{"id":69374,"date":"2022-12-11T09:01:41","date_gmt":"2022-12-11T09:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=69374"},"modified":"2022-12-11T09:01:41","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T09:01:41","slug":"simplify-your-linux-pc-with-the-pcmanfm-file-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=69374","title":{"rendered":"Simplify your Linux PC with the PCManFM file manager"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">Simplify your Linux PC with the PCManFM file manager<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden\"><a title=\"View user profile.\" href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/users\/seth\" class=\"username\">Seth Kenlon<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden\">Sun, 12\/11\/2022 &#8211; 03:00<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>The PCMan File Manager, or PCManFM for short, is a fast and lightweight file manager that&#8217;s full of features. It was developed for the <a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/article\/19\/12\/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop\">LXDE<\/a> desktop environment, but is a stand-alone application and can be used with the desktop or window manager of your choice.<\/p>\n<h2>Install PCManFM<\/h2>\n<p>On Linux, you can probably find PCManFM in your software repository. For instance, on Fedora, Mageia, and similar:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"highlight\">\n<span class=\"geshifilter\"><code class=\"bash geshifilter-bash\"><span class=\"co4\">$ <\/span><span class=\"kw2\">sudo<\/span> dnf <span class=\"kw2\">install<\/span> pcmanfm<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n<p>On Debian, Elementary, and similar:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"highlight\">\n<span class=\"geshifilter\"><code class=\"bash geshifilter-bash\"><span class=\"co4\">$ <\/span><span class=\"kw2\">sudo<\/span> apt <span class=\"kw2\">install<\/span> pcmanfm<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n<article class=\"align-center media media--type-image media--view-mode-default\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item\">  <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/pcmanfilemanager.png\" width=\"575\" height=\"412\" alt=\"Image of the PCMan file manager.\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden caption field__item\"><span class=\"caption__byline\">Image by: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>(Seth Kenlon, CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>PCManFM doesn&#8217;t have to replace your desktop&#8217;s file manager, but some distributions assume that when you install a &#8220;third party&#8221; file manager, you want it to take precedence over the default. Depending on the desktop you&#8217;re using, there are different ways of setting your default file manager. Usually, it&#8217;s in <strong>System Settings<\/strong> under <strong>Default Applications<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If your desktop environment or window manager has no interface to select your default applications, you can set your preference in the <code>~\/.local\/share\/applications\/mimeapps.list<\/code> file. To designate a file manager as default, place it at the top of the <code>[Default Applications]<\/code> section, first specifying the file type and then the name of the application file (as it appears in <code>\/usr\/share\/applications<\/code>) you want to use to open it:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"highlight\">\n<span class=\"geshifilter\"><code class=\"bash geshifilter-bash\">inode<span class=\"sy0\">\/<\/span><span class=\"re2\">directory<\/span>=myfilemanager.desktop;<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n<h2>PCManFM<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re a fan of GNOME 2 or the Mate project&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/article\/22\/12\/linux-file-manager-caja\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"caja\" rel=\"noopener\">Caja file manager<\/a>, then PCManFM is a great alternative to consider. PCManFM is a lot like Caja in design, but it&#8217;s not bound to the desktop in the way Caja is, so it&#8217;s available even on the latest GNOME desktop.<\/p>\n<p>The default layout of PCManFM has a helpful toolbar near the top of the window, a side panel providing quick access to common directories and drives, and a status bar with details about your current selection. You can hide or show any of these elements using the <strong>View<\/strong> menu.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"embedded-resource-list callout-float-right\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item\">More Linux resources<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-links field--type-link field--label-hidden field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.redhat.com\/cheat-sheets\/linux-commands-cheat-sheet\/?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">Linux commands cheat sheet<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.redhat.com\/cheat-sheets\/advanced-linux-commands\/?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">Advanced Linux commands cheat sheet<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redhat.com\/en\/services\/training\/rh024-red-hat-linux-technical-overview?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">Free online course: RHEL technical overview<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/downloads\/cheat-sheet-networking?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">Linux networking cheat sheet<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/downloads\/cheat-sheet-selinux?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">SELinux cheat sheet<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/downloads\/linux-common-commands-cheat-sheet?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">Linux common commands cheat sheet<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/resources\/what-are-linux-containers?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">What are Linux containers?<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/tags\/linux?intcmp=70160000000h1jYAAQ\">Our latest Linux articles<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Tabs and panels<\/h2>\n<p>PCManFM also uses tabs. If you&#8217;ve never used a tabbed file manager before, then think of a web browser and how it uses tabs to let you open multiple web pages in just one window. PCManFM can similarly open several directories in the same window.<\/p>\n<p>To transfer a file or folder from one tab to another, just drag the file&#8217;s icon to the tab and hover. After a nominal delay, PCManFM brings the target tab to the front so you can continue your drag-and-drop operation. It takes some getting used to if you&#8217;re not used to interacting with tabs in a file manager, but it doesn&#8217;t take long, and it&#8217;s a very powerful feature for decluttering your workspace.<\/p>\n<p>Another nice feature of the PCManFM interface is its ability to split a window into two panels. Each panel is effectively a tab, but each one only takes up half of the window.<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center media media--type-image media--view-mode-default\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item\">  <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/E2808BDual.panel_.in2520PCManFM.png\" width=\"640\" height=\"410\" alt=\"Image of dual panels in PCMan.png\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden caption field__item\"><span class=\"caption__byline\">Image by: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>(Seth Kenlon, CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>This makes dragging from one to the other just as easy and natural as dragging a file into a folder. I find it useful for comparing the contents of folders, too.<\/p>\n<h2>File management with PCMan<\/h2>\n<p>PCManFM is a great little file manager with all the basic features you need on an everyday basis. It&#8217;s a natural replacement for a file manager you might find too complicated, as well as a great option on <a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/article\/22\/10\/obsolete-computer-linux-opportunity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">old computers<\/a> that might struggle with a file manager that&#8217;s constantly drawing thumbnails and refreshing and generating animations. PCMan focuses on the core task of a file manager: managing files. Try it out on your Linux PC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-article-subhead field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>PCMan File Manager is a great option for making old computers feel more efficient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-lead-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<article class=\"media media--type-image media--view-mode-caption\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item\">  <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/1980s-computer-yearbook.png\" width=\"520\" height=\"292\" alt=\"Compute like it's 1989\" title=\"Compute like it's 1989\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden caption field__item\"><span class=\"caption__byline\">Image by: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>LSE Library. Modified by Opensource.com. CC BY-SA 4.0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/tags\/linux\" hreflang=\"en\">Linux<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden field field--name-field-listicle-title field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item\">What to read next<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-default-license field--type-list-string field--label-hidden field__item\"><a rel=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cc-by-sa--20.png\" title=\"This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.\"><\/a>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.<\/div>\n<section class=\"field field--name-field-comments field--type-comment field--label-hidden comment-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"comments__count\">\n<div class=\"login\"><a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/user\/register?absolute=1\">Register<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/opensource.com\/user\/login?destination=\/feed&amp;absolute=1\">Login<\/a> to post a comment.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wpematico_credit\"><small>Powered by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wpematico.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simplify your Linux PC with the PCManFM file manager Seth Kenlon Sun, 12\/11\/2022 &#8211; 03:00 The PCMan File Manager, or PCManFM for short, is a fast and lightweight file manager that&#8217;s full of features. It was developed for the LXDE desktop environment, but is a stand-alone application and can be used with the desktop or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[307],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-source"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}