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Nautilus Clipboard Extender: Ultimate Clipboard History for Ubuntu File Manager

Nautilus Clipboard Extender: Ultimate Clipboard History for Ubuntu File Manager If you’re a Linux user who frequently works with files in Nautilus…

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Nautilus Clipboard Extender: Ultimate Clipboard History for Ubuntu File Manager

If you’re a Linux user who frequently works with files in Nautilus (the default file manager in Ubuntu), you already know how cumbersome it can be to copy multiple file names one at a time. What if you could maintain a clipboard history of every file you copy, making it effortless to paste any previously copied filename? Enter the Nautilus Clipboard Extender — a Python-based Nautilus extension that transforms your file management workflow.

What is Nautilus Clipboard Extender?

Nautilus Clipboard Extender is an open-source extension for the GNOME Files application (Nautilus) that adds powerful clipboard history functionality. Every time you copy a filename from Nautilus, it’s automatically saved to a history file that persists between sessions.

Key Features

  • Automatic History Tracking — Files you copy are automatically added to your clipboard history
  • Persistent Storage — History is saved to ~/.clipboard_history and survives restarts
  • Quick Access — Easily paste any previously copied filename
  • Simple Installation — No complex setup required
  • Open Source — Free to use and modify
Ready to boost your productivity? Get the extension from GitHub and start managing your clipboard history like a pro.

Installation

Getting started with Nautilus Clipboard Extender takes just a few minutes:

# Install xclip (if not already installed)
sudo apt install xclip

# Create extension directory
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions

# Clone or copy the extension
git clone https://github.com/whistle-coder/clipboard-extender.git
cp clipboard-extender/nautilus-clipboard_extender.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/

# Restart Nautilus to activate the extension
nautilus -q

How It Works

The extension integrates directly into Nautilus’s context menu. When you select one or more files and choose “Copy: filename” from the right-click menu:

  1. The filename is copied to your system clipboard using xclip
  2. The filename is automatically added to ~/.clipboard_history
  3. You can access your full history anytime

To view your clipboard history, simply open the history file:

cat ~/.clipboard_history

Why Do You Need Clipboard History?

Consider these everyday scenarios:

  • Web Development — Copy multiple image files (logo.png, hero.jpg, icon.svg) and paste them one by one into your HTML
  • Server Management — Copy log filenames and switch between them quickly
  • Document Organization — Keep track of recently used filenames across different folders
  • Batch Operations — Build a library of commonly used filenames

Requirements

  • Ubuntu or GNOME-based Linux distribution
  • Python 3
  • Nautilus file manager
  • xclip package

Source Code

The complete source code is available on GitHub:

View on GitHub

Feel free to fork the repository, report issues, or contribute improvements!

Conclusion

The Nautilus Clipboard Extender is a simple yet powerful tool that significantly improves productivity for Linux users who work with files regularly. By maintaining a persistent history of every filename you copy, it eliminates the frustration of losing clipboard content or needing to navigate back to a file just to copy its name again.

Try it today and experience a smoother file management workflow on Ubuntu!

Tags: #Ubuntu #Nautilus #Linux #Clipboard #Productivity #GNOME #OpenSource