Get To Grips With Linux File Navigation

Puzzled about structure? Nick Peers reveals how the Linux file system works, plus the best way to browse it using Ubuntu’s built-in file manager.

- Nick Peers

You’ll no doubt be familiar with how Linux identifies the drives attached to your PC, and that Linux treats everything as a file – including folders (which is basically a file listing the files that make up that folder’s contents). But how are these files organised on your hard drive, and how do you access them through Ubuntu’s graphical file manager, Nautilus?

Let’s start with the raw basics. Linux organises files in a tree-like structure that’s a little bit similar to Windows. The major difference being that while Windows physically separates drives into individual trees, with the drive letter at the top, Linux lumps everything together in a single file tree, with a top-level root (/) directory and everything else – including drives – placed relative to that directory.

This can sound confusing, but in actual fact Linux provides a consistent, organised view of all the storage at your disposal. Once you understand where things are kept, it’s relatively straightforward finding them again. And, in actual fact, for day-to-day use, you’ll limit yourself to your personal user folder, which is always found inside the /home directory and is where your personal documents, photos, settings and other data is stored.

What makes things even easier to grasp is that Ubuntu ships with a user-friendly file manager in the form of Nautilus, which is accessible via the Files shortcut in the launcher. Nautilus will feel instantly familiar to anyone who’s used Windows own file manager, Windows Explorer, and shares many of the same characteristics.