Nemo, my favourite file manager

Features and tips about the Nemo file manager.

Nemo, the default file manager tool that comes with Linux Mint, is a wonderful app which I really like, and it works fine outside of Linux Mint too. It is a fork of GNOME Files (formerly known as Nautilus). It is also the default file manager of the Cinnamon. Nemo has a number of good features that make it feel special compared to Nautilus. It is available in the officical repo of Arch Linux, and can be installed using pacman. Nemo is simple to configure graphically but not all options are in the preferences screen in Nemo. More options are available in the dconf-editor under org.nemo.

📁 Things to do after fresh installation

• set nemo as the default file browser

xdg-mime default nemo.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search

• set your terminal as the default terminal for Nemo. To do that, you can use the following command: gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec terminal-name. I use Alacrity as my terminal, so

gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec alacritty

• Install the Nemo file roller—the file archiver extension for Nemo. Installing this helps extract and compress files.

pacman -S nemo-fileroller

✨ Customisation

• To change the theme of Nemo, first install the theme and set it using this command: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme new-theme. I use the catppuccin-mocha theme; it has a nice dark interface.

yay -S catppuccin-gtk-theme-mocha

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Catppuccin-Mocha-Standard-Blue-Dark

• Install lxappearance, then change theme using that to change gtk theme for widgets as well.
• You can disable the menubar from the top file options -> View -> Menubar (you have to press Alt to show it after disabling it).
• You can customize your toolbar from preferences options, Edit -> Preferences -> Toolbar.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Panes

• F3: Toggle Extra Pane (split view that shows two folder side by side).
• F4: Toggle Terminal in top pane (require the Nemo Terminal plugin).
• F6: Cycle focus between panes.
• F9: Toggle left pane (browsing folders only).
• F8 + Arrow keys: Resize panes.

Tabs

• Ctrl + T: New tab in current pane.
• Ctrl + Pg Up or Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Previous tab.
• Ctrl + Pg Down or Ctrl + Tab: Next tab.
• Ctrl + Shift + Pg Up / Pg Down: Move tab left / right.
• Ctrl + W: Close current tab.

Folders

• Alt + ←: Previous browsed directory.
• Alt + →: Next browsed dir.
• Alt + ↑: Parent dir.

🗒️ References

• Arch wiki.
• 82 Shortcuts for Linux Mint (including Nemo).