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Type-to-jump behaviour gone? #3869
Description
Previously when typing, nemo would jump to the first file matching the typed input — this is pretty universal behaviour across file managers, and incredibly useful.
As of 6.8.1, this is no longer the case. When I type, nemo instead "hides" files in the current view based on some unclear heuristic.
Is it somehow possible to configure nemo to restore the previous behaviour?
Reacted by BBaoVanC and Christian Hubmann
Activity
WhyNotHugo commentedon Nov 2, 2026
Apparently the old behaviour was entirely removed in 11df68c.
I'd really appreciate if we could at least have a knob to retain it, it's an incredibly useful feature.
NickNackGus commentedon Nov 9, 2026
Agreed; I don't mind the new filter mode as far as figuring out matches is concerned, but being able to see all files while still jumping to the first match is nice. I could see keeping the bold formatting on what parts match as well so long as the selection jumps around instead of the file list shrinking. That, and definitely as a toggle for those that prefer the new behavior.
OfficialStamper commentedon Nov 10, 2026
There is a search/find function for finding matching strings. Pre-type should take you to file beginning with the typed characters only. Why have 2 functions now doing the same thing and the old functionality removed?
mtwebster commentedon Nov 10, 2026
Explained a bit here: #3746 (comment)
We weren't fans of the 'jump' behavior for a very long time, hence the change.
WhyNotHugo commentedon Nov 10, 2026
alexklapheke commentedon Nov 11, 2026
I agree that the old behavior should, at least, be offered as an option.
With the old behavior, I could navigate very quickly by looking at the item I wanted to open and typing letters of its name until I could see that it was selected. With the new behavior, my eyes have to jump to the left of the screen each time to check if the right item was matched (and it's difficult to predict if it will be—the fuzzy algorithm seems to sort items with the same prefix by length, rather than alphabetically).
In addition, the matching itself seems to be laggy: if I'm in my home directory with subdirectory
Documents, and I quickly typedoc<Enter>, one of three things happens, seemingly at random:Documentsdirectory is opened as I intended.Documentsdirectory is selected but not opened (I guess the<Enter>doesn't register?)Downloadsordotfiles) is opened (it seems because the<Enter>registers before Nemo has refined the search to include theoor thec?)Tanza3D commentedon Nov 13, 2026
At the moment I'm literally stuck on my own local fork with a bodged barely functional reimplementation of the old method as the new one is simply unusable for me, it is incredibly upsetting that such a simple option is simply disregarded even though many of your users would rather use it. Nemo is pretty much the only file manager I like on Linux, partically BECAUSE of how it's typeahead search worked and matched Windows and such, losing it is ridiculous.
If anyone has any other file managers to switch to I'd love some suggestions, I can't maintain my own version forever, I simply don't have the time.
mtwebster commentedon Nov 13, 2026
@alexklapheke if you can reproduce an issue, open a bug report.
WhyNotHugo commentedon Nov 13, 2026
pcmanfm has been a great replacement for me, a few other small quirks are also a non-issue there.