By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Open the Files app and name the parts of its window.
- Describe what the Home folder is and what its standard folders are for.
- Create, rename and move a folder inside your Home folder.
- Delete a file to the Trash, restore it, and explain what emptying the Trash does.
- Show hidden files and search for a file by name.
Every document, photo and download you ever keep on this laptop lives in a file, and every file lives in a folder. If you cannot find your files, you will lose work. The Files app is the window through which you see and organise all of it. In this lesson you will learn where Ubuntu expects you to keep your things and how to find them again when you forget.
The Files app
Ubuntu's file manager is called Files (its programmers call it Nautilus, and you may see that word in older guides). A File is one named piece of saved information, such as a letter or a photo. A Folder is a container that holds files and other folders. Files shows them as icons or as a list, and lets you open, copy, move, rename and delete them.
Open it from the dock (the icon that looks like a filing cabinet or folder) or press the Super key and type “Files”. The window has a sidebar on the left with shortcuts to places, a path bar across the top showing where you are, and a large main area listing what is in that place.
- Marker 1: Path bar: where you are now
- Marker 2: Sidebar: shortcuts to places
- Marker 3: A folder in the list
- Marker 4: Search, view and menu buttons
Read this figure as text
A simulated Files window with a sidebar of places, a path bar, and a list of folders such as Documents and Downloads.
A simulated Files window, drawn as an illustration and not a real screenshot. Marker 1 is the path bar at the top, which shows you are in the Home folder. Marker 2 is the sidebar on the left with Recent, Starred, Home, Documents, Downloads and Trash. Marker 3 is the list of items in the main area: the folders Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Public, Templates and Videos. Marker 4 is the toolbar area at the top right, with the search and view buttons. Exact layout differs between Ubuntu versions.
Your Home folder
Your Home folder is the private area on the computer that belongs to your account. It is named after your username. Ubuntu expects you to keep your own files here. Other people who use the laptop with their own accounts have separate Home folders, so your files stay separate from theirs.
Inside Home, Ubuntu creates some standard folders for you so that you do not have to invent a filing system on day one. Think of them as the labelled drawers in a new desk.
| Folder | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Desktop | Items that also appear on the desktop background |
| Documents | Letters, CVs, spreadsheets and other documents you write |
| Downloads | Files you save from the internet; most browsers put them here |
| Music | Songs and audio files |
| Pictures | Photos and images; screenshots usually go in a Screenshots folder inside it |
| Videos | Video files |
| Public and Templates | Rarely used by beginners; leave them alone for now |
- HomeYour own private area
- Desktop
- DocumentsLetters, CVs, spreadsheets
- PracticeA folder you make
- notes.txt
- DownloadsSaved from the internet
- Music
- PicturesPhotos and screenshots
- Videos
Read this figure as text
A tree with the Home folder at the top and Documents, Downloads, Pictures and other folders beneath it.
A tree. At the top is Home, your own folder. Beneath it are Desktop, Documents (letters and other documents), Downloads (files from the internet), Music, Pictures (photos, with a Screenshots folder inside), Videos, Public and Templates. A folder you create yourself, called Practice, is shown inside Documents with a file called notes.txt in it.
Moving around
Double-click a folder to go into it. Use the back arrow or the path bar to go back out. Clicking a name in the path bar jumps straight to that folder. The sidebar gives one-click access to Home, Documents, Downloads and other places. If a folder has many files, switch between the icon view and the list view with the view button in the toolbar. The list view shows the size and date changed, which helps you tell files apart.
Recent in the sidebar lists files you opened lately, which is a useful safety net when you saved something and do not remember where. Starred is a place for items you mark as important; right-click a file and choose Add to Starred.
Creating, renaming and moving
Make a practice folder inside Documents
Step 1: Go to Documents
Open Files and click Documents in the sidebar.
You should see: The path bar shows Documents and the list is probably empty or short.
Step 2: Create the folder
Right-click an empty space in the list and choose New Folder. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+N. Type the name
Practiceand press Enter.You should see: A new folder called Practice appears in the list.
Step 3: Rename it
Click the folder once, press F2, type
Practice 2and press Enter. Or right-click and choose Rename.You should see: The folder shows the new name.
Step 4: Rename it back
Press F2 again and type
Practice. Names with spaces are fine for now, but short simple names are easier later on.You should see: The folder is called Practice again.
To move something, drag it onto a folder in the same window, or right-click it and choose Move to…. To copy instead, choose Copy to…, or hold Ctrl while dragging. Copying leaves the original in place; moving takes it away from the old place.
The Trash: delete with a safety net
When you press the Delete key on a selected file, Ubuntu does not destroy it at once. It moves the file to the Trash, a holding area. You can open Trash from the sidebar, right-click an item and choose Restore From Trash to put it back where it was. Only Empty Trash removes the files for good, and files removed that way are not meant to be recovered.
