Finding the exact files you want in the Nemo file manager will soon be easier and faster.
Linux Mint is bringing ‘enhanced’ search functionality to the next major version of its GTK-based Nemo file manager (which is likely to see release the same time as Cinnamon 6.5 and ship out-of-the-box in Linux Mint 22.2 in the summer).
The new filters allow you search, sift and surface files using regular expressions (often abbreviated to simply ‘regex’) queried against filenames.
While regex searching is already included in Nemo it doesn’t work on file names, only file contents.
The next version of Nemo adds a regex toggle to the search editing filename row, and filename regex search to its advanced search engine.
Expression validation is also now baked in, allowing the file manager to indicate when an entered expression is invalid and can’t be run.
Regex Filename Searches
Regular expressions are powerful and easy to to use (once familiar with the basic syntax) and ubiquitous in text-heavy contexts, like word processors, text editor and command-line tools.
Many seasoned Linux users will be, but the kind of users drawn to Linux Mint for its simplicity? Perhaps less so. They won’t have to learn Regex to find files, but the option will be there to do so.
I’d wager that a regular scatter-gun text search will, for most needs, be “good enough”, but to pull out a specific set of files with greater specificity, regular expressions is more efficient as it relies on pattern-matching.
Silly Yet Simple Example
For files with predictable filenames Regex comes in to its own, especially when needing to narrow in on specific subsets. You could, for example, quickly locate backup files taken over a certain period, or dash cam footage within a specific timeframe, etc.
Let’s say I want to find screenshots on my system, but proper screenshots, i..e, ones which use a fixed, variable filename format. I don’t want to see any file with ‘screenshot’ in its filename.
Nemo can already do this, but supporting regex in the search box is another way — a great one for those used to or using regex regularly and/or those who prefer to use the keyboard rather than the mouse.
In my example, the screenshots I will search all use the same filename structure: “Screenshot-” prefix, the date in YYYMMDD, and end in image format “.png”, e.g., “Screenshot-20250704.png”.
I want to find screenshots I took between April 1 and April 8.
I will be able to open Nemo—future tense as regex support isn’t available in current versions—and type the following in to the search field to find them:
Screenshot-2025040[1-8].png
The [1-8] element is what does the heavy lifting here, per this breakdown:
Screenshot-— only filenames matching this prefix2025040[1-8]— only filenames matching ‘2025040’ with either 1 to 8 after.png— only matching PNGs
To borrow a real use case for the Linux Mint issue tracker, one can search a folder full of ePub files to only pull put eBooks that have a ‘The’ in their filename using Regex, e.g.,:
^The– Only filenames starting “The”The*– Filenames with “The” followed by anything
Refer to Wikipedia’s list of POSIX basic expressions for a clear, easy-to-understand overview of Regex syntax and the flexibility it offers.
Power Play
In all, extending Regex support in Nemo to filenames is a welcome power-user buff. Nemo is neither tied to Linux Mint nor Cinnamon (it’s used in other distros with different desktop environments) it makes sense to do this — catering to needs beyond the target base of Linux Mint users.