Top Bar

The screen displays a top bar, through which you access your applications, windows, and such system properties as sound and networking. Clicking the sound and power icons at the right of the top bar displays the system status area menu with options to set the sound level, screen brightness (laptop), wired and wireless connections, Bluetooth, and to shut down or lock the screen (see Figure 8-1). The center of the top bar has a button to display your clock and calendar. To the left is the Activities button, which displays an icon bar for favorite and open applications.

The System Status Area

Once logged in, the System Status Area is displayed on the right side of the top bar (see Figure 8-2). The area will include status icons for features such as sound and power. Clicking the button showing the sound, power, and down arrow icons displays the System Status Area menu, with items for sound, brightness, wired and wireless connections, the battery, the current user, in addition to buttons at the bottom for opening GNOME Settings, activating the lock screen, and shutting down or rebooting the system. The sound and brightness items feature sliding bars with which you can adjust the volume and brightness. The Wi-Fi, Battery, and current user entries expand to submenus with added entries. The buttons at the bottom open separate dialogs.

On systems that are not laptops, there will be no brightness slider or battery entry on the System Status Area menu. If the system also has no wireless device, the WiFi entry will also be missing. A system of this kind will only have a sound slider and a user entry.

To log out, you click the current user entry to expand the menu to show Switch User, Log Out, and Account Settings entries. The Log Out returns you to the login screen, where you can log in as another user. To switch to another user, click the Switch User entry to display the login screen. You can then log in as another user. When you log out or choose Switch User, you can then select the original user. When you log back in, your session is restored.

Activities Overview

To access applications and windows, you use the Activities Overview mode. Click the Activities button at the left side of the top bar (or move the mouse to the left corner, or press the super (Windows) key). The Activities Overview mode consists of a dash listing your favorite and running applications, thumbnails of open windows, and workspace thumbnails (see Figure 8-3). You can use the search box at the top center to locate applications and files. Partially hidden thumbnails of your desktop workspaces are displayed on the right side. Initially, there are two. Moving your mouse to the right side displays the workspace thumbnails.

You can manually leave the Activities Overview mode at any time by pressing the Esc key.

Dash

The dash is a bar on the left side with icons for your favorite applications (see Figure 8-4). Initially, on the Fedora Workstation version, there is the Firefox Web browser, the Evolution mail application, the Rhythmbox music player, the Shotwell photo manager, the file manager, and software. To open an application from the dash, click its icon, or right-click and choose New Window from the pop-up menu. You can also click-and-drag the icon to the windows thumbnail area or to a workspace thumbnail on the right side.

Favorites are always displayed on the dash. When you run other applications, they are also placed on the dash during the time they are running. To add a running application to the dash as a favorite, right-click the icon and choose Add to Favorites. You can later remove an application as a favorite by choosing Remove from Favorites. You can also add any application to the dash from the Applications Overview, by clicking-and-dragging its icon to the dash, or by right-clicking the icon and choosing Add to Favorites from the menu (see Figure 8-4).

Window Thumbnails

You access windows using the window thumbnails on the Activities overview. Thumbnails are displayed of all your open windows (see Figure 8-5). To select a window, move your mouse over the window’s thumbnail. The selected window also shows an x (close) button at the top right of the window’s thumbnail, which you can use to close the window directly. To access the window, move your mouse over it and click. This displays the window, exiting the overview and returning to the desktop.

Moving your mouse to the right side of the screen displays the workspace selector showing workspace thumbnails, with the current workspace highlighted (see Figure 8-6). You can switch to another workspace by clicking its thumbnail. You can also move windows or applications directly to a workspace. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can press the Ctrl key and use the scroll wheel to move through workspaces, forward or backward.

Applications Overview

Clicking the Applications icon (last icon, grid button) on the dash opens the Applications Overview, from which you can locate and open applications. Icons for installed applications are displayed (see Figure 8-7). The Frequent button at the bottom of the overview lets you see only your most frequently used applications. Click the All button to see them all. A pager consisting of buttons, on the right side, lets you move quickly through the list of applications. You can move anywhere to a page in the list using the buttons. There are two special sub-folders: Utilities and Sundry. Clicking those icons opens another, sub-folders, showing applications in those categories, such as Tweak Tool and Backups in the Utilities overview. You can use the GNOME Software Installed tab to create your own sub-folders and place application icons in them. Click an application icon to open it and exit the overview. Should you return to the overview mode, you will see its window in the overview. The super key (Windows key) with the a key (super+a) will switch automatically from the desktop to the Applications Overview. Continuing to press it switches between the Applications Overview and the window thumbnails.

