Open Nautilus as a new tab in an existing window

Question

Currently, if I click a launcher, shortcut icon, etc., I will get a new Nautilus window. If there is already a Nautilus window open, I would rather it open up in a new tab in the existing window (as if I had done Ctrl + T and browsed to the new location). How can I make this happen?

Some applications have a command-line option for this sort of thing, but I don't find anything like that for Nautilus. I agree that would be useful though. — DLH, Aug 03 '11 at 19:43

score 21 · Answer 1 · edited May 09 '14 at 21:01

21

I wrote a bash script and a launcher for that.

First, create the file:

mkdir ~/bin && gedit ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh

Then paste the following, and save:

if [ "$(wmctrl -xl | grep "nautilus\.Nautilus")" == "" ]; then
    nautilus "$1" &
else  
    #Save old clipboard value
    oldclip="$(xclip -o -sel clip)"

    echo -n "$1" | xclip -i -sel clip
    #wmctrl -xF -R nautilus.Nautilus && xdotool key "ctrl+t" "ctrl+l" && xdotool type "${1}" && xdotool key Return
    wmctrl -xF -R nautilus.Nautilus && xdotool key ctrl+t ctrl+l ctrl+v Return

    #Restore old clipboard value
    echo -n "$oldclip" | xclip -i -sel clip
fi

Then run the command:

sudo chmod u+x ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh

Now, to create the launcher file, run this command:

gedit ~/.local/share/applications/Nautilus-Ctrl-t.desktop

Paste the following, and save:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Nautilus-Ctrl-t
Comment=Launches Nautilus if not yet, otherwise opens a new tab in it
Categories=FileManager;GNOME;
Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/48x48/apps/system-file-manager.png
Exec=/bin/bash -c ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh
Terminal=false

Log out, or restart to update the application list and you're done.

Try that. Hope it helps.

UPDATE

Added a location as a script parameter

UPDATE 2

Replaced xdotool type with xclip

UPDATE 3

Cleaned up the process by adding numbers. Added mkdir command. Updated the first "if statement" because if nautilus is managing the desktop, it will have a pid, but no active window, so better to use wmctrl. Added quotes around the first argument in case there are spaces. Changed the icon for nautilus to be system default in the .desktop file.

edited May 09 '14 at 21:01

Gruzzles

855

answered Apr 20 '12 at 18:57

zuba

2,393

1

You'll need to install xdotool and wmctrl for that script to work, as they're not installed by default. – Jeremy Bicha Apr 20 '12 at 23:04
Well, it's a dirty hack, but I hope it'll work in most cases :) Can you please add passing location as the argument? It looks like possible with "Ctrl+L", insert passed address, "Enter"... – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 00:34
I'm awarding desgua right now, but I promise you another bounty if you will add custom location opening to your script :) – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 00:39
Added a location as a script parameter. – zuba Apr 21 '12 at 06:28
Ok, I've started a bounty for you, but AFAIU I can't award two bounties in one day :) There's a space missing after $pid and it doesn't work for inode/directory MIME type for me. Can you please add instructions on how to make it work for desktop shortcuts? Another suggestion is to use xclip for pasting location to avoid triggering some actions if Ctrl+L fails :) – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 09:54
Added a space. Do you mean how make it work for existing nautilus shortcuts, or how to create a new shortcut to some folder opening? I'll try xclip in the evening. – zuba Apr 21 '12 at 11:24
As I see wmctrl key does the same as xclip. Doesn't it? What kind of shortcuts do you mean? – zuba Apr 21 '12 at 18:53
I meant to replace nautilus with this script as default inode/directory handler :) xclip instead of xdotool type – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 23:05
I have no idea how to utilise xclip instead of wmctrl, cause wmctrl deals with windows and X11 events, while xclip deals with clipboard and stdin/stdout which are rather different interfaces. Why not you assign promised bounty? – zuba Apr 22 '12 at 06:53
The system didn't allow me to award twice in one day. Here you go :) But don't misinterpret me, I've never said about replacing wmctrl with xclip, did I? xclip is the clipboard manager, I'm suggesting to replace xdotool type with it :) (the problem is that xdotool type cannot type some characters and it's generally safer and faster to just paste the address instead of typing it) – int_ua Apr 23 '12 at 00:36
I will try to fix it myself later, don't worry ;) – int_ua Apr 23 '12 at 00:38
Ok, I get. I updated the script - changed xdotool type to xclip. Thanks. – zuba Apr 23 '12 at 06:24
This script is not quite working for me. It does open a new tab if nautilus is already open, but it doesn't start a new window otherwise. And I was not able to see how to make it open a custom location – wim May 10 '12 at 14:25
try to use ctrl+shift+t as this script does with --continue option, will work much better and much faster – Aquarius Power Dec 30 '14 at 16:39
I have installed xdotool, wmctrl and wclick. I have executed exo-preferred-applications to set ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh as the default file manager. Unfortunately, when I click on folders placed in the desktop they are opened in different windows. Also, the same folder is opened in a new tab when I open a different folder! Do you know another file browser able to do that without scripting: http://askubuntu.com/questions/586503/any-file-browser-well-integrated-into-ubuntu-14-04lts-desktop-able-to-open-deskt – chelder Mar 09 '15 at 00:24

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

4

I believe it is not possible as
1) It is a suggested idea at Ubuntu Brainstorm that wasn't implemented yet,
2) And supposedly after analyzing the source code Shiki didn't find a way to pass this call to nautilus.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

Community

1

answered Apr 20 '12 at 01:46

desgua

32,917

Thank you. Although the others answers are also interesting ;-) – desgua Apr 21 '12 at 01:32
1

Yes, they are all good in some way :) And zuba will get another bounty if his hack will fix the initial issue :) – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 03:16

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 02 '20 at 06:30

2

This is fixable very easily in CentOS 6.2 by going into the Nautilus preferences, on the "Behavior" tab and clicking the box called "Always open in browser windows".

You will know it worked because from that point on, in your folder browsing window, you will see a left hand nav on the window which is the method that Nautilus uses to "re-use" the explorer window.

So, basically, all you need to figure out is "how to enable the left-hand navigation menu in a Nautilus browser window".

edited Feb 02 '20 at 06:30

Peter Mortensen

884

answered Apr 20 '12 at 20:24

djangofan

3,714

That's an interesting info, thanks :) What is the version of Nautilus in CentOS 6.2? – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 00:24
1

That would be 2.28.4 which is for Gnome-2 (GTK+2). – desgua Apr 21 '12 at 13:10
1

That being the case, it sounds like there is no solution for Gnome-3 ? – djangofan May 09 '12 at 20:32

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Feb 02 '20 at 06:30

1

Whatever desgua said is somewhat right.

One option you have is to press Ctrl + T to open a new tab in the same window.

Or press F3 in Nautilus for split view.

edited Feb 02 '20 at 06:30

Peter Mortensen

884

answered Apr 20 '12 at 09:18

Ashu

9,482

1

Thanks for your attention, but it's not about opening new tabs from within Nautilus :) – int_ua Apr 21 '12 at 00:26

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 20 '17 at 17:42

Using the bash script above as a starting (thank you!), I created a one-window per workspace script, ThunarTab, specifically for Thunar in XFCE. The script also allows opening multiple directories at once using the "Open All" context menu on the Desktop. I give a detailed description and a downloadable file of it at https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=244076 "[Tutorial] Improving Thunar in XFCE by opening new tabs instead of windows with Bash."

Open Nautilus as a new tab in an existing window

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