How to see root folders

Ubuntu 26.04

Hello all,

is there a way to see the root folders?

so i can edit them if needed?

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You’ve given little context, whilst you’ve indicated 26.04 you haven’t said if Server, Desktop or flavor desktop is involved.

To see the / or root directory folders I may use

ls -lahd /*

which will list in long (-l) format, (-a) all, human sizes (-h) & directories (-d) with the /* telling it I want it to list contents of the root directory.

That works on both servers & desktops; I’m using a desktop system currently.

If I wanted to see it in a graphic tool, I’d open a file-browser & just navigate to / or wherever I wanted to see. My system is a desktop & I actually have a number of ways of doing this.

I won’t answer the ‘edit’ as it’ll depend on what exactly you’re thinking of, and that could have consequences you’ve not considered.

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ok i installed nemo and was able to see what i am after thanks again

We still don’t know what “problem” you were trying to solve with the question you asked.

Nemo is a File Manager, allowing “navigation” thru the filesystems and offering visibility of those files for which you have read privilege.

To see files that you don’t have read privilege for, you need to open Nemo as root, but that is strongly inadvisable, unless you have a lot of experience with Linux in general.

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Open ‘Files’, click on the path-bar, enter just a bar /, you will see ‘Ubuntu’ in the path-bar and the root folders in the window, click on the 3 small points on the right of the path-bar and select ‘add to bookmarks’ so you will have a ‘/’ in the left panel.

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As @guiverc has hinted at, it’s probably not a good idea to go editing files under /, unless those files happen to be yours, i.e. they are in your own user’s Home directory (/home/<user>, aka $HOME), or they are system-wide configuration files in /etc. As a rule, if the files are not yours, think very carefully what you are doing. If some tutorial, HowTo or whatever instructs you to edit something in the /usr hierarchy, for instance, which is a big no-no, just don’t. Even editing /etc files can render your system inoperable, if you get something wrong.

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I always use timeshift or rescuezilla to make a clone in case something goes way wrong i did get the startup sound working using dconf editor
Thanks for help

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If you have to rely on such tools, you are doing something very wrong. It’s also not about breaking stuff wholesale, alone. If you edit files in /usr, for one all too infamous example, funny things start happening when packages get upgraded. Consider yourself warned. :warning:

But you seem reluctant to share what it actually is, you’re trying to do, so I cannot tell you the right way to go about it, either; only the “don’ts”.

https://specifications.freedesktop.org/fhs/latest/index.html

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I would like to add something to what @corradoventu has said.

In Ubuntu 24.04 LTS we open Files. Select Other Locations and select Ubuntu and all the files and folders in Root are laid out before us.

In Ubuntu 26.04 LTS we open Files and we do not see Other Locations. It is not there. So, we can do what @corradoventu said, or,

Type a slash ( / ) in the search panel and press enter. That will open up the Root folder to us.

I am not sure but I think this change started in Ubuntu 25.10. Get used to the future.

Regards

Edit: I have made the correction. Thank you people for correcting my mistake. Old DOS methods still in memory.

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A Backslash is \ 
 I think you mean a Slash /

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Erm, this is Slash:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(musician)

SCNR :zany_face:

But yes, it’s an easy mistake to make. Maybe it helps to refer to the proper slash by its full name, forward slash; that way it’s evident how backslash came to be. :wink: Now the only problem remaining is how to remember, which way is forward. :thinking: Since we read from left to right — in the Latin based languages, at least — “forward” is to the right, which is where the top end of the forward slash points.

That concludes today’s tidbit of computing history.
:smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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With a detour through music history :slightly_smiling_face:

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