Manage and organize files with the file manager.
Tiffany Antopolski
tiffany.antopolski@gmail.com
Shaun McCance
shaunm@gnome.org
Phil Bull
philbull@gmail.com

# Browse files and folders

Use the Files file manager to browse and organize the files on your computer. You can also use it to manage files on storage devices (like external hard disks), on file servers, and network shares.

To open the file manager, open Files in the Activities overview. You can also search for files and folders through the overview in the same way you would search for applications.

In the file manager, double-click any folder to view its contents, and double-click any file to open it with the default application for that file. You can also right-click a folder to open it in a new tab or new window. In list view, you can also click the expander next to a folder to show its contents in a tree.

When looking through the files in a folder, you can quickly preview each file by pressing the space bar to be sure you have the right file before opening it, copying it, or deleting it.

The path bar above the list of files and folders shows you which folder you're viewing, including the parent folders of the current folder. Click a parent folder in the path bar to go to that folder. Right-click any folder in the path bar to open it in a new tab or window, copy or move it, or access its properties.

If you want to quickly skip to a file in the folder you're viewing, start typing its name. A search box will appear at the bottom of the window and the first file which matches your search will be highlighted. Press the down arrow key or Ctrl G, or scroll with the mouse, to skip to the next file that matches your search.

You can quickly access common places from the sidebar. If you do not see the sidebar, click View Sidebar Show Sidebar. You can add bookmarks to folders that you use often and they will appear in the sidebar. Use the Bookmarks menu to do this, or simply drag a folder into the sidebar.

If you frequently move files between nested folders, you might find it more useful to show a tree in the sidebar instead. Click View Sidebar Tree to enable the tree sidebar. Click the expander arrow next to a folder to show its child folders in the tree, or click a folder to open it in the window.

This page is a feature overview. There should be a greater visual separation between features. Small illustrative figures should be used to display these features where appropriate, and video demonstrations of some of the features might be useful too. Explain how you can add things to the sidebar (link to a topic or explain it here).