Files
omarchycn/manual/22-guis.md
T
David Heinemeier HanssonandClaude Fable 5 1ae83f1606 Add a switchers chapter and fix drift found on a second manual pass
Add "Coming From Mac or Windows" as chapter 3: a translation layer for
Cmd/Win instincts rather than a feature tour.

Fill the remaining coverage gaps: fcitx5 input methods, laptop speaker
tuning, touchpad haptics, crash capture in the toggle table, the
installable font list, and the ChatGPT Desktop and Grok Bot entries.

Correct claims that drifted from the source: the network and bluetooth
bar icons no longer launch nmtui/bluetoothctl, monitor scaling steps
rather than cycles, and the display widget's scroll steps brightness.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-13 22:52:13 +02:00

5.1 KiB

GUIs

Files

Files (Nautilus) is the graphical file manager. Super + Shift + F opens it, and Super + Shift + Alt + F opens it in the directory your terminal is sitting in, which saves a lot of clicking. Ctrl + L lets you type a path, and hitting Space on any file gives you a quick preview without opening anything.

Plug in a USB stick or an SD card and it's mounted automatically, so it just shows up in the sidebar. For anything more involved — formatting a drive, checking SMART health, creating partitions — launch Disks from the app launcher (Super + Space).

Double-clicking follows sensible defaults: images open in imv, video in mpv, PDFs in Document Viewer, and plain text in Neovim.

Obsidian

Obsidian is a free and highly extensible note taking application that uses simple Markdown files for storage.

Obsidian is free for all purposes, including personal, commercial, and non-profit use.

Obsidian also offers a commercial add-on for syncing with mobile apps on iOS and Android. (https://obsidian.md/pricing).

You start Obsidian with Super + Shift + O. To use theme syncing, you must select the Omarchy theme under settings.

Omawrite

Omawrite is Omarchy's own dead-simple Markdown writing app. No vaults, no plugins, just you and the words.

You start Omawrite with Super + Shift + W.

Pinta

Pinta is a basic image editing tool that's great for cropping, resizing, and other basic manipulations. Just don't expect a Photoshop alternative. But it's still got a Magic Wand and layers!

You start Pinta via the application launcher (Super + Space).

Aether

Aether is a theming application that can extract colors from a background image and turn them into a complete, cohesive theme. It's the easiest way to make your own theme.

You start Aether via the application launcher (Super + Space).

LocalSend

LocalSend lets you send files to other devices on the same network running the app, like Apple's AirDrop. It's cross-platform, though, so you can send files to and from Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and of course Linux.

You can open the Share menu on Super + Ctrl + S or under Trigger > Share in the Omarchy menu. It gives you four options:

  • Clipboard sends whatever you've copied as a text file. Great for getting a link or a snippet onto your phone without emailing yourself.
  • File opens a file picker where you can select several at once.
  • Folder sends an entire directory.
  • Receive opens LocalSend proper so another device can send something to you.

The same thing works from the terminal with omarchy share clipboard, omarchy share file [path], and omarchy share folder [path]. Leave the path off and you get the picker.

You can also send straight from the file manager: right-click any selection in Nautilus and pick Send via LocalSend.

Omarchy's firewall is closed by default except for LocalSend's port, so this works out of the box on a fresh install. See security.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a complete office package with word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, drawing application, and more. It's compatible with files from Microsoft Office, so this is a great way to be able to open those Word documents.

You start LibreOffice via the application launcher (Super + Space).

Omacalc

Omacalc is Omarchy's own dead-simple calculator, which opens in a floating window.

You start Omacalc with Super + Ctrl + Q (or the calculator key, if your keyboard has one).

Signal

Signal is the pioneer of E2E encrypted messaging, and a great communication option for anyone who'd prefer not to go through one of the big tech conglomerates.

You start Signal with Super + Shift + G. It's not part of the base install, so the first time you hit that, Omarchy will offer to install it for you (it's also under Install > Service in the Omarchy menu).

mpv

mpv is a simple, fast media player that'll play almost anything from any source. Great for watching videos.

You start mpv via the application launcher (Super + Space) or just double-click on a video in the file manager.

OBS Studio

OBS Studio lets you record or stream video from multiple inputs. You can mix a screencast with a webcam with a microphone input. It's what was used to record the Omarchy screencasts.

You start OBS Studio via the application launcher (Super + Space).

Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an excellent video editor. Perfect for working on video that comes out of OBS Studio before sharing it.

You start Kdenlive via the application launcher (Super + Space).

Omacut

Omacut is Omarchy's own dead-simple video trimmer. When all you need is to cut the start and end off a clip, it beats firing up a full video editor.

You start Omacut via the application launcher (Super + Space).