Spatial Windows
A new spatial window opens each time you open a folder. To open a folder, do one of the following:
- Double-click the folder's icon on the desktop or an existing window
- Select the folder, and press Ctrl+O.
- Select the folder, and press Alt+down arrow
- Choose an item from the menu on the top panel. Your Home Folder and folders you have bookmarked are listed here. For more on bookmarks, see Section 6.6.18 ― Using Bookmarks For Your Favorite Locations.
To close the current folder while opening the new one, hold down Shift when double-clicking, or press Shift+Alt+down arrow.
Figure 6-3 shows a spatial mode window that displays the contents of the Computer folder.
In spatial mode each open Nautilus windows shows only one location. Selecting a second location will open a second Nautilus window. Because each location remembers the previous position on screen in which it was opened it allows you to easily recognize folders when many of them are open at once.
Some people consider spatial mode better, particularly for moving files or folders to different location, others find the number of open windows daunting. Figure 6-4 shows an example of spatial browsing with many open locations.
Because spatial mode will fill your screen with Nautilus windows it is important to be able to reposition them effectively. By holding the Alt key and clicking anywhere within the bounds of a Nautilus window you may reposition it simply, instead of requiring that you reposition it by dragging its title bar.