Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

cyberplunk · 2025-10-04 15:39:26

I'm looking for some kind of documentation on how to navigate a "Save As" window with the keyboard:

This window appears to have a scaled-down/alternate version of the controls available in a normal Thunar pane. However, I'd like to be able to do things such as create new folders, switch to bookmarked folders, jump back to the file name box, and easily navigate up and down the folder hierarchy without using the mouse or the Tab key. What shortcuts are available to me in this window?

ToZ · 2025-10-04 16:30:19

If this is the GtkFileChooser (which it would be unless you changed it via xdg-portal configurations), then here is a listing of the default keybindings in that dialog from Gtk3 source.

According to the Gtk3 key bindings documentation, you can also override them with CSS.

cyberplunk · 2025-10-04 20:23:55

Thank you. This is definitely helpful! I'm sorry to see that there's only support for 10 bookmarked folders (I definitely have more), and I wish my Thunar bookmark shortcuts carried over to these windows as well. Maybe I'll make a feature request.

Do you know if there's a shortcut to create a new folder?

ToZ · 2025-10-04 20:47:28

cyberplunk wrote:

Do you know if there's a shortcut to create a new folder?

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/957

cyberplunk · 2025-10-04 21:37:11

ToZ wrote:

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/957

I'm having a bit of trouble parsing the outcome of this discussion. Ctrl + Shift + N doesn't work for me. Is it supposed to, or is my understanding supposed to be that there's some philosophical opposition to such a shortcut? (Or has it simply not been implemented yet?)

Last edited by cyberplunk (2025-10-04 21:38:43)

ToZ · 2025-10-04 22:01:01

It's been proposed but not yet accepted. The bug report is still open. Meaning, there is no shortcut currently.

cyberplunk · 2025-10-04 22:07:22

ToZ wrote:

It's been proposed but not yet accepted. The bug report is still open. Meaning, there is no shortcut currently.

That's a shame. Oh well. What GTK function gets called when the user clicks on the "Create New Folder" button, and is it something I could call directly? If so, I don't mind binding my own global shortcut.

ToZ · 2025-10-05 00:47:10

To do that you would need to patch GTK3 and run your own version.

The only other way I can think of is to use an automation tool like xdotool, to move the mouse cursor to the correct location and execute a mouse press. Here is a quick script I threw together that works on my system:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# MX is horizontal offset of button from right edge of dialog (will be subracted)
MX=50
# MY is vertical offset of button from top edge of dialog (will be added)
MY=100

GEO=$(xdotool getactivewindow getwindowgeometry --shell)
X=$(echo $GEO | awk '{print $2}' | awk -F'=' '{print $2}')
Y=$(echo $GEO | awk '{print $3}' | awk -F'=' '{print $2}')
W=$(echo $GEO | awk '{print $4}' | awk -F'=' '{print $2}')
H=$(echo $GEO | awk '{print $5}' | awk -F'=' '{print $2}')

_MX=$((X + W - MX))
_MY=$((Y + MY))

xdotool mousemove $_MX $_MY click 1

You will need to edit the MX and MY variables at the top of the script (MX will probably be the same, but MY will need to be adjusted - maybe to around 175 or 200) based on your image.

Make the script executable and assign it a shortcut key. When the dialog is open, press the shortcut key to execute the script that should press the New Folder button.

Note: watch where the mouse cursor ends up to give you a clue as to how close you are to the button, and the adjustments you will need to make to MX and/or MY.

Hope this works for you.

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#1 2025-10-04 15:39:26

Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#2 2025-10-04 16:30:19

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#3 2025-10-04 20:23:55

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#4 2025-10-04 20:47:28

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#5 2025-10-04 21:37:11

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#6 2025-10-04 22:01:01

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#7 2025-10-04 22:07:22

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

#8 2025-10-05 00:47:10

Re: Keyboard Shortcuts in "Save As" Window

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