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One of my pet peeves in Ubuntu:

I open up a folder with ~50 files in it. I start typing in the file name, and it matches something. I notice that the file I want is right beside it. I press the right arrow... nothing happens. I press it again, thinking it was a mis-press... still nothing happens. Nothing happens until I press Escape, and then select the file -- because the incremental search box has grabbed the focus.

Is there any way to fix this?

user541686
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  • And why is this an issue, it looks like it was meant to be that way, you type something then the searchbox appears and you press enter to open the file/folder or use the mouse to select the item next to it. – Uri Herrera Aug 03 '11 at 04:43
  • That and that nothing happens simply because you are using the search box, pressing left or right moves the cursor in it, as it should and not the item selection. – Uri Herrera Aug 03 '11 at 04:47
  • @Uri: You're supposed to use the mouse? In Linux? I hope you're not being serious... – user541686 Aug 03 '11 at 04:47
  • uhmm yes? as with any other modern non-touchscreen UI...you move the mouse cursor around, selecting stuff, that's why there's one to start with. – Uri Herrera Aug 03 '11 at 04:54
  • @Uri: Long story short, let's just say that doesn't solve the problem. – user541686 Aug 03 '11 at 04:55
  • As mentioned here:http://askubuntu.com/questions/33918/how-to-disable-the-nautilus-searchbox the search feature is hardcoded into it and you would need to compile Nautilus by yourself to modify it to suit your needs. – Uri Herrera Aug 03 '11 at 04:59
  • press down arrow of keyboard instead of right – shantanu Aug 03 '11 at 07:40

1 Answers1

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Hit tab to restore focus to the file list. Then you should be able to navigate with the arrow keys.

Jeremy Kerr
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    hm, this does the same as 'escape', so probably doesn't help! – Jeremy Kerr Aug 03 '11 at 06:22
  • There's no way for nautilus to tell whether you're trying to navigate the file list, or move the cursor within the search box. So, I guess you'll have to do the extra keypress. – Jeremy Kerr Aug 03 '11 at 06:26