Basic Usage

Selecting Files and Folders

You can select files and folders in several ways in GNOME Commander. Typically this is achieved by clicking on the files using the mouse, as explained in Selecting Items in the File Manager.

Selecting Items in the File Manager

Task	Action	Default key bindings
Select an item	Click on the item.	`SPACE` `INSERT`
Select a group of contiguous items	In icon view, drag around the files that you want to select. In list view, click on the first item in the group. Press-and-hold `SHIFT`, then click on the last item in the group.
Select multiple items	Press-and-hold `CTRL`. Click on the items that you want to select. Alternatively, press-and-hold `CTRL`, then drag around the files that you want to select.
Select all items in a folder	Choose Mark ▸ Select All.	`CTRL`+`A` `CTRL`+`+`
Unselect all items in a folder	Choose Mark ▸ Unselect All.	`CTRL`+`SHIFT`+`A` `CTRL`+`-`
Select all files with the same extension		`ALT`+`NUM +`
Unselect all files with the same extension		`ALT`+`NUM -`
Select files using a pattern	Choose Mark ▸ Select with Pattern. GNOME Commander selects files matching a pattern based upon their file name using either wildcards or regular expressions.	`NUM +`
Unselect files using a pattern	Choose Mark ▸ Unselect with Pattern. GNOME Commander unselects files matching a pattern based upon their file name using either wildcards or regular expressions.	`NUM -`
Invert selection	Choose Mark ▸ Invert Selection.	`NUM *`

To perform the default action on an item, double-click on the item.

Drag-and-Drop

You can drag and drop selected items from one pane to the other to copy, move, or create a symbolic link to an item. You can also drag and drop the selected items into another application.

To drag and drop a selection or a selected item with your mouse, with the pointer over the selection or the item, press the left button and keep it depressed, move the mouse pointer to the target location and release the left button.

By pressing the SHIFT key while you release the mouse button you can move the selection instead of copying it.
By pressing the CTRL+SHIFT keys while you release the mouse button you can create symbolic link to the selection instead of copying it.

Copying a File or Folder

You can use the mouse, the keyboard and the menus to copy a selection of items in another location.

First select the item(s) you wish to copy, You can then use any of the the following options.

To copy using the menus Edit ▸ Copy, then select the location where you want to copy the selection and select Edit ▸ Paste.
Using the mouse You can also right click on the selected items in the drop down menu select Copy then in the chosen location Right click in an empty area and select Paste in the drop down menu.
Press the following keys CTRL+C, then select the location for the files and press CTRL+V
To copy the selection from one pane to the other using the mouse simply drag and drop the selected items to the other pane.
To copy the selection from one pane to the other you can simply press F5.

The first three options will allow you to copy into another application than GNOME Commander.

Moving a File or Folder

You can use the mouse, the keyboard , and the menus to move a selection of items in another location

First select the item(s) you wish to move, You can then use any of the the following options.

To move using the menus Edit ▸ Cut, then select the location where you want to copy the selection and select Edit ▸ Paste.
Using the mouse you can also right click on the selected items in the drop down menu select Cut then in the chosen location right click in an empty area and select Paste in the drop down menu.
Press the following keys CTRL+X, then select the location for the files and press CTRL+V
To move the selection from one pane to the other using the mouse drag and drop the selected items to the other pane and press the SHIFT while releasing the left mouse button.
To move the selection from one pane to the other can simply press F6.

With the first three options it is possible to move marked items into another application.

Renaming a File or Folder

This section describes a simple way to rename files or folders. There is also the Advanced file renaming for more complex operations and batch processing. You can use various the following methods to rename files and folder.

Firstly select the item you wish to rename.

Right click on the item and select Rename, type in the new name, and press Enter when finished.
Press F2 and then type in the new name and press Enter when finished.
You can also use the menus: select File ▸ Properties and rename the file using the properties dialog.

Deleting a File or Folder

There are different ways to delete an item using GNOME Commander.

Select the item(s) You wish to delete.

Press the Delete or the F8 keys.
With the mouse right click on the item(s) then in the drop down menu select Delete.
In the menu select Delete.

Creating a Folder

You can create a new folder in GNOME Commander using the following methods.

Navigate to the location where you want to create the new folder.

Press the F7, in the dialog box that is then opened name the new folder.
Using the mouse right click in an empty area of the pane, in the drop down menu select New ▸ Folder, then type the folder name in the dialog box that is opened.

Creating a Symbolic Link to a File or Folder

A symbolic link is a special type of file that points to another file or folder. When you perform an action on a symbolic link, the action is performed on the file or folder to which the symbolic link points. However, when you delete a symbolic link, you delete the link file, not the file to which the symbolic link points.

There are three different ways to create a symbolic link to a file or folder:

Select the file or folder to which you want to create a link. Choose File ▸ Create Symbolic Link.
Grab the item to which you want to create a link, then press-and-hold CTRL+SHIFT. Drag the item to the location where you want to place the link.
Select the file or folder to which you want to create a link. Press CTRL+SHIFT+F5.

The permissions of a symbolic link are determined by the file or folder to which a symbolic link points.

For more on dragging items, see Drag-and-Drop.

Using multiple tabs

You can open multiple tabs in both panels to speed up navigation. GNOME Commander can store the open tabs location upon closing. When you restart the application the tabs are reopened as they were before. This option can be set in Umum.

Using the mouse the middle click can be configured to open a new tab. This option can be set in Umum. When it is set a middle click on a folder will open it in a new tab in the same pane.

When using a 2 button mouse the middle click is emulated by clicking both buttons simultaneously

To open a new tab press CTRL+T this opens a new tab in the current panel with the same folder opened.
To open a new tab displaying the selected folder in the current pane press the CTRL+UP. If you have configured the mouse middle click option to open a new tab (Umum), then using the middle mouse button on a folder will also open a new tab displaying it in the current pane.
To open a new tab displaying the selected folder in the inactive pane press the CTRL+SHIFT+UP.
To navigate between tab you can you the mouse or use CTRL+TAB as many time as needed to select the tab element. If the tabs are selected you can also use the RIGHT or LEFT to select the desired tab.
To close a tab you can use the mouse and double click the tab or right click on it and from the menu select Close tab. You can also close the current tab using the keyboard shortcut CTRL+W

Right clicking on any tab will open a tab specific menu

Open in new tab this action opens a new tab with the displaying the currently opened folder.
Refresh tab this actions refreshes the files displayed currently in the folder.
Copy tab to other pane opens a new tab in the opposite pane, this tab will display the selected tab.
Close tab this action closes the currently selected tab.
Close all tabs GNOME Commander will close all open tabs in the current pane. This leaves the current tab as the only open folder.
Close duplicate tabs GNOME Commander will search for duplicated open tabs in the current pane and close them.