I like Dolphin, the default KDE file manager, a lot. I have used it for over 9 years. There are many features that I use regularly that I wouldn’t want to live without. In this post, I like to share my personal top 5. Some features are more obvious, others are hidden features.

1) Split windows

The split window view can be opened with the F3 key or by clicking on the Split icon. This is great for copying files from one location to another. Just drag and drop the files from left to right (or vis versa).

2) Integrated terminal

The build-in terminal can be opened by pressing the F4 key or by clicking on Control –> Panels –> Terminal. This is handy for the few Linux applications that need to be downloaded from an external website. For example: Oneplay Codec pack and Codeweavers Crossover Linux. The terminal automatically opens in the location that your are visiting, allowing you to directly input the zypper cli commands.

3) Show hidden files

Sometimes you want to edit or remove a configuration file. These files are often located in hidden folders in your Home directory. By showing the hidden files, you are able to navigate to these locations with ease.

4) Open With

The ability to open a file with the application of your choice is very handy. I like to open images with Gwenview by default. But for editing, I like to open them with Kolourpaint or GIMP. This feature allows me to do this with minimal effort.

5) Previews

You would think that this feature would be nr. 1. But unfortunately Preview didn’t always work as advertised. This was mainly a problem during the Qt 4 days (2009 – 2014). The Preview function is working without issues since the Qt 5 version of Dolphin. You can enable previews by clicking on the associated button. You can use the slider in the bottom right, to increase or decrease the size of the previews.

Published on: 21 October 2018