The fastest way to navigate in GNOME

Here is a tip about how to navigate in GNOME-the fast way.  While on the desktop (with no window focused), press the / key to open the Nautilus navigation bar.

To navigate to a specific location type the folders path in the bar.

Also, you can navigate to the special locations, using the paths as they are presented on killer tech tips:

burn:///
Opens the CD Writing Window.

computer:///

Shows Computer, lists the disk partitions

 

fonts:///
Lists the available fonts.

 

ftp:///

Connects you to the specified ftp address.

 

network:///
Lists network locations.

 

smb:///

Opens the Samba (file sharing) Window.

 

system-settings:///

Opens the System Settings Window.

 

themes:///
Lists the available GNOME themes.

If you know some others URI’s, please present them.

Top 15 shortcut keys in GNOME and Nautilus

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