Emblems let you tag individual files as Urgent, Favorite, and so forth. To add an emblem to an icon:

1. Make sure that the folder or file to which you want to add an emblem is visible in the Nautilus window. You can be in Icon or List view.

2. Open the Edit menu and choose Backgrounds and Emblems.

3. In the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog box, choose Emblems.

4. Select an emblem and drag it to the icon you want to customize. To remove all emblems from an icon, drag the Erase emblem to the icon.

5. Click Done.

You can add as many emblems as you like.

#### Try this

Use emblems to organize your files.

Attach Oh No or Urgent emblems to the files that need immediate attention; then open the View menu and choose Lay Out Items By Emblems. The files with emblems are displayed at the top in icon view and first in list view.

### Choosing a Desktop Background

You can change the color of your desktop, or give it new "wallpaper." Do this:

1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop (outside a window), and choose Change Desktop Background from the pop-up menu. The GNOME Control Center opens with the Background Image section displayed.

2. To use an image as the background, choose an item from the pop-up menu under Wallpaper or click Browse to find an image file on your computer.

3. If you're using an image as a background, choose the effect you want: Tiled, Centered, Scaled, or Embossed Logo. Click Try to see how the styles look.

4. To use a color as the background, click the color tiles next to Primary Color and Secondary Color and choose colors from the color wheel.

5. From the pop-up menu under Color, choose Solid, Horizontal Gradient, or Vertical Gradient. Click Try to see how the gradients look.

6. Be sure that Use GNOME to set Background is selected.

7. Click OK; then close the GNOME Control Center.

### Using Scripts

Nautilus allows you to perform custom operations on selected files through its script feature.

To use a script, do this:

1. Select one or more files or folders.

2. Open the File menu, select the Scripts submenu, and choose the script you would like to execute on the files from the list.

You can write scripts in any language you choose. They should accept file names as parameters, as they will typically operate on the selected files. Merely place your executable file in your Nautilus/scripts folder under your home folder and the scripts will appear under the Scripts submenu of the File menu.

## Choosing Applications to Handle Files

This section explains how to customize the way files are opened for editing and viewing.

### What Are MIME Types?

MIME types are a standard way to identify files so that they can be easily transmitted over the Internet. MIME stands for "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extention." Each type of file is assigned a specific MIME type. For instance, the MIME type for HTML files is "text/html," and the MIME type for JPEG files is "image/jpeg." A file's MIME type tells Internet applications such as browsers and email programs what type of file is being exchanged, how to encode it for transmission, and how to decode it when it arrives at its destination.

Unless you've specified that a particular application or viewer should open a file, it normally opens automatically in an application that's appropriate for the type. For instance, a JPEG file normally opens automatically in a graphics application.

You can choose which application or viewer opens automatically for a particular type of file. You can also set up new applications to handle particular types of files.

### Adding and Removing Applications

When you select a file and choose Open With, you see a list of applications that can open that particular file. You also have the choices Other Application and Other Viewer, which let you use an application that's not in the list to open or view the file.

You can modify the list of applications you see when you choose Open With:

1. Click the icon of the file for which you want to change the Open With options.

2. Open the File menu and choose Open With Other Application. A dialog box opens that lists all the applications currently able to open this particular type of file. Some applications in the list are tagged "in menu" for this file type; others are tagged "not in menu."

3. Select an application in the list and click Modify.

4. Choose the option you want. You can choose to add or remove the application from the menu for this particular file or for all files of this type.

5. Click OK.

6. Click Done. (If you want to open the file now, click Choose.)

To modify the list of viewers you see when you choose Open With, follow steps 1 through 6 above but choose Other Viewer instead of Other Application in step 2. (A viewer lets you view but not edit a file. Opening a file in a viewer can save time and memory.)

### Changing the Default Application

The default application or viewer opens a file automatically when you select the file and choose Open from the File menu. To specify the default:

1. Click the icon of the file for which you want to change the default.

2. Open the File menu and choose Open With Other Application

3. Select the application you want to use as the default and click Modify.

4. Choose the option you want. You can choose to use the application as the default for this particular file or for all files of this type.

