Learn about Linux SpaceFM file manager

If you're happy with your file managers on Linux, but you want to try one with a slightly different design, SpaceFM is worth a look.

SpaceFM is a tabbed file manager for Linux using the GTK toolkit, so it is suitable for use on the desktop of GNOME, Mate, Cinnamon, etc. SpaceFM also has a built-in device manager system, so it is particularly suitable for window managers like Fluxbox or fvwm, which typically do not include a graphical device manager. If you're happy with your file managers on Linux, but you want to try one with a slightly different design, SpaceFM is worth a look.

Install SpaceFM

On Linux, you may find SpaceFM in your distribution's repository. In Fedora, Mageia, OpenMandriva and similar software:

$ sudo dnf install spacefm

On Debian and Debian-based systems:

$ sudo apt install spacefm

panel

I don’t know why SpaceFM is called SpaceFM, but it’s probably because it strives to let you use every bit of space in your window to do something useful. By default, SpaceFM is actually a fairly simple, standard file manager. It has a panel that lists your files, a toolbar, and a menu bar.

All "normal" rules apply:

1. Double-click to open a directory or open a file in its default application.
2. Right-clicking provides a context menu with many standard options (copy, paste, rename, view properties, create new folder, etc.).

But the way SpaceFM sets itself apart is with its panel system. SpaceFM displays one panel by default. This is the file list window that takes up most of the space. But it can have up to four panel views, plus some extra panels for some specific tasks.

Open a new panel

In your file manager, instead of seeing one directory, you can see two directories. To bring up another directory in its own pane, press Ctrl 2 or enter the View menu and select Panel 2. Alternatively, click the second green dot icon from the left in the menu panel.

With two panels, you can move files from one directory to another without opening a new file manager window, or you can browse two directories to compare their contents.

But why settle for two panels? Maybe you'd rather see three directories at once. To bring up the third directory in a dedicated pane, press Ctrl 3 or enter the View menu and select Panel 3. Alternatively, click the third green dot icon from the left in the menu panel. This panel appears at the bottom of the SpaceFM window.

With three panels open, you can move files between several directories, or sort files from a common "dump" (like your desktop or Downloads folder) to specific directories.

Of course, after you try three panels, you may find yourself longing for a fourth panel. To open the fourth directory in its own pane, and so on. Alternatively, click the fourth green dot icon from the left in the menu panel. This will open next to panel three and split your SpaceFM window into four.

So what about the fifth panel? Well, actually SpaceFM only has four panels. If you really want to have a fifth panel, you have to open a new SpaceFM window. However, there are still more panels, for information beyond the file list, to explore.

Special Panel

As you can see in the "View" menu, in addition to the file panel, there are also some specific task panels that can be selected to be displayed. This includes:

1. "Task manager": Lists ongoing file manager processes. This is not a general purpose task manager, so to set nice values ​​or detect zombie PIDs, htop or top are still the tools you should choose.
2. Bookmarks: Links to frequently used folders such as Desktop, Documents, Downloads and anywhere you want to keep them handy.
3. "Devices": USB drives and remote file systems.
4. "File tree": View the file system in the order of directory inheritance.

These panels open on the left side of SpaceFM, but they are stacked. You can have bookmarks, devices, tasks and file trees open at the same time, although it will have a very tall SpaceFM window.

Make room for SpaceFM

SpaceFM is a configurable multitasking file manager. It maximizes the information you can display in a window and lets you decide what is important and when. This article focuses on SpaceFM’s panels because, at least in my opinion, these are the most unique aspects of the app. However, there's a lot more to SpaceFM, including plugins, preferences, design modes, keyboard shortcuts, and customizations. This is not a small application, although it is lightweight. Spend some time on SpaceFM because you never know what you might find.

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