You can also open an application by dragging its icon to a workspace thumbnail on the right side, starting it in that workspace.

Also, as previously noted, to add an application as a favorite on the dash, you can simply drag its icon from the Applications Overview to the dash directly.

Activities Search

The Activities search will search applications and files. Should you know the name of the application you want, you can simply start typing, and the matching results are displayed (see Figure 8-8). Your search term is entered in the search box as you type. The results dynamically narrow the more you type. The first application is selected automatically. If this is the one you want, just press Enter to start it. Results will also show Settings tools and recently accessed files, as well as uninstalled applications. From the result list you can click on an uninstalled application to open GNOME Software showing the application and an Install button, which you can click to install it.

The search box for the Activities overview can be configured from the Settings Search tab (see Figure 8-9). Here, you can turn search on or off and specify which applications are to support searches. By default, these include Contacts, Documents, the Files file manager, Passwords and Keys, and the Firefox Web browser. To specify the folders to be searched, click the gear button on the lower right to open the Search Locations dialog with switches for currently supported folders, bookmarks, or other locations (see Figure 8-10). To add a folder of your choosing, go to the Other tab and click the plus button.

Managing Windows

The title bar and the toolbar for GNOME windows have been combined into a single header bar, as shown in the following image of the file manager.

The minimize and maximize buttons have been dropped, and a single close button is always present. You can use Tweak Tool to add the minimize and maximize buttons if you wish. Some applications change the header bar if the function changes, presenting a different set of tools, as shown here for the GNOME Videos application.

Windows no longer have maximize and minimize buttons. These tasks can be carried out by a dragging operation or by double-clicking the header bar. To maximize a window, double-click its header bar or drag the header bar to the top edge of the screen. To minimize, drag the title away from the top edge of the screen. You can also use a window’s menu entries to maximize or minimize it. Right-click the header bar or press Alt+spacebar to display the window menu.

Open application windows also have an Applications menu on the left side of the top bar. For many applications, this menu holds only a Quit entry (see Figure 8-11). Others, such as the file manager, list key tasks, such as Bookmarks, Preferences, and Help. The Firefox web browser only lists a Quit button, whereas the GNOME file manager lists items such as New Window, Bookmarks, Preferences, and Help, as well as Quit.

To minimize an open window so that it no longer displays on the desktop, right-click the header bar and choose minimize. This will hide the window. You can then maximize the window later, using the window’s thumbnails on the activities overview (Activities button).

To close a window, click its close box or choose Close from the Window menu (right-click on title bar). Many currently selected windows have an Applications menu in the top bar to the left. Should an application not have a close button, you can click the Applications menu button on the top bar and choose the Quit entry (see Figure 8-11).

To tile a window, click-and-drag its header bar to the left or right edge of the screen. When your mouse reaches the edge of the screen, the window is tiled to take up that half of the screen. You can do the same with another window for the other edge, showing two windows side by side.

To resize a window, move the mouse to the edge or corner until it changes to an edge or corner mouse, then click-and-drag.

The scroll bar to the right also features fine scrolling. When scrolling through a large number of items, you can fine scroll to slow the scrolling when you reach a point to search. To activate fine scrolling, click and hold the scroll bar handle, or press the Shift key while scrolling.

You can use the Window Switcher on the desktop to quickly search open windows. Press the Alt+Tab keys to display an icon bar of open windows on the current workspace (see Figure 8-12). While holding down the Alt key, press the Tab key to move through the list of windows. Windows are grouped by application. Instead of the Tab keys, you can use the forward and back arrow keys. For applications with multiple open windows, press the tilde (~) key (above the Tab key) to move through a list of the open windows.

On the GNOME Tweak Tool’s Windows tab, you can configure certain windows’ actions and components. Attached Modal Dialogs will attach a dialog that an application opens to the application’s window (see Figure 8-13). You can use the switch to turn this feature off, allowing you to move a modal dialog away from the application window. Actions on the title bar (Titlebar Actions) are also defined, such as double-click to maximize and secondary-click to display the menu. There are also switches to display the Maximize and Minimize buttons on the title bar.

