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I post this question since new nautilus is very 'keyboard unfriendly', specially for one-key shortcuts. From 3.4 to 3.6 the very useful 'backspace' shortcut to go to parent directory has gone (along many other features).

In particular I would like to know how to go to the parent directory.

Warren Hill
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Earendil
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2 Answers2

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It's not obvious looking at the user interface that there are any shortcuts. However most of the ones that worked in Nautilus 3.4.2 (as used in 12.04) still work in 3.6.

This list may not be exhaustive, feel free to edit this answer to add more if I have missed any out. All the following work in Nautilus 3.6 (as shipped with Ubuntu 13.04):

New tab Ctrl+T

New window Ctrl+N

New folder Shift+Ctrl+N

Open folder in new tab Shift+Return

Properties Alt+Return

Close window Ctrl+W

Close all windows (quit) Ctrl+Q

Make link Ctrl+M

Add bookmark Ctrl+D

Edit bookmarks Ctrl+B

Undo Ctrl+Z

Redo Ctrl+Y

Cut Ctrl+X

Copy Ctrl+C

Paste Ctrl+V

Select all Ctrl+A

Select items matching Ctrl+S

Invert selection Shift+Ctrl+I

Show hidden files Ctrl+H

Zoom in Ctrl++

Zoom out Ctrl+-

Normal size Ctrl+0

List view Ctrl+1

Icons view Ctrl+2

Go to home directory Alt+Home

Go to parent directory Alt+Up Arrow

Go back Alt+Left Arrow

Go forward Alt+Right Arrow

Go to specified location Ctrl+L

Search files (find) Ctrl+F

Rename F2

Earendil
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Warren Hill
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    Should these be prominent in Nautilus 3.6 desktop help content? – david6 May 19 '13 at 05:38
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    @david6 Should imho, but they are not there... only thing the help explains is Ctrl+S. – pileofrocks May 24 '13 at 00:26
  • What is the source of this information ? – Muhammad Gelbana Nov 21 '13 at 17:19
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    @MuhammadGelbana Experience. There used to be a list in Nautilus 3.4 but It got dropped for some reason. I just tried all the ones I could remember to see which still worked. I forgot a few but the beauty of the way this site works means that others have been able to fill in the ones I missed. – Warren Hill Nov 21 '13 at 18:13
  • I was hoping to find the source, so may I can override some of these shortcuts. Thanks. – Muhammad Gelbana Nov 21 '13 at 18:46
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    @MuhammadGelbana : As the answer by drkokandy points out you can edit these shortcuts by editing ~/.config/nautilus/accels Make sure you take a backup first. – Warren Hill Nov 21 '13 at 19:07
  • @WarrenHill, thanks. For v3.8.2 users (13.10), add this at the end of the file (gtk_accel_path "<Actions>/ShellActions/Up" "BackSpace"), without the ; which seems to comment the line. – Muhammad Gelbana Nov 21 '13 at 19:39
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In Nautilus 3.6, Alt + Up (Arrow) will take you to the parent directory.

If you are technically inclined, adding 

gtk_accel_path "/ShellActions/Up" "BackSpace"

to the Nautilus config file (~/.config/nautilus/accels) will re-implement Backspace as the parent-directory shortcut. Source: http://devshards.blogspot.com/2013/04/edit-keyboard-shortcuts-in-nautilus-36.html

Please backup your configuration file before trying to change it. Inputting data wrong could probably break your nautilus.

drkokandy
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