caja

Open the current user home directory

$ caja

$ caja [path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2 ...]

$ caja [[-t|--tabs]] [path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2 ...]

$ caja [[-g|--geometry]] [600]x[400] [path/to/directory]

$ caja [[-q|--quit]]

caja [OPTION...] [URI...]

--new-window[=URI]
    Open new window(s) for specified URI(s); defaults to current directory.

--new-tab[=URI]
    Open new tab(s) in existing window for URI(s).

--no-default-window
    Prevent automatic opening of a new window on startup.

--no-desktop
    Disable loading of desktop background and icons.

--smp
    Enable single instance mode (deprecated; use single instance preference).

--browser
    Run in browser mode (non-spatial).

--help
    Display help and exit.

--version
    Show version information and exit.

Caja is the default file manager for the MATE desktop environment, forked from GNOME 2's Nautilus to maintain a traditional, user-friendly interface. It offers spatial and browser modes, allowing users to navigate files with thumbnails, previews, search, and bookmarks. Supports network protocols like FTP, SMB, SFTP, and treats archives (ZIP, TAR) as folders.

Key features include customizable views (list, icon, compact), desktop icon management, plugins via Caja extensions, and tight integration with MATE panels and applets. Users can set preferences for sidebar, emblems, and metadata. Launched via terminal, it opens directories or URIs in new windows/tabs, ideal for quick access or scripting simple file operations.

Designed for stability and familiarity, Caja avoids modern GNOME changes like single-window focus, providing multi-window support and extensible architecture. Widely used in MATE-based distros like Ubuntu MATE and Linux Mint MATE.

Graphical tool; not suited for headless/scripted batch processing. Requires display server and MATE libs.

Supports Python and C extensions for custom actions, thumbnails, and properties via caja-python.

Edit via Edit > Preferences or gsettings in org.mate.caja schema.

Forked from Nautilus 2.32 in 2011 by MATE team to revive GNOME 2 experience amid GNOME 3 changes. Actively maintained for MATE 1.x series.

nautilus(1), nemo(1), thunar(1), pcmanfm(1)