Repository navigation
Add a Preview pane integrated in Nemo [Feature request] #2122
Description
For many users it is essential to have a preview pane integrated in the right side of the file manager, to show a large preview for only the currently selected file.
A preview pane allows to use more efficiently the space in the window, showing much more files in the screen, without to fill up the space with previews of files which don't interest.
It would avoid also the unwanted work in the background of generating/caching previews for all the images contained in the folder (which can be many hundreds of files and of large size).
I guess it would not be a too big effort to add a preview pane, at least for photos and videos, because Nemo is already able to generate previews (as icons) for these file types. Consider that MS Window integrates a preview pane in the file explorer since the times of Windows 98. Here a sample pic, of what I mean:
(Issue reported with Nemo 4.0.6 on Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon)
Activity
Tyco72 commentedon May 14, 2019
Hi, thank you. When you select more files it should be not a problem. The preview pane would show the preview only of the last selected file. Anyway only one image at time would be cached.
icarter09 commentedon Dec 1, 2019
Many thanks for submitting your feature request for Nemo. Your feature request has been documented and will be reviewed by the Linux Mint team.
For more information on our workflow and feature requests, read https://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html.
Tyco72 commentedon Dec 4, 2019
Thank you very much. I'm looking forward for this feature.
JayBeeDe commentedon Feb 11, 2020
Hi,
I would also apreciate this very nice feature... For pdf files it is possible to use evince preview API. Or libreoffice can handle pdf as well as odt, etc. And what about audio/video files preview ? (too complicated for the moment I can admit it)
pedroolmedo98 commentedon Apr 15, 2020
I would be a wonderful feature.
Jeremy7701 commentedon Jul 11, 2020
Have you considered a dedicated photo management tool such as digiKam etc?
ptandler commentedon May 17, 2022
Any update here? I just found here that you can use the space key to open a preview as popup. This is already helpful, but
Is the list of feature request "that have been documented" and their status (e.g. position in roadmap) available somewhere?
nd- commentedon Nov 27, 2022
I switched from Files (Gnome on Fedora) to Nemo, because Files is really too simple and limited.
Nemo is almost perfect for me, but this feature of a preview pane would be really awesome.
Jeremy7701 commentedon Nov 27, 2022
Nemo has many little-known features, some excellent but at least one "feature" is downright weird.
However, full user documentation would appear to be too time consuming.
Dan-cer commentedon Mar 21, 2023
I'm very much interested in this feature too! I know the plugin Nemo-preview that is better than nothing.
However, instead of open an extra window for preview it should displayed in one of the existing double windows.
Thank you in advance for implementing it.
Quite a few other file managers have it already.
4 remaining items
lgcvsa commentedon Dec 10, 2025
Since I've switched to Linux Mint for most of my personal needs this year (all three of my primary use computers at home are now either Linux Mint Cinnamon or LMDE), I find that this is a feature that I desperately need to make my use of my Linux Mint systems more efficient, particularly on the Open File dialogue box when I am uploading a copy of an image I've saved to social media. I find that I frequently end up sharing the same images over and over, and then tend to get buried in my Downloads folder, with indecipherable names that I never can recall. So, i have to keep backing out of the Open File diagloue box, open the full file browser (which has full preview icons), navigate to my Downloads folder, find the file, then copy and paste the filepath.
It's honestly surprising to me that Linux Mint is still lacking this feature. I've been using Linux Mint since about 2011, but now it's my primary OS, as of 2025, so it's become more of a critical issue for me.
Jeremy7701 commentedon Dec 10, 2025
You don't need to put all your files in 'my downloads', other places are available.
You aren't restricted to only one nemo tab, you can have multiple nemo windows.
If I intend to keep badly named files, I either put them in a named sub-directory or I rename them to something sensible.
Having a preview window wouldn't save me from testing lots of files until I found the right one.
But proper organisation allows me to go directly to the right file.
lgcvsa commentedon Dec 10, 2025
Cool story, bro. Do you feel like senpai will notice you, now?
CyrilCommando commentedon Dec 11, 2025
Yeah, I dunno what's up with him. He's militant against a preview window. Posting wherever, whenever someone mentions it
Tyco72 commentedon Dec 11, 2025
@lgcvsa @CyrilCommando
This is unfortunately a common problem of the open source software. Even for widely diffused software, the developers implement only the features that they like. They don't care about what the many common users need or like. It is not a problem only of Linux. I am aware that they are the developers, they decide what to do with their time, but for widely used software it is not the right attitude. Especially for an OS that would like to be a universal alternative to Windows desktop.
JosephMcc commentedon Dec 13, 2025
Have been part of the dev team for over a decade and have never heard a single member of the team say this is a goal. This is something spread by random people online. Probably because Mint is a pretty easy introduction to Linux for first timers.
Tyco72 commentedon Dec 13, 2025
@JosephMcc
Maybe it is not an official goal, but it is what they would like see to happen, since decades. Anyway, it is not happening not only because of the missing of several desired features, but because to replace Windows on desktops on large scale, it is necessary to be binary compatible with the Windows software and drivers. It is actually the goal of ReactOS, but I always wonder why it attracts few developers.
For basic usage (internet browsing+LibreOffice) Linux does its job. I use it to save PCs that can't install Win11 and otherwise would be thrown away.
JosephMcc commentedon Dec 14, 2025
I was talking about Mint, not everyone.
Point made.
feat: add embedded preview pane (Alt+F3)
feat: add embedded preview pane (Alt+F3)
kameshkotwani commentedon Apr 19, 2026
Is anyone still working on this feature?
jonathanschilling commentedon Apr 19, 2026
I vibe-coded an initial prototype here, but I think it needs a lot of further work: https://github.com/jonathanschilling/nemo/tree/feature-preview-pane-2
mtwebster commentedon Apr 19, 2026
#3650
smoky-oni commentedon May 16, 2026
Still looking forward to this feature. Need it too fro .kra files, but, maybe the thumbnails can be inherited from installed programs the file is from or can be opened by (without actually opening in the program) to be viewed in nemo.
is this still a work in progress?
marcDesm commentedon Oct 24, 2026
I'm moving from Win7 to Mint Cinnamon 22.3. Currently with Nemo, I have to press the space bar to see a preview of a selected file. Then I move to the next file (with mouse or cursor) and I have to press the space bar again? Can't there just be an option where the space bar is pressed automatically? Or that once the space bar has been pressed onced, the previews keep updating as I select a different file? I miss seeing a preview on the right hand side, like in Explorer.
Update, I've installed Thunar on Mint Cinnamon. They don't make it easy. But it provides the preview on the right pane that so many people just want.