Situation:
When we are in a directory in the standard file explorer app Files on Zorin OS, and we start typing the characters for the name of a file or folder in the open directory:
Expectation:
I want the cursor or the selected item in the open explorer page to navigate to the file or folder name that is matching the entered characters.
Actual:
Instead, upon typing a character, it goes to "Search" or "Find" mode at the top of the Files explorer. And shows search results for items matching the entered characters.
Reason:
When I want to use the "Find" or "Search" feature, I will use it. I will trigger it through the find shortcut key or button. But when I type the characters, I just want to navigate to the file starting with those characters.
For example, if my open explorer page has 500 files, and I want to jump to the file starting with character "TR", I will only type TR and it should jump to that file. I do not want to search the open directory for all files with "TR" in it. Another example, if my folder has files in this naming convention: "YYYY-MM", and it starts since 1990, and I want to jump to the year 2023, I can do that by just typing 2023 and the page will scroll to that file or folder directly. Then I can continue navigating using arrow buttons to 2024, 2025, etc. Instead, current implementation will only show me one file with is 2023.
This is a way to navigate to a file quickly in the explorer without having to scroll down or use a mouse manually.
The current implementation is not proper.
Reference:
Windows Explorer does this perfectly well. We want exactly that feature on Zorin OS Files app as well.
Further Clarification:
I don't want to remove the quick search trigger on typing the characters, as that may be how other users may be used to using explorer navigation, but at least give us an option. When we type characters on an open Files Explorer page, should the system just jump to the file/folder or should it trigger the search function. Search function should be accessible through a dedicated keyboard shortcut and a button on screen anyway.