5. Click OK.

6. Click Done. (If you want to open the file now, click Choose.)

To change the default viewer, follow steps 1 through 6 above, but choose Other Viewer instead of Other Application in step 2.

### Configuring Additional Applications (Advanced)

The Open With Other dialog box (described above) lists all the applications that Nautilus can currently use to open a file. Your computer may have additional applications that can open the file but that aren't in the list. You can configure additional applications so that they appear in the list:

1. Click to select the file for which you want to configure a new application.

2. Open the File menu and choose Open With Other Application

3. In the File Types and Programs section, click Go There. The GNOME Control Center opens, with the File Types and Programs preferences displayed.

4. In the list, find the file type for the file you're working with. For instance, if you're configuring an additional application for a text file, locate the entry for text files in the list. (Clicking the column headers sorts the list.)

5. Once you've found the file type, click to select it.

6. In the Default Action section, click Edit List.

7. Click Add Application.

8. Type the application's name and the command that launches the application. The command is the same as the command you'd type if you were launching the application from a GNOME terminal window.

9. Click OK in each of the next three dialog boxes to dismiss them.

To edit the name or command for an application, follow steps 1 through 9 but click Edit Application instead of Add Application in step 7.

To remove an application, follow steps 1 through 7 but click Delete Application instead of Add Application in step 7.

### Adding a New MIME Type (Advanced)

You can set up default applications for new file types that are not currently configured on your system.

First, add the new file type:

1. Open the GNOME Main Menu and choose Programs Settings GNOME Control Center.

2. Choose File Types and Programs in the GNOME Control Center's left-hand column.

3. Click Add New MIME Type.

4. In the Add MIME Type dialog box, enter the MIME type and a description. For instance, if you have a new kind of image file of type alf (for alfie files), you'd enter image/x-alf as the MIME type and Alfie image as the description.

5. Click OK. Your new MIME type is added to the list.

Second, associate a file extension:

1. Select your new MIME type in the list and click Change File Extensions.

2. Click Add.

3. Type a file extension (for instance, .alf for the alfie image files in the example) and click OK.

4. Click OK.

Third, specify an icon:

1. Select your new MIME type in the list and click Change Icon.

2. Choose an icon and click OK.

Fourth, define the application(s) that can open files of this type:

1. Select your new MIME type in the list.

2. In the Default Action section, click Edit List.

3. Click Add Application.

4. Type the application's name and the command that launches the application. The command is the same as the command you'd type if you were launching the application from a GNOME terminal window.

5. Click OK in each of the next three dialog boxes to dismiss them.

## Data Files

This chapter presents some basic information about configuration and data files. It is meant for advanced users only.

Nautilus installs various data files on your system which it uses to store your preferences and data such as image thumbnails, notes, icon positions, and news sources. If you are an advanced user, you may wish to know a little more about these files or to modify them by hand in order to reset your configuration to the default. This is especially helpful if you have installed unofficial releases of Nautilus in the past which may be incompatible with the latest official release.

Nautilus Preferences Files

Your global Nautilus preferences are stored in files in the .nautilus folder in your home folder. For example, your bookmarks are in your bookmarks.xml file and the list of your news sources and whether each one is displayed is stored in your news_channels.xml file. These files are installed when you run Nautilus if they are not present. If you would like to set them back to their initial default state, simply quit Nautilus, delete the file you would like to reset, and then start Nautilus.

Nautilus Metadata Files

For each folder you browse, Nautilus stores metadata such as thumbnails of the images in the folder and custom configuration the user does to the folder. This may include custom backgrounds, icons, icon positions, and notes. If you have write permission to the folder, the thumbnails are stored in the folder in a hidden folder called .thumbnails and any custom configuration information is stored in a hidden file called .nautilus-metafile.xml. If you do not have write permission to the folder, this information is stored in the .nautilus folder inside your home folder.

