Products · Product
Nautilus
Raised as a usability problem by 63 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2010–2026), in 49 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
No type-ahead search makes finding files in a folder frustratingUnreviewed
20102026- Removal of type-ahead find made file navigation harder2023-09-14
- File search is so slow that finding folders or files is frustrating2022-04-14
- Typing a filename starts a search instead of jumping the cursor to the matching file2021-10-18
Every folder click opens a new window, creating a pile of windowsUnreviewed
20102026- Keeps opening folders in new tabs instead of new windows, hindering moving files between them2022-01-16
- Every folder click opens a new window, quickly becoming a messy pile of windows2020-05-24
- Each folder opens a new window, leaving users with 30+ windows when drilling into files2013-08-27
Default view is cramped, hard to use without compact viewUnreviewed
20102026- Expanded folder view forces manual taxonomies instead of quick search and narrowing for finding files2024-05-05
- Default file manager view is cramped, making it hard to use without compact view2022-04-08
- Cannot get file manager to show data as densely as Windows Explorer2012-06-12
Thumbnail view scrolls jerkily and loads large folders slowlyUnreviewed
20102026- Folders of 40 images take seconds to show thumbnails, not feeling instant2024-01-08
- Thumbnail view scrolls janky and is slow to load large folders2022-12-17
- Browsing NFS mounts becomes extremely slow; confusing preview settings wording not fixed for years2014-11-24
Missing Finder features users relied on in Linux file managersUnreviewed
20102026- File managers have lost usability over generations, with spatial behaviour removed and damage undone only partly2022-01-16
- Features removed and file manager is slow compared to alternatives2020-06-12
- Linux file managers are buggy and missing features the user relied on in Finder2016-09-13
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Can't drop a file on Open/Save panels to navigate to its folder on Linux or Windows2026-09-07
- Filemanager does not follow terminal's cd, so the two views fall out of sync2026-04-17
- Can't type a folder name to jump to it; typeahead was removed and they can't use it2025-11-25
- Double-clicking a zip does nothing; default action extracts into duplicate folders and drag-and-drop fails2025-10-14
- A regression in the file manager made the commenter abandon GNOME for KDE2024-09-08
- Renaming opens a popup instead of renaming in place like other file managers2024-09-08
- Right-click targets for folder actions are hard to hit in list view, and a helpful dropdown was removed2024-09-08
- Nautilus couldn't open big folders, forcing a switch to another file manager2024-06-15
- Expanded folder view forces manual taxonomies instead of quick search and narrowing for finding files2024-05-05
- In a dual window setup it cramms every column in and the sidebar won't hide, so little useful is shown2024-03-01
- With an MX Master mouse, scrolling down in Nautilus cannot be reversed back up2024-01-29
- Folders of 40 images take seconds to show thumbnails, not feeling instant2024-01-08
- Folder contents don't auto-refresh when files are added, and no visible refresh button exists2023-10-06
- Removal of type-ahead find made file navigation harder2023-09-14
- Pressing a key unexpectedly starts a global search in the folder2023-05-11
- Nautilus was terrible when introduced and still is, vaguely2023-01-06
- Thumbnail view scrolls janky and is slow to load large folders2022-12-17
- Scrolling becomes nearly unusable in directories with over 500 items2022-12-17
- Couldn't find an address bar or edit the current location, only found Ctrl+L by chance2022-11-01
- File browser has fewer features than Windows 95 file explorer2022-10-25
- Entering a specific path requires a key combination, unlike other file managers where it is obvious2022-06-25
- Icons render very badly on a high-DPI screen2022-04-14
- Commenter calls Nautilus pretty bad, without saying what goes wrong2022-04-14
- Ctrl-F searches beyond the current window instead of the visible content, so find behaves unexpectedly2022-04-14
- File search is so slow that finding folders or files is frustrating2022-04-14
- Can't type a path manually, and entering a mounted drive clears back-navigation history2022-04-14
- Couldn't find how to type a path; had to search for a hidden shortcut2022-04-14
- Typing a path needs Ctrl+L, which is hard to discover and not offered in menus2022-04-14
- Hovering over folders triggers heavy CPU use with no UI option to disable it2022-04-14
- Typeahead navigation replaced by slow recursive search, making keyboard navigation unusable2022-04-14
- Path entry box missing on some distros, and the setting to restore it is hard to find2022-04-14
- Dragging a multi-file selection to another window clears the selection instead of moving files2022-04-14
- Default file manager view is cramped, making it hard to use without compact view2022-04-08
- Keeps opening folders in new tabs instead of new windows, hindering moving files between them2022-01-16
- File managers have lost usability over generations, with spatial behaviour removed and damage undone only partly2022-01-16
- Typing a filename starts a search instead of jumping the cursor to the matching file2021-10-18
- Template feature for creating empty files is hard to discover2021-07-21
- Two similar search methods behave differently with no explanation, so users can't tell why some files are found one way but not the other2021-05-07
- Search triggers on first keystroke with no real search box, confusing and hard to use2021-05-07
- Recursive search is very slow and returns unexpected files, giving poor feedback on typos2021-05-07
- Address bar is mostly worthless for navigating to locations2021-04-03
- Commenter finds Nautilus virtually unusable, like a toy file manager2021-04-03
- Typing starts a search instead of highlighting the nearest matching file in the folder2021-02-02
- Lacks typeahead, so the commenter finds the file manager unusable2021-01-11
- Typing letters now triggers slow search instead of selecting matching files2020-12-21
- Can't name new files while creating them; must create then rename, requiring many clicks2020-10-13
- Serious usability and UX problems, with no specifics given2020-07-11
- Features removed and file manager is slow compared to alternatives2020-06-12
- Every folder click opens a new window, quickly becoming a messy pile of windows2020-05-24
- Showing hidden files with Ctrl-H makes the folder cluttered and impossible to navigate2019-02-03