Nautilus User Manual
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# The Nautilus Desktop

The desktop is the background area of your screen. If Nautilus was pre-installed on your GNOME system, Nautilus draws the desktop. The desktop on your computer can look like your physical desktop - it can be full of folders, icons, and works in progress, or it can be clear. Nautilus lets you organize it the way you want.

If Nautilus doesn't already draw the desktop on your system, do this:

1. Open the preferences menu (shown below) and choose Preferences.

2. In the Desktop section, select "Use Nautilus to draw the desktop."

3. Click OK.

Figure 1-2. The Preferences Menu

Initially, the desktop contains three items: a house icon that represents your home location, an Eazel Services icon that takes you to Eazel's Web site, and a Trash icon.

You can create folders on the desktop or drag additional files and folders from the Nautilus window to the desktop. For instance, you can create a folder that contains your current projects and keep it on the desktop for easy access. You also mount disks (such as floppies or CD-ROMs) on the desktop.

To see the options for using your desktop space, right-click anywhere on the desktop (outside a window).

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