Shortcut to open the terminal specific directory

Question

I'd like to know the shortcut that lets you open a terminal window in a specific directory just like when you press the left button on it and you click on 'Open in terminal' in the pop-up menu.

Thanks in advance !!

Answer 1

The shortest way in a default installation is Ctrl+F10 E. There is no single shortcut key to directly open a terminal.

Caveat In Ubuntu 22.04 (Files 42.2) this is broken. Ctrl+F10 E now opens the folder menu of the bar (⁞) instead of the right-click context menu. That behavior also breaks the use of the Python extension described below to a large extent. Still, assigning a nautilus specific shortcut using the extension works.

A good way to implement a direct shortcut key is to replace the default extension by a nautilus python extension, nautilus-open-any-terminal. Next to allowing for a single shortcut key, it allows you to substitute a terminal of your choice, if you wish.

1. Quit nautilus fully

   nautilus -q

2. Make sure python3-nautilus is installed: sudo apt install python3-nautilus

3. Install the extension, either using pip as indicated on the website, or by grabbing the source code and placing it in a text file ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/open_any_terminal_extension.py.

4. Enable the dconf settings

   glib-compile-schemas ~/.local/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

5. Define the settings:

gsettings set com.github.stunkymonkey.nautilus-open-any-terminal terminal gnome-terminal

Supply gnome-terminal or any other of the terminals listed in the source code.

gsettings set com.github.stunkymonkey.nautilus-open-any-terminal keybindings '<Ctrl><Alt>t'

to set the Nautilus keybinding for opening the terminal.

gsettings set com.github.stunkymonkey.nautilus-open-any-terminal new-tab true

if you want to open the current directory in a new tab in a running instance. Otherwise, it will be a new window.

Bonus tips:

• Remove the now superfluous default extension: sudo apt remove nautilus-extension-gnome-terminal.

• Enable hotkeys in the right-click menu by editing the source code of the extension: where the menu label is defined, add an underscore before the letter you want to activate as a hotkey for the function, as in

  label=_(u"Op_en {} Here").format(terminal.title()),

With this example, also Ctrl+F10 E will work to open a terminal here.

Answer 2

I have recently moved to Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS and had the exact issue of not being able to open the terminal on the current directory. For example, in windows I could use alt+d and then write cmd, and the terminal would open in the current directory.

This is the closest I could get to open terminal in the current working directory using just the keyboard (it has a bit more keystroke but might be useful also)

When we are in a folder and want to open the terminal at the same place, then the following keystroke brings the terminal up in the current directory

shift+f10 then two up arrow keystroke and enter

I have to say I came across this by accident while pressing some keys on my keyboard.

I hope it helps :)

UPDATE I: I just noticed one limitation of this approach while using the above-mentioned approach. If I am already selecting one file/folder, then shift+f10 does not open the floating window that has Open in Terminal option, but it opens another floating window that is specifically related to the file/folder I have selected.

UPDATE II: Found a more convinent way shift+f10 + e. This works like a charm (given the limitation mentioned in UPDATE I sadly)