On this page
Open Files. The window begins in Home, the main folder for your account’s personal files and settings.
Home is a starting place inside Ubuntu’s filesystem. It is not a second disk, and it is not the name of the whole internal drive.
Read the Files window
The left sidebar provides shortcuts to useful locations. The exact list changes with Ubuntu version, settings, and connected devices, but you may see:
- Home for your account’s personal area.
- Recent for files used recently.
- Starred for locations or files you marked for quick access.
- Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos.
- Trash for items removed from ordinary folders.
- Removable drives and network locations when available.
The main area shows the contents of the selected location. The path bar above it shows where you are. Each named segment is a folder you can return to.
If the sidebar is hidden, use the window’s sidebar control. Do not assume a missing shortcut means the folder was deleted.
Home is your personal starting point
Each normal account has its own Home folder. Its complete path normally looks like:
/home/username
username stands for the account’s actual user name. It is not text to copy literally.
For an account named sam, Home would normally be:
/home/sam
The leading / means the path starts at the top of Ubuntu’s filesystem. This is a preview of a concept taught properly in the planned Linux Terminal Basics path; you do not need a command to use it here.
What the common folders are for
Downloads is where a web browser usually saves downloaded files unless you choose another location. If a new file seems missing, check Downloads first and sort by modified date.
Documents is a sensible home for text documents, spreadsheets, and project notes. Ubuntu does not force every document into it.
Pictures, Music, and Videos are organizational folders. Applications may use them as default save locations.
Desktop, when present, corresponds to items shown on the desktop background. Some configurations do not show that shortcut or display desktop icons in the same way.
Folders do not decide what a file contains. A picture placed in Documents remains a picture.
Open a folder and return safely
- Select Downloads in the sidebar.
- Read the path bar and folder heading.
- Open a folder with a double-click, or select it and press
Enter. - Use a parent segment in the path bar or the back button to return.
Opening a folder only changes what Files is displaying. It does not move the folder or make it the computer’s permanent default location.
Recent and Starred are views, not extra copies
Recent gathers references to files you used recently. Opening a file there opens its real file; it does not create another copy in a Recent folder.
Starred is a convenience view for items you marked. Removing a star removes the shortcut, not the original file.
When you need to know where a result really lives, inspect its location or open its containing folder.
Trash is a recovery location
Ordinary deletion in Files normally moves an item to Trash. The original folder no longer shows it, but the data can usually be restored until Trash is emptied.
Items on some removable or network storage can behave differently. The next lesson practices deletion and recovery without involving important files.
Common mistakes
Saving a file but not knowing where. Read the save dialog’s location before selecting Save. Check Downloads for browser files and Recent for recently opened documents.
Thinking a sidebar shortcut is a separate copy. Downloads in the sidebar points to the same Downloads folder inside Home.
Treating Home as the entire SSD. Home is one account’s personal area within the installed system.
Opening a file from Recent and forgetting its real folder. Inspect the file’s location before moving or deleting it.
Assuming an empty folder means data vanished. Confirm the selected location, then check Trash and use Files search.
Practice
Knowledge check
Where would this file probably be saved?
A browser downloaded a file named lesson-notes.pdf, and you did not choose another folder.
Name the first place to check, then explain how the path bar confirms where you are.
What to learn next
Continue to Create, Rename, Copy, Move, and Delete Files in Ubuntu and practice with a disposable folder rather than important data.