Workspaces

You can organize your windows into different workspaces. Workspaces are managed using the Workspace selector. In the overview, move your mouse to the right edge of the screen to display the workspace selector, a vertical panel showing thumbnails of your workspaces (see Figure 8-14). Workspaces are generated dynamically. The workspace selector will show an empty workspace as the last workspace (see Figure 8-15). To add a workspace, click-and-drag a window in the overview to the empty workspace on the workspace selector. A new empty workspace appears automatically below the current workspaces.

To remove a workspace, close all its open windows or move the windows to other workspaces.

To move to another workspace, in the overview mode, move to the right edge to display the workspace selector, then click on the workspace you want. You can also use Ctrl+Alt with the up and down arrow keys to move to the next or previous workspaces.

To move a window to a workspace, on the Windows overview, click-and-drag the window to the workspace selector (right edge) and then to the workspace you want. You can also use the Window menu and choose Move to Workspace Down or Move to Workspace Up. You can also use Ctrl+Alt+Shift and the up or down arrow keys to move the window to the next workspace. Continue pressing the arrow to move it further should you have several workspaces.

You can use the GNOME Tweak Tool’s Workspaces tab to change workspace creation from dynamic to static, letting you specify a fixed number of workspaces (see Figure 8-16).

Notifications and Message Dialog

Notifications, such as software updates and removable device activation, are displayed in the message tray that is to the left of the calendar accessed from the top-center of the screen by clicking on the date. You can also press the super key with the m key to open the message tray. File systems on removable media will appear automatically as entries directly on your desktop notifications dialog (see Figure 8-17). A notice briefly appears at the top of the screen that shows the name of the device. If you move your mouse to the notice, an Open With notice appears, which you can click to open the device. Should you not open the device at this time, you can later display it in the message tray. When you eject a removable device, a notice briefly appears letting you know you can remove it. A notice will also appear on the message tray.

GNOME Customization with Tweak Tool: Themes, Icons, Fonts, Startup Applications, and Extensions

You can perform common desktop customizations using the GNOME Tweak Tool. Areas to customize include the desktop icons, fonts, themes, startup applications, workspaces, window behavior, and the time display. You can access Tweak Tool from the Applications Overview ➤ Utilities. The GNOME Tweak Tool has tabs for Appearance, Desktop, Extensions, Fonts, Keyboard and Mouse, Power, Startup Applications, Top Bar, Typing, Windows, and Workspaces (see Figure 8-18).

The Appearance tab lets you set the theme for your windows, icons, and cursor. GNOME 3 uses the Adwaita Theme. This theme has a light and dark variant. The Global Light Theme is the default, but you can use the switch on the Appearance tab to enable the Global Dark Theme. The Global Dark Theme shades the background of windows to a dark gray, while text and button images appear in white.

Desktop fonts for window titles, interface (application or dialog text), documents, and monospace (terminal windows or code) can be changed in the Fonts tab. You can adjust the size of the font or change the font style. Clicking the font name opens a Pick a Font dialog from which you can choose a different font. The quality of text display can be further adjusted with Hinting and Antialiasing options. To simply increase or decrease the size of all fonts on your desktop interface, you can adjust the scaling factor.

At times, there may be certain applications that you want started up when you log in, such as the Gedit text editor, the Firefox web browser, or the Videos movie player. On the Startup Applications tab, you can choose the applications to start up. Click the plus (+) button to open an applications dialog from which you can choose an application to start up. Once added, you can later remove the application by clicking its Remove button.

Extensions function much as applets did in GNOME 2. They are third-party programs that enhance or modify the GNOME desktop, such as a window list, workspace indicator, a removable drive menu, and an applications menu. Extensions appear on the top bar or, in the case of the window list, in an added bottom bar. Installed extensions are listed on the Extensions tab of Tweak Tool, where you can turn them on or off.

GNOME Desktop Help

The GNOME Help browser provides a browser-like interface for displaying the GNOME Desktop Help and various GNOME applications, such as Brasero, Evince, and gedit (Utilities ➤ Help) (see Figure 8-19). It features a toolbar that enables you to move through the list of previously viewed documents. You can even bookmark specific items. You can search for topics using the search box, with results displayed in the drop-down menu. Initially, the Desktop Help manual is displayed. To see other help pages and manuals, choose All Help from the menu next to the close box (see Figure 8-20).

