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In Windows, I frequently will do things like copy a folder path from a save/open dialog and paste it into the address bar of Windows Explorer to browse the folder. This seems to be even more needed in Ubuntu owing to the crippled file dialog (can't rename, move, delete, etc) How can I do this in Ubuntu?

Specifically, how do I:

  1. Copy paths out of Save/Open dialogs
  2. Paste paths into an 'Address Bar' so Nautilus can go right there
Glutanimate
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Nick T
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  • So summarizing, all that you want to is show the path of the processed file in the c/p dialog, right? – Lucio Apr 04 '13 at 23:05
  • @Lucio I don't quite get your question; hopefully my edits made my objective clearer – Nick T Apr 04 '13 at 23:11
  • But I mean that you can't copy the location of any address if you can't see it. So, first you have to show the location of a file in the c/p dialog. – Lucio Apr 04 '13 at 23:16
  • Forgive me, I have no idea what a c/p dialog is--you mean a file dialog? As per this question, you apparently don't need to "see" the path in order to copy it. – Nick T Apr 04 '13 at 23:23
  • With c/p I mean copy and paste. And with a c/p dialog I mean something like this – Lucio Apr 04 '13 at 23:24
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    @NickT I take it this is the dialog you mean? As far as I can tell there is no way of directly copying the path in that scenario. CTRL + L only opens an empty entry box to put the path in but does not convert the "breadcrumb" view into a selectable path. – Glutanimate Apr 04 '13 at 23:30
  • @MHC yeah, exactly. If that's the case then that's maddening. – Nick T Apr 04 '13 at 23:48
  • @NickT There is a setting for this in Nautilus (execute gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry true in a terminal) but it doesn't appear to have any effect on the open/save dialog. You could try filing a feature request on launchpad but in the end it depends on the upstream GNOME devs, which are... well, let's just say they have made a number of strange design decisions in the past... – Glutanimate Apr 05 '13 at 00:03

2 Answers2

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Pasting paths into Nautilus' "address" bar

You can activate the "location" view with CTRL+L. To permanently show the path instead of "breadcrumbs" you will have to manually change a dconf key:

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry true

To revert the changes simply execute the following command:

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry false

enter image description here

Copying file paths in the Save/Open dialog with Nautilus 3.4.2

As @AliNa pointed out, it used to be that you could access the location of a file or folder in the save/open dialog in the same manner as you can in a regular Nautilus window

This feature has been abolished in recent Nautilus releases as part of GNOME's design philosophy.

However, you can still access the file and directory paths from the context menu:

http://i.imgur.com/tvlBjum.png

It seems as though this method has been removed as well in more recent revisions of Nautilus (the ones that ship with Ubuntu >12.10)...

Sources:

How can I copy the current path from Nautilus?

Typing location path instead of clicking directory buttons in the file picker dialog?

How do I change dconf keys without a gui (for a post-install script)?

Community
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Glutanimate
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    I don’t have this menu item in 13.04 dialogs (Nautilus 3.6.3)! :( – AliNajafies Apr 05 '13 at 00:27
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    I think they’ve sacrificed functionalities for simplicity. – AliNajafies Apr 05 '13 at 00:29
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    God, with GNOME apps it's one step forward - two steps backwards on each revision... I'm glad I stuck with 12.04.. – Glutanimate Apr 05 '13 at 00:30
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    Yes, in fact. All menus are removed but a single "Files" lacking basic functions; so no HUD! No saved view/sort settings for each folder. You even can’t search in a folder by typing letters (that famous box on the bottom right is dropped as well!); recursive search is there by default. The only good step here is "Move/Copy To" which opens a dialog to select everywhere you want. – AliNajafies Apr 05 '13 at 00:42
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    That sounds awful. I sincerely hope Canonical will have stepped in by 14.04 and either forked Nautilus or created a file manager of their own. It's such an essential part of the Ubuntu experience that it really should not be left at the mercy of a few GNOME developers with questionable design principles. – Glutanimate Apr 05 '13 at 00:46
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    Somehow stumbled across this Linus gem; apparently you're not the only one who thinks that way. – Nick T May 16 '13 at 21:25
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To paste a path into an 'address bar' without changing settings : Alt+F2 (run command) then type nautilus + paste the path. Nautilus takes you there.

lofi
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