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To get to a file with Konqueror you first need to navigate through the folder tree to find the folder containing that file.

To move between folders you can simply step up and down the tree:

  • To descend into a subfolder left click on its name or icon -- or if you have already “selected” it (see below) -- then just press Enter.

  • To go up the folder tree you can click on the Up button in the Toolbar, useAlt+Up, or use the Menubar Go → Up option.

To “select” a file or folder in the displayed folder without opening it in any way use the up and down arrow keys to move through the items. The selected item will be highlighted and some information about it will be displayed in the Status Bar.

Setting the View Mode to Details can help you locate folders in the tree below the current folder; in this mode each folder is shown with a small box at the left. If the box contains a > sign, left clicking on the box (not on the folder name or icon) will display a sub tree showing files and subfolders contained in that folder. The small box will then change to show a v sign. Left click on that to collapse the sub tree. Once you have found the folder you are looking for, left click on the folder name or icon to open it.

You can go directly to any folder by switching with File → Open Location or Alt+O to the Location Bar and typing its path. Konqueror's Text Completion feature may be useful when you do this. Don't forget that in Linux® / UNIX® file and folder names are case sensitive.

When you have moved to a new folder you can go back to your previous choice by using the Toolbar Back button, the Menubar Go → Back item, or Alt+Left. Once you have gone back you can go forward. Use the Toolbar Forward button, the Menubar Go → Forward item or Alt+Right.

Alternatively, you can also choose to enter the parent folder by clicking on the Toolbar Up, the Go → Up item, or with Alt+Up.

Tip

Click the checkmark at the right of the toolbar Up, Back or Forward buttons or selecting these items in the Go menu brings up a submenu of recently visited locations.

Finding Files and Folders

If you don't know or can't remember where a file or folder is within your system, then use the shortcut Ctrl+F or the Menubar Tools → Find File... option. This starts the file finder application KFind. See the KFind Handbook for help in using KFind.

Note

If the name of a file or folder begins with a period (dot), then it is a “hidden” file or folder, and will not normally be shown by Konqueror. To see hidden files or folders use the Menubar View → Hidden Files option.

Another reason Konqueror may not show the file or folder you are looking for is that you may have the Directory Filter plugin set to display only certain types of file.

Removable Devices

Any removable device (USB stick, floppy disk, CD drive or other hard disk partition that you have on your system) will usually appear in the / , /media, /mnt or /auto folder, having a path something like /mnt/floppy or /cdrom. The details will depend on how your system was set up.

UNIX® / Linux® requires that you mount a removable device when you have inserted it into the drive, and mount other hard disk partitions when you want to access them. You also need to unmount a removable device before removing it to register that it is no longer available.

How you do this will depend on your system setup:

  • Using the Device Notifier

    In a KDE session the Device Notifier window will popup, when you insert a removable device and allows you to select an appropriate application for this media or only mount the device.

  • If you use the Folder View layout for your desktop you may have icons for removable devices on your desktop, in which case left mouse button click on the icon to mount it. Doing this should also bring up a Konqueror window showing the contents of the device. To unmount, right click on the icon and choose the Unmount item. Visit the section Create New... in this Handbook to see how to create such an icon.

  • Or you can do it the traditional way by typing into a text console window:

    mount /mnt/floppy

    to mount, for example, the floppy drive, and

    umount /mnt/floppy

    to unmount it (umount not unmount).

    Note

    Rather than having to open a text console to type the mount or umount commands, you may prefer to use Konqueror's Tools → Execute Shell Command (Ctrl+E) feature.