Home Folder Subfolders

GNOME uses the Common User Directory Structure (xdg-user-dirs at http://freedesktop.org ) to set up subfolders in the user home directory. Folders include Documents, Music, Pictures, Downloads, and Videos. These localized user folders are used as defaults by many desktop applications. Users can change their folder names or place them within each other using the GNOME file browser. For example, Music can be moved into Videos or Documents into Pictures. Local configuration is held in the .config/user-dirs.dirs file (.config is a hidden directory). System-wide defaults are set up in the /etc/xdg/user-dirs.defaults file. You can edit the local configuration using a text editor and change the directories for the current ones.

File Manager Windows

When you click the Files icon on the dash, a file manager window opens showing your home folder. The file manager window displays several components, including a toolbar and a sidebar (see Figure 8-22). The sidebar displays sections for folder, device, bookmark, and network items showing your file systems and default home folder subfolders. You can choose to display or hide the sidebar toolbar by selecting its entry in the View and Tools menu. The main pane (to the right) displays the icons or lists files and subfolders in the current working folder. When you select a file and folder, a status section at the bottom right of the window displays the number or name of the file or folder selected and the total size.

When you open a new folder, the same window is used to display it, and you can use the forward and back arrows to move through previously opened folders (top left). As you open subfolders, the main toolbar displays buttons for your current folder and its parent folders, as shown here:

You can click a folder button to move to it directly. It also can display a location URL text box instead of buttons, from which you can enter the location of a folder, either on your system or on a remote one. Press Ctrl+l to display the text box. Press the Esc key to revert back to the folder location buttons.

The file manager displays a dialog for folder creation (see Figure 8-23). Be sure to click the Create button once you have entered the folder name.

File Manager Sidebar

The file manager sidebar shows file system locations that you would normally access: folders, devices, bookmarks, and network folders (See Figure 8-24). The Recent folder holds links to your recently used files. You can also mark files or folders as a favorites and have them listed by clicking the Starred entry on the file manager sidebar. Should you bookmark the current folder (the bookmark button on the file manager window's menu), a bookmark for it will appear on the sidebar. To remove or rename a bookmark, right-click its entry on the sidebar and choose Remove or Rename from the pop-up menu. The bookmark’s name changes, but not the original folder name.

Selecting the Other Locations entry on the sidebar displays entries for Computer and your networks. The Computer entry places you at the top of the file system, letting you move to any accessible part of it. In the Network section, you can access systems and shared folders on your network.

Tabs

The GNOME file manager supports tabs with which you can open several folders in the same file manager window. To open a tab, select New Tab from the Tools menu (see Figure 8-25) or press Ctrl+t. You can use the Tabs buttons to move from one tab to another, or to rearrange tabs. You can also use the Ctrl+PageUp and Ctrl+PageDown keys to move from one tab to another. Use the Shift+Ctrl+PageUp and Shift+Ctrl+PageDown keys to rearrange the tabs. To close a tab, click its close (x) button on the right side of the tab (see Figure 8-27) or press Ctrl+w. Tabs are detachable. You can drag a tab out to a separate window.

Displaying and Managing Files and Folders

You can view a folder's contents as icons or as a detailed list, which you can choose by clicking the icon/list button between the search and menu buttons on the right side of the toolbar as shown here. This button toggles between icon and list views.

Use the Ctrl key to change views quickly: Ctrl+1 for icons and Ctrl+2 for list (there is no longer a Compact view). The List view provides the name, permissions, size, date, owner, and group. Buttons are displayed for each field across the top of the main pane. You can use these buttons to sort the list according to that field. For example, to sort the files by date, click the Date button; to sort by size, click Size. Click again to alternate between ascending and descending order.

Certain types of file icons display previews of their contents. For example, the icons for image files display a thumbnail of the image. A text file displays in its icon the first few words of its text.

You can click the menu button at the right of toolbar to display the file manager menu with entries for managing and sorting your file manager icons (see Table 8-4). The sort entries allow you to sort your icons by name (A-Z and Z-A), size, type, modification date, and access date. You can also reverse the order by name and modification date (see Figure 8-26).