Updating Your News

New versions of Nautilus often update their default News list. However, it will not change your news file if you have one already installed. To remove your current news file so that Nautilus will replace it with the default News sidebar configuration, simply quit Nautilus, delete the .nautilus/news_channel.xml file, then start Nautilus.

Updating Your Metadata From Preview Releases

Nautilus versions prior to 1.0 used metadata files which do not work properly with Nautilus versions 1.0 and later. To update the metadata file in a given directory, use the command nautilus-xml-update directory. For more details, see the Nautilus Release Notes.

## Nautilus Keyboard Shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts are available when you're working in the Nautilus window or on the Nautilus desktop.

Keystroke Sequence | Result
Ctrl-B | Add Bookmark
Ctrl-X | Cut (Text or File)
Ctrl-C | Copy (Text or File)
Ctrl-V | Paste (Text or File)
Ctrl-A | Select All (Text or Files)
Ctrl-N | New Folder
Ctrl-O | Open
Shift-Ctrl-O | Open in New Window
Ctrl-W | Close Window
Shift-Ctrl-W | Close All Windows
Ctrl-I | Show Properties
Ctrl-D | Duplicate
Ctrl-M | Make Link
F2 | Rename
Ctrl-T | Move to Trash
Ctrl-F | Find
Shift-Ctrl-F | Web Search
Ctrl-[ | Back
Ctrl-] | Forward
Ctrl-U | Up One Level
Ctrl-H | Home
Ctrl-L | Location
Ctrl-R | Refresh
Ctrl-= | Zoom In
Ctrl-- | Zoom Out

## Default Emblems

Nautilus applies emblems automatically to icons for files that are read or write only and to icons that are links (aliases) to other files or folders.

The default emblems change depending on your theme. The ones shown here are for two of the Nautilus themes, but if you have a custom theme, your emblems may be different.

### Read Only

Screenshot of Read Only Emblem

Read only: You have permission to view this file or folder, but you can't modify it.

### No Read, No Write

Screenshot of No Permissions Emblem

You can't view or modify this file or folder.

### Link

Screenshot of Link Emblem

A link icon denotes a file that contains no content of its own but links to a file or folder located elsewhere on the computer. Clicking this icon opens the linked file or folder. (A link is similar to a shortcut in Windows or an alias in the Mac OS.)

## Licenses

### Nautilus Software License

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

### Nautilus User Guide License

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of this license was provided with this software in the file `COPYING-DOCS`.

Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and those trademarks are made aware to the members of the GNOME Documentation Project, the names have been printed in caps or initial caps.

### Eazel Trademarks

Copyright 2001 Eazel, Inc., and others. All Rights Reserved. Eazel, the Eazel Logo, and Nautilus are trademarks of Eazel, Inc. (the "Eazel Trademarks"). The Eazel Trademarks are distinct from the Eazel GPL Software and are not subject to the provisions of the GPL.

This software contains files that include the Eazel Logo (the "Logo"). Eazel, Inc. has created and distributes certain software under the GNU General Public License (GPL) (the "Eazel GPL Software"). The Logo is distinct from the Eazel GPL Software and is not governed by the terms of the GPL. You may only use the Logo pursuant to the terms contained herein. The files that include the Eazel Logo can be removed without impairing the way the Eazel GPL Software functions.

Eazel, Inc. grants you the right to use, copy, and redistribute the Logo, but only in conjunction with the use, copying, or redistribution of an official release of Eazel GPL Software that calls upon the Logo during the normal course of operation and provided that,

1. The notice and this license are included with each copy you make, and they are not altered, deleted, or modified in any way;

2. You do not modify the Logo, or the appearance of the Logo in any manner;

3. You do not use the Logo as, or as part of, a trademark, trade name, or trade identifier; or in any other fashion except as set forth in this license; and

4. The Logo is only used, copied, or distributed in conjunction with Eazel GPL Software that has not been modified from the form it was made available by Eazel, Inc. You may modify Eazel GPL software pursuant to the terms of the license that accompanies it, but if you do so, you may not use, copy, or redistribute the Logo with the modified software.

NO WARRANTY. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL EAZEL, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS PACKAGE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.