Many users are not aware of the shortcuts that can be use in GNOME and it’s File Manager, Nautilus. Therefore, I made up this list with the most useful (in my opinion) hotkeys. Hope it helps:
Top 15 shortcut keys in Gnome and Nautilus:
Ctrl-N: open new window
Ctrl-Shift-N: create new folder
Ctrl-H: show hidden files
Alt-Home : jump to home folder
Alt-Enter : file / folder properties
F9 : toggle side-pane
Alt-F1 : launch applications menu
Alt-F2 : launch “run application” dialogue
Ctrl-Alt – Right/Left arrow : move to the next virtual desktop
Ctrl-Alt–Shift – Right/Left arrow : take current window to the next virtual desktopCtrl-Alt-D: minimize all windows, and gives focus to the desktop.
Alt-Tab: switch between windows. When you use these shortcut keys, a list of windows that you can select is displayed. Release the keys to select a window.
Ctrl-Alt-Tab: switch the focus between the panels and the desktop. When you use these shortcut keys, a list of items that you can select is displayed. Release the keys to select an item.
Ctrl-Alt-L: lock the screen (it works in Ubuntu-I don’t know about other distros)\
Ctrl-L: shortcut for opening locations-by default the path is the home folder*
A useful hint that I found on the excellent Fosswire blog:
/ : same as Ctrl-L but has the root (/) as default path*
* both shortcuts can be used while you are on the desktop (no window active)
And a suggestion:
Ctrl-T : move to trash (in Nautilus)
This is a dangerous key combination because many of us are used to press these keys in order to open a new tab. Because we all delete items using the Delete key, I recommend to deactivate this shortcut key. To do that, go to System » Preferences » Appearance » Interface. Select Editable menu shortcut keys and close the dialog box. Click on the Edit menu in the File Browser. Click the Empty Trash item (it has Ctrl-T as the keyboard shortcut) Press the Delete key to get rid of the shortcut.
You cand find all GNOME shortcut keys on: http://library.gnome.org/users/user-guide/latest/keyboard-skills.html.en
a non-geek's blog 
it is very useful to the students who are learning linux. i was very much profited with this short cut keys.
Happy to hear that.
You can find more useful (I hope) information on my blog, at the new address: http://linuxnongeek.com.SHIFT+TAB : While browsing with tabs in nautilus, when icons are focused, SHIFT+TAB shift focus to tabs. Right or left arrow shifts to desired tab. Pressing TAB again restores focus to icons.
Works only when working with 2 or more tabs though. Comes in pretty handy.
Nice trick MurkMenthaa I was looking for this 😀 thanks!
Is there a way to navigate between nautilus tabs….?
From MurkMenthaa comment (thanks MurkMenthaa):
“SHIFT+TAB : While browsing with tabs in nautilus, when icons are focused, SHIFT+TAB shift focus to tabs. Right or left arrow shifts to desired tab. Pressing TAB again restores focus to icons.”