Table 8-4

File Manager Menu

Menu Item	Description
New Folder button	Creates a new subfolder in the current folder
Bookmark button	Creates a bookmark for current folder
Tab button	Creates a new tab
Zoom In button	Enlarges icon size
Zoom Out button	Reduces icon size
Undo	Undoes the previous operation
Redo	Redoes an undo operation
A-Z	Sorts in alphabetic order
Z-A	Sorts in reverse alphabetic order
Last Modified	Sorts by last modified date
First Modified	Sorts by recent modified date
Size	Sorts by file size
Type	Sorts by file type
Show Hidden Files	Shows administrative dot files
Reload	Refreshes file and directory list

You can also bookmark the folder, create a new folder, and create a new tab . The top bar of the menu has buttons to create a new folder, create a bookmark for the current folder, and create a new file manager tab. Below that bar is a zoom bar, with zoom in and zoom out buttons, showing the zoom percentage between them. The zoom in button (+ button) enlarges your view of the window, making icons bigger. The zoom out button ( - button) reduces your view, making them smaller. You can also use the Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- keys to zoom in and out.

Previews

The file manager supports previews for many different types of files . Select a file you want to preview, then press the spacebar. A dialog window opens, displaying the contents. Picture files show the image (see Figure 8-27). You can scroll through text and PDF files. Applications files such as LibreOffice files show information about the file. Video files are played, with controls to pause and to expand to full screen.

Navigating in the File Manager

The file manager operates similarly to a web browser, using the same window to display opened folders . It maintains a list of previously viewed folders, and you can move back and forth through that list using the toolbar buttons. The left arrow button moves you to the previously displayed directory, and the right arrow button moves you to the next displayed directory. Use the sidebar to access your storage devices (USB, DVD/CD, and attached hard drives). You can also access your home folders, trash, and recent files. From the sidebar Other Locations entry, you can also access mounted network folders. As noted, the Computer entry on the Other Locations section opens your root (top) system directory.

To mark a file or folder as a favorite, right-click on it and choose Star from the pop-up menu. It can then be also accessed by clicking the starred entry on the sidebar.

Entries for removable devices in the sidebar, such as USB drives, also have menu items for Eject and Safely Remove Drive. Internal hard drives have an Unmount option instead.

Managing Files and Folders

As a GNOME-compliant file manager , Files supports desktop drag-and-drop operations for copying and moving files. To move a file or directory, drag-and-drop from one directory to another. The move operation is the default drag-and-drop operation in GNOME.

To copy a file to a new location, press the Ctrl key as you drag-and-drop. When copying a large file or many files, an icon is displayed on the title bar to the right showing a circle chart and the progress of the copy operation. Clicking on the icon displays a menu showing the progress of the copy operation, with an x to the right you can click to cancel the copy, as shown here. When the copy process for a file is completed, the x becomes a checkmark. When the entire copy process is completed for all files, the icon shows a fully dark circle.

Renaming, Removing, and Compressing Files and Folders

You can also perform remove, rename, and compress operations on a file by right-clicking its icon and selecting the action you want from the pop-up menu that appears (see Table 8-5). For example, to remove an item, right-click it and select the Move To Trash entry from the pop-up menu. This places it in the Trash directory, where you can later delete it.

To rename a file , you can either right-click the file’s icon and select the Rename entry from the pop-up menu or click its icon and press the F2 function key. The file manager displays a dialog file renaming (see Figure 8-28). When renaming a file, be sure to click the Rename button once you have entered the new name.

You can also change several filenames at once by selecting the files and then right-clicking and choosing Rename. A dialog opens listing the selected files and a text box for specifying the new names (see Figure 8-29). You can add to the name or choose the Find and Replace option to change a common part of the names. Clicking the Add button lets you choose from a list of possible automatic number formats to add. The added characters are encased in brackets in the text box, separated by commas, one for each filename. The Original File Name entry add the original filename specifier to the text box, should you remove it.

You can also rename a file by entering a new name in its Properties dialog box (Basic tab).

You can also compress and archive files and folders (see Figure 8-30). Select the files or folders to compress, right-click, and choose the Compress option. A dialog opens where you can specify the name of the compressed archive and the compression method. Choose the form of the archive from the list below the name (zip, tar, and 7z).

Grouping Files

You can select a group of files and folders by clicking the first item and then holding down the Shift key while clicking the last item, or by clicking and dragging the mouse across items you want to select. To select separated items, hold the Ctrl key down as you click the individual icons. If you want to select all the items in the directory, choose the Select All entry from the current folder's pop-up menu (see Table 8-3) or choose Ctrl+a. You can then copy, move, or delete several files at once.