Hidden files and searching
Some files are hidden on purpose, because they are settings that apps keep for themselves and ordinary people rarely need to touch. On Ubuntu a hidden file has a name that starts with a full stop, like .config. To see them, press Ctrl+H in Files, or open the menu (three lines at the top right) and tick Show Hidden Files. Press Ctrl+H again to hide them. Seeing hidden files is harmless. Changing or deleting them can break your apps, so just look.
To find a file, open Files, click the magnifying glass in the toolbar (or press Ctrl+F) and type part of its name. Results appear as you type. Search covers the folder you are in and the folders inside it, so start from Home to search everything of yours. Searching is faster than browsing, but it can only find what is spelled the way you type it, so try a shorter piece of the name if you find nothing.
- Step 1: In its folderFor example Documents
- Step 2: Press DeleteFile moves to the Trash
- Step 3: ChooseRestore From Trash, or Empty Trash
- Step 4: Empty TrashPermanently deleted
Read this figure as text
A flow showing a file moving from its folder to the Trash, then either being restored or permanently deleted.
Step 1: the file sits in its folder, for example Documents. Step 2: you press the Delete key, and the file moves to the Trash, where it is still safe. Step 3: from the Trash you choose either Restore From Trash, which returns it to its old place, or Empty Trash. Step 4: after Empty Trash, or after Shift+Delete, the file is permanently deleted and cannot be restored from the Trash.
Common mistakes
✖ Instead of: Saving everything to the Desktop or leaving it all in Downloads.
✔ Do this: They get cluttered fast. Move files into Documents, Pictures and your own folders soon after you save them.
✖ Instead of: Emptying the Trash to “clean up” without looking inside.
✔ Do this: Open the Trash and read what is there first. Emptying is permanent.
✖ Instead of: Deleting hidden files because they look strange.
✔ Do this: They are settings for your apps. Deleting them can reset or break the apps. Leave them alone.
✖ Instead of: Dragging a folder and dropping it onto another folder by accident.
✔ Do this: Check the path bar after a drag. If it moved, press Ctrl+Z to undo or drag it back.
If something goes wrong
- I cannot see the folder I just created.
- Check the path bar: you may be in a different folder. Use the search or Recent, or look in the folder you were in when you pressed Ctrl+Shift+N.
- A file will not open when I double-click it.
- There may be no app assigned to that type of file. Right-click, choose Open With Other Application, and pick a suitable one. A later lesson explains defaults.
- Files says the name is already in use.
- Two items in the same folder cannot have the same name. Choose a slightly different name, for example by adding a number.
- The Trash will not let me restore a file.
- The folder it came from may have been deleted too. Restore the parent folder first, or copy the file out of the Trash into Documents.
Key terms
- Home folder
- Your personal folder on Linux, where your own files and settings are kept.
- Hidden file
- A file or folder whose name begins with a dot, which ls does not show unless you ask with -a.
- Trash (Recycle Bin)
- A holding place for deleted files, from which you can restore them until you empty it.
- File
- A named chunk of stored data, such as a document, photo or song.
- Folder
- A container for organising files and other folders.
Practise it for real
Reading is not the same as being able to do it. Complete these on your own computer, then tick only what you have actually done. These ticks are your own honest record: nothing checks them for you.
Build and tidy a Practice folder
Open Files and go to Documents. Create a folder called Practice. Inside it, create two more folders called Letters and Photos. Rename Photos to Pictures-test, then rename it back. Finally, use the Ctrl+H shortcut to show hidden files in your Home folder, look at them without changing anything, and press Ctrl+H again to hide them.
Challenge: delete, restore and search
Open the text editor from Show Apps, type a few words and save the file as notes.txt inside your Practice folder. Close the editor. Move the file to the Trash with the Delete key, then restore it from the Trash. Next, use the search in Files (starting from Home) to find it by typing notes. Do not empty the Trash.
Knowledge check
6 questions. You need 80% to pass. Mistakes here are part of learning, and you can retry as often as you like.
Summary
- Files is Ubuntu's file manager; the sidebar jumps to places and the path bar shows where you are.
- Your Home folder is your private area, with Documents, Downloads, Pictures and other standard folders.
- Create folders with right-click and New Folder or Ctrl+Shift+N; rename with F2.
- Delete sends files to the Trash; only Empty Trash or Shift+Delete removes them for good.
- Ctrl+H shows hidden files; Ctrl+F searches. Look at hidden files, but do not change them.
Checklist: can you do these?
Marking a lesson as read does not prove you can do it. Skills count as demonstrated when you pass the quiz (not yet) and complete the practical tasks (not yet).
Related lessons
References and further reading
Official sources for details that can change between versions.
- Ubuntu Desktop Guide: Files and folders (Ubuntu)
- GNOME Help: Files (GNOME Project)