Using Dolphin Instead of Nautilus on Ubuntu 24.04 (Practical Guide + Caveats)

Nautilus, the default file manager on Ubuntu, is clean and simple.
But if you’re a developer, it can feel a bit limiting.

• No split view (F3)
• No integrated terminal panel inside the window (only “Open in Terminal”)
• Limited customization

That’s why many people end up looking at Dolphin, the KDE file manager.

The catch is: installing it isn’t enough.

In this guide, I’ll walk through how to use Dolphin as your effective default file manager on Ubuntu 24.04 — and what limitations you should expect.

1. Install Dolphin (Minimal Setup)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install dolphin kde-cli-tools kio-extras

What these packages do:

• dolphin → the file manager itself
• kde-cli-tools → tools like kioclient, needed for file associations and system integration
• kio-extras → adds support for thumbnails, sftp, smb, and other protocols

⚠️ Note
Some guides recommend installing kde-standard, but that pulls in the full KDE Plasma desktop environment (hundreds of MB, plus a new login session).
If you’re on GNOME, the three packages above are enough.

2. Set Dolphin as the Default File Manager (Important)

This is where most guides fall short.

On Ubuntu 24.04, you need to update both MIME systems for consistent behavior.

① Set with xdg-mime

xdg-mime default org.kde.dolphin.desktop inode/directory

② Set with gio (GNOME)

gio mime inode/directory org.kde.dolphin.desktop

GNOME tends to prioritize its own gio MIME database, so if you only set xdg-mime, Nautilus may still open in some cases.

👉 Set both to avoid surprises.

✔ Verify the setting

xdg-mime query default inode/directory

Expected output:

org.kde.dolphin.desktop

3. You Can’t Fully Replace Nautilus

This is important to understand upfront.

Ubuntu uses GNOME, and Nautilus is deeply integrated into it.
So some parts of the system will still behave as if Nautilus is the default.

Examples:

• The “Files” shortcut in GNOME Shell
• Some GNOME apps opening folders internally

Also, file chooser dialogs (Open/Save) are not controlled by the file manager:

• GTK apps use GTK dialogs
• Qt apps use Qt dialogs

Changing MIME settings won’t affect those.

👉 In practice:

You can make Dolphin behave like the default,
but you can’t completely remove Nautilus from the system.

4. Switching Back to Nautilus

If something breaks or you just want to revert:

xdg-mime default org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop inode/directory
gio mime inode/directory org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop

Check:

xdg-mime query default inode/directory

Optional: Remove Dolphin

sudo apt remove --purge dolphin kde-cli-tools kio-extras
sudo apt autoremove

5. When Changes Don’t Apply

If Dolphin still isn’t opening:

update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications

If that doesn’t help, just log out and back in.

A full reboot usually isn’t necessary — MIME changes are session-based.

6. Why Use Dolphin?

Once you get used to it, it’s hard to go back.

• F3 split view (the biggest win)
• F4 integrated terminal panel (opens in the current directory)
• Tabbed navigation (Ctrl+T / Ctrl+W)
• Powerful file management features (batch rename, filtering, info panel)

For things like server work or organizing files,
it noticeably improves workflow.

💡 Since Dolphin is a Qt app and GNOME uses GTK,
the UI may feel slightly out of place.
In practice, it’s usually fine — trying to “perfectly match” themes often causes more trouble than it’s worth.

Wrap-up

Dolphin isn’t a drop-in replacement — it needs a bit of setup.

In short:

• Install only → ❌ incomplete
• Set MIME + gio → ✅ usable
• Understand GNOME limitations → ✅ no frustration

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Personally, I’ve found the best setup is:

Use Dolphin as the main file manager, and let Nautilus handle the few things it still owns.