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I use ubuntu 14.04. As copy/paste for no reason suddenly fails, since nautilus on ubuntu 12.10, I am looking for a workaround.

The workaround can be any trick you came by. I have several (10+) tabs opened and there is NO WAY to close and open nautilus with all them back opened? if there is, this would be a workaround! I, at least, could find no way even with qdbus (may be I dont know how to use it very well).

In case you know what causes this problem, I would like to know too, but not required.

I was thinking, if I could collect all tab locations thru, may be, qdbus, I could create a script to re-open them on a new nautilus window.

PS.: you can help too by following @isync suggestion at comments below!

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  • what did it say when failed? Do you have free space enough for copying certain data? Is the copying source local or remote? May 31, 2014 at 2:01
  • it did not had a fail message! you just try "ctrl+c" and "ctrl+v" and nothing happens; nothing happens also if you use context menu and select copy or paste... the only way is to select the files and drag, that is the only thing that works; after begin dragging hold alt to choose what to do, that is the only way I found to move files when nautilus bugs out :(, so if nautilus is restarted it works again, but I loose all the 10+ tabs I was working on!!! the copying source is local and I have enough space. May 31, 2014 at 5:00
  • there is this experimental script to workaround that: sourceforge.net/p/scriptechocolor/git/ci/master/tree/… Jun 8, 2014 at 23:34
  • interestingly enough! Jun 9, 2014 at 1:23
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    Known bug. bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1322925 Please click "this bug affects me" there to convince devs of its urgency. (and upvote @darkhole 's answer here)
    – isync
    Nov 14, 2014 at 14:53

6 Answers 6

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This a Nautilus bug, you can check it here.

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  • Seems to be fixed now :) Mar 16, 2015 at 14:03
  • Yes, it has been fixed a few weeks ago.
    – isync
    Mar 17, 2015 at 19:03
  • Not, it's not. I use Ubuntu 15.04, and couldn't understand why when I copied files, the result was always random - not all files copied, some files becomes corrupted, the progress bar moves too quickly and the real process continues even after the window has already disappeared etc. Bottom line, the UI-based file management process in the latest Ubuntu 15.04 RTM is completely unreliable.
    – Mike
    May 15, 2015 at 5:46
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A workaround i found is to restart nautilus

nautilus -q

Then open Files and now copy/paste should work.

I have checked this in Ubuntu 14.04 and it's working.

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  • 3
    but then I would loose all my 10+ open tabs :( Jun 29, 2014 at 20:32
  • It's Also Worked at Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS
    – MoYa
    Nov 9, 2021 at 9:29
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You shouldn't try a "workaround" if you would have to mess with config files. This is clearly a bug and it has been filed already.

Can you copy files if you drag them with the mouse while holding CTRL (a little "+" should appear beside the icon of the file you are dragging)?

Also try to start nautilus from a terminal (by writing nautilus) to see if it writes any error messages. Also try starting nautilus with sudo from a terminal: sudo nautilus and try if it works then (can be a permission issue if it does). However, NEVER use sudo nautilus for your regular work, even if it works as it is a security risk.

As a last resort because you will have to wait for the bug to be fixed you can try another file manager, e.g. Nemo which is a fork of Nautilus or Thunar.

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  • nautilus is too handy, I am looking for a workaround because I dont want to use another :). Btw, indeed using keyboard+mouse may work fine, that is a good tip; but actually try this: drag files with the mouse, after that hold alt keyboard key, then after that release the mouse key while holding the Alt key; it will show options for everything! if it works for you, update you question so I can upvote you; but I am still looking for a way to force nautilus work correctly :), check also the experimental script on one of my comment on my own OP. Aug 14, 2014 at 17:20
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    Uhm. I wrote that so you can try if just the copy/paste command fails or if nautilus is completely unable to create copies. I know the shortcuts ;-)
    – Broco
    Aug 14, 2014 at 17:24
  • after it bugs out, it still can create copies but only when I hold ctrl or alt; I meant alt being more powerful as it can do more things, but some ppl dont know it like I didnt for a long time! ctrl+shift for symlinks but there was no option to move files "between two different partitions" other than the alt mode afaik (the default is to copy dragged files between 2 partitions); so your answer could be a complete workaround if it had that info :) Aug 14, 2014 at 22:18
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    Move files (even between partitions): Hold Shift, Copy files: Hold Ctrl, Create Symlink: Hold Ctrl + Shift
    – Broco
    Aug 14, 2014 at 22:55
  • worked! holding these keys are less practical than ctrl+{c,x,v} but helps when we don't want to close 10+ tabs; I saw there, so it is really a bug; the intended workaround is still a way to "live with the bug"; the point is, if nautilus simply had an history of last opened folders that we could re-open on its restart, it would be easier to deal with this bug and any other bug that requires it to be restarted; also after reboot the machine we are unable to continue from where we were; so I miss that feature, and such a workaround could make that work (as that script does, with limitations tho). Aug 15, 2014 at 4:05
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I'm using the file manger Nemo on Ubuntu 14.04 and got the same problem. Copy, Cut and Paste suddenly stopped working.

After closing all file manager windows and reopen them it worked again.

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  • that is still a problem; if nautilus/nemo had some simple option to start and open all tabs that were previously opened, it would be ok. so if I have 10+ open tabs, what will I do? will be troublesome mostly because the problem can simply happen again any moment :( Dec 27, 2014 at 18:34
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I have the same problem. My solution was to:

  1. Launch Nautilus from a command prompt and, for me, it work fine;
  2. Close Nautilus;
  3. Open Nautilus normally from the Desktop, and this now works fine.
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An interesting workaround can be found here.

It basically makes symlinks to nautilus tabs folders at a /tmp,
restarts nautilus at that backup folder,
select all folders symlinks,
and open them all as tabs with "ctrl+shift+t".

#the list of open tabs least current one (dup it prior):  
qdbus org.gnome.Nautilus /org/freedesktop/FileManager1 org.freedesktop.FileManager1.OpenLocations
# use it to create a folder with symlinks pointing to them

# after opening nautilus on that folder directly
# select all of the symlinks and open'em on new tabs
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