Opening Applications and Files MIME Types

You can start any application in the file manager by double-clicking either the application or a data file used for that application. If you want to open the file with a specific application, you can right-click the file and select one of the Open With entries. One or more Open With entries will be displayed for default and possible application, such as Open With gedit for a text file. If the application you want is not listed, you can select Open With Other Application to access a list of available applications.

To change or set the default application to use for a certain type of file, you open a file’s Properties dialog and select the Open With tab. Here, you can choose the default application to use for that kind of file. Possible applications will be listed, organized as the default, recommended, related, and other categories. Click the one you want and click the Set As Default button. Once you choose the default, it will appear in the Open With list for this file.

If you want to add an application to the Open With menu, click the Other Applications entry to list possible applications. Select the one you want and click the Add button. If there is an application on the Open With tab that you do not want listed in the Open With menu items, right-click it and choose Forget Association.

File and Directory Properties

In a file’s Properties dialog, you can view detailed information on a file and set options and permissions (see Figure 8-31). A file’s Properties dialog has three tabs: Basic, Permissions, and Open With. Folders will have an additional Local Network Share tab, instead of an Open With tab. The Basic tab shows detailed information, such as type, size, location, accessed, and date modified. The type is a MIME type, indicating the type of application associated with it. The file’s icon is displayed at the top, with a text box showing the file’s name. You can edit the filename in the Name text box. If you want to change the icon image used for the file or folder, click the icon image (next to the name) to open a Select Custom Icon dialog and browse for the one you want. The /usr/share/pixmaps directory holds the set of current default images, although you can select your own images (click the Other Locations ➤ Computer entry to locate the pixmaps folder). In the pixmaps folder, click an image file to see its icon displayed in the right pane. Double-click to change the icon image.

The Permissions tab for files shows the read, write, and execute permissions for owner, group, and others, as set for this file. You can change any of the permissions here, provided the file belongs to you. You configure access for the owner, the group, and others, using drop-down menus. You can set owner permissions as Read Only or Read and Write. For group and others, you can also set the None option, denying access. Clicking the group name displays a menu listing different groups, allowing you to select one to change the file’s group. If you want to execute this as an application, you check the Allow Executing File as Program entry. This has the effect of setting the execute permission.

The Open With tab for files lists all the applications associated with this kind of file. You can select the one you want to use as the default. This can be particularly useful for media files, for which you may prefer a specific player for a certain file or a particular image viewer for pictures.

Certain kinds of files will have additional tabs, providing information about the file. For example, an audio file will have an Audio tab listing the type of audio file and any other information, such as a song title or the compression method used. An image file will have an Image tab listing the resolution and type of image. A video file will contain an Audio/Video tab showing the type of video file, along with compression and resolution information.

The Permissions tab for folders operates much the same way, with Access menus for Owner, Group, and Others. The Access menu controls access to the folder with options for None, List Files Only, Access Files, and Create and Delete Files. These correspond to the read and execute permissions given to directories. To set the permissions for all the files in the folder accordingly (not just the folder), click the Change Permissions for Enclosed Files button to open a dialog where you can specify the owner, group, and others permissions for files and folders in the folder.

File Manager Preferences

You can set preferences for your file manager in the Preferences dialog, accessible by selecting the Preferences item in any file manager window’s application menu (Files ➤ Preferences).

The Views tab allows you to select how files are displayed by default, such as a list or icon view. You also can set default zoom levels for icon and list views.

Behavior lets you choose how to select files, manage the trash, handle scripts, and choose what information you want displayed in an icon caption, such as the size or date.

The List Columns tab lets you choose both the features to display in the detailed list and the order in which to display them. In addition to the already-selected name, size, date, and type, you can add permissions, group, MIME type, location, accessed, and owner.

The Preview tab lets you choose whether you to show thumbnail content displayed in the icons, search subfolders, or display the file count.

File Manager Search

Two primary search tools are available for your GNOME desktop: the GNOME dash search and the GNOME file manager search. With GNOME file manager, you enter a pattern to search. You can further refine your search by specifying dates and file types. Click the Search button (looking glass icon) on the toolbar to open a Search box. Enter the pattern to search, then press Enter. The results are displayed (see Figure 8-32). Click the menu button to the right to add file-type (What) and date (When) search parameters, or to search file text or just the filename. Selecting the When entry opens a dialog where you can specify the document's last use or modification, by day, week, month, or year. A calendar button to the right of the text box for the date opens a calendar to let you choose a specific date. The What entry displays a menu with different file categories such as music, Documents, folders, picture, and PDF.