[Quick Tip] Enable Textual File Path Entry in Ubuntu 20.04

gnome shell

This quick tip is going to show you how to get a textual location entry in the default Nautilus file browser in Ubuntu 20.04.

For temporary use, you can get the current files or folders’ path by simply pressing Ctrl+L on keyboard.

The default path bar becomes a location entry after pressing Ctrl+L, then you can copy and paste it for any use.

To let Nautilus display textual path entry for the location bar permanently:

Instead of the path-bar, you can always use a textual input entry for the location toolbar, by running following command in terminal:

  • Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal and run command:
    gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry true

  • And you can restore change via command:
    gsettings reset org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry

Alternatively, use a graphical tool Dconf Editor, install it via Ubuntu Software, by navigating to ‘org/gnome/nautilus/preferences’

That’s it. Enjoy!