How to Open a Directory/Folder and a Url Through Terminal

Question

I can navigate my files quite fast through terminal. Faster than double clicking... open... look, double click... etc.

How do I open a directory in the Ubuntu GUI? For example:

cd projects
{some cmd} client_project

Then voila, it opens in the Ubuntu GUI as if i navigated manually?

Also, how can I open a URL in my default browser via terminal. It'd be awesome to go: F12

open

And Chrome opens it up.

Accepted Answer

To Open Directory:

To open a Folder from terminal type the following,

nautilus /path/to/that/folder

or

xdg-open /path/to/the/folder

i.e

nautilus /home/karthick/Music
xdg-open /home/karthick/Music

Simply typing nautilus will take you file browser,
```
nautilus
```

To Open URL:

You can type any one of the following in terminal,

xdg-open        
google-chrome                  
opera 
firefox

If you want to open two URL's at the same time then leave some space after the first URL and type the second,
```
firefox  
```

Note:

Linux is case-sensitive, so type the file name correctly.
You can also add an alias to short the command,for example if you need openurl instead of x-www-browser you should edit the .bashrc file
gedit ~/.bashrc
In the bottom of the file add the following lines
```
alias openurl=x-www-browser
```
Save and close the file.
Now you can open URLs by typing,
```
openurl 
```

Answer 2

Instead of typing all the quotes etc. one could use:

nautilus .

Works with directories containing spaces in their names.

Answer 3

You can just call the aplication. Both Nautilus and Chrome accept path (url) as parameter.

nautilus /directory/subdirectory/subsubdirectory

or

cd /directory/subdirectory/subsubdirectory and then nautilus . (the dot is important -- it says to Nautilus to open the current directory)

google-chrome

or

x-www-browser -- this command calls the browser set as default (so if your default browser is Chrome, it will open Chrome)

Answer 4

Nope, the above answers are OK, but this is what I think you are looking for:

nautilus "$(pwd)"

xdg-open "$(pwd)"

I was just experimenting today, and it worked. Isn't it fabulous?

Answer 5

Open Directory:

To open a Directory or Folder from terminal.
```
nautilus /home/user/path_to_folder/ &
```
Or
```
xdg-open /home/user/path_to_folder/ &
```
The ampersand & is used; so the process get start into the background and we can continue to use the shell or terminal without waiting for script to get finished.

Note: For better result use absolute path.

Open URL

Type any one of the following in terminal.
```
opera  &
firefox  &
xdg-open  &
```

To close directory, URL, etc.:

Onto the Folder/URL or any screen window, type Ctrl + w

Answer 6

To open a directory/ folder

You can use, nautilus . and press enter to open the current directory.

To open path specified location try the following.

E.g. If you want to open Music folder under this location:

/media/dulithdecozta/A08A64BB8A648F98/Music/

Then execute the following.

nautilus /media/dulithdecozta/A08A64BB8A648F98/Music/

To open a URL via the terminal

E.g. Lets open stackoverflow.com via terminal

(Google Chrome)

google-chrome

(Firefox)

firefox

Answer 7

The easy way is to paste the url file in the address box of Firefox, at least, haven't tried other browsers, and when you hit enter Firefox shows the real address of the url. Paste that in the address box. Works for me

How to Open a Directory/Folder and a Url Through Terminal

7 Answers

Open Directory:

Open URL

To close directory, URL, etc.:

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Elena Rostova

How to Open a Directory/Folder and a Url Through Terminal

7 Answers

Open Directory:

Open URL

To close directory, URL, etc.:

Must Read

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Elena Rostova