A new spatial window opens each time you open a folder. To open a folder, do one of the following:

To close the current folder while opening the new one, hold down Shift when double-clicking, or press Shift+Alt+down arrow.

Figure 6.3, “Contents of a folder in a spatial mode.” shows a spatial mode window that displays the contents of the Computer folder.

Figure 6.3. Contents of a folder in a spatial mode.

In spatial mode each open Nautilus windows shows only one location. Selecting a second location will open a second Nautilus window. Because each location remembers the previous position on screen in which it was opened it allows you to easily recognize folders when many of them are open at once.

Some people consider spatial mode better, particularly for moving files or folders to different location, others find the number of open windows daunting. Figure 6.4, “Three Folders Opened in Spatial Mode.” shows an example of spatial browsing with many open locations.

Figure 6.4. Three Folders Opened in Spatial Mode.

	Note
	Because spatial mode will fill your screen with Nautilus windows it is important to be able to reposition them effectively. By holding the the ALT and clicking anywhere within the bounds of a Nautilus window you may reposition it simply, instead of the requiring that you reposition it by dragging its title bar.

Table 6.1, “The Spatial Window Components” describes the components of file object windows.

Table 6.1. The Spatial Window Components

Component	Description
Menubar	Contains menus that you use to perform tasks in the file manager. You can also open a popup menu from file manager windows. To open this popup menu right-click in a file manager window. The items in this menu depend on where you right-click. For example, when you right-click on a file or folder, you can choose items related to the file or folder. When you right-click on the background of a view pane, you can choose items related to the display of items in the view pane.
View pane	Shows the contents of the following: Folders FTP sites Windows shares WebDAV servers Locations that correspond to special URIs
Statusbar	Displays status information.
Parent folder selector	This drop-down list shows the hierarchy of the folder. Choose a folder from the list to open it. Tip Hold down Shift while choosing from the list to close the current folder as you open the new one.

To display your Home Folder, perform one of the following actions:

The spatial window displays the contents of your Home Folder.

A parent folder is the folder that contains the current folder. To display the contents of your current folder's parent, do one of the following:

To close the current folder while opening the parent, hold down Shift while choosing from the parent folder selector, or press Shift+Alt+up arrow.

To close folders you may simply click on the close window button, this however may not be the most efficient way to close many windows. If you would like to view only the current folder, and not the folders you opened to reach the current folder, choose File->Close Parent Folders. If want to close all folders on the screen, choose File->Close All Folders.

If you wish to display a single folder in browser mode, while otherwise continuing to work in spatial mode, perform the following steps:

You can open a folder or other location in spatial mode by typing its name.

Choose File->Open Location (L), and type the path or URI of the location you wish to open.