How do I type in a file path in Ubuntu's default file explorer? By the looks of it, I can only drill down into folders by clicking on folder icons.
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You can use this shortcut: Ctrl+L.
Or, go to Files and select Enter Location:

Radu Rădeanu
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Another method that works is to just click on one of the tabs as if you were going to drill down and just start typing
The area immediately changes to a text box so you can enter a path.
As pointed out by Radu there is a short-cut key for this and you can also get there from the menu. There is a useful list of short-cut keystrokes here:
What are the new Nautilus (3.6) shortcuts in Ubuntu 13.04?
These work in both 13.04 and 13.10.
Edit: In response to comment. Click one of the tabs you don't see any change but if you start typing you see something like this:

Warren Hill
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Can you clarify the first method or provide a screenshot? I can't get the area to change to a text box by just clicking. – Garrett Feb 13 '14 at 04:43
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Why this answer is not the right one? Because it is much faster than typing Сtrl-L shortcut and then typing the path. – Boris Mitioglov Dec 22 '17 at 11:28
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1Not sure whether this is version dependent, but when I just start typing it performs a search. Moreover the default is full text search (though I found a setting to search filenames only). As a result the GUI becomes unresponsive. So if I know the exact path, Ctrl-L better serves my needs. – stewbasic Sep 19 '18 at 21:30
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@BorisMitioglov How is it faster two use two input devices (mouse + keyboard) instead of only one (keyboard)? It takes approximately 0.15 seconds to press Ctrl+L but it takes at least 0.3 seconds to do it with the mouse and then switch to the keyboard... – CherryDT Oct 26 '23 at 13:42
Ctrl
+L
is working very fine! (...and in the Files menu there is an option to display all keyboard shortcuts) Thx!! – Hartmut Pfarr May 01 '18 at 20:04