I’m missing the ‘Other Locations’ feature from earlier versions of the Nautilus file manager, which provided a straightforward view of disk usage across partitions. This sentiment stems from my experience with a testing laptop that contains a 256GB SSD, partitioned for multiple operating systems. Each Linux partition ranges from 35-50GB, and it’s essential for me to monitor disk space as I frequently install and test software.
In Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with GNOME 46, the ‘Other Locations’ section in Nautilus offered a quick overview of available disk space on all mounted partitions. However, this feature was removed in later versions, including Ubuntu 25.04 with GNOME 48, making it challenging to obtain a clear overview of storage statistics. The alternative approach involves right-clicking on individual folders or mounts to access their Properties, where relevant stats are displayed after a calculation. This method, while functional, can be slow on larger drives and lacks the passive awareness that the previous method provided.
To address this need, I discovered a GNOME Shell extension called Free Space Indicator. This extension presents the remaining disk space directly in the top bar for the active mount and refreshes the displayed value periodically.
The Free Space Indicator includes several configuration options, allowing users to customize their experience:
- Show disk free space in the top bar (icon, text, or both).
- Click to reveal a menu showcasing usage for all mount points.
- Choose which mount point to display in the top bar.
- Hide unwanted mount points selectively.
- Select between binary (KiB, MiB, GiB) or decimal (KB, MB, GB) units.
- Set a customized update interval.
Currently, the extension does not support reporting space for external drives, which could be beneficial for users managing large files on portable devices.
If you are interested in streamlining disk space visibility on your system, consider trying out the Free Space Indicator from GNOME Extensions.