I am so used to the double-clicking paradigm that I had to force myself to use KDE's single-click method to open files for over two weeks just to ensure I was giving it a fair assessment.

Frankly, I found it annoying beyond measure having to carefully aim for the corner of a file I wish to select for renaming or other activities one performs when selecting a file or folder.

Who here uses the single-click to open files and under what setup does it make sense for you? I am interested because this has been the default setup in every KDE distribution I have tried so far.

Rewarp wrote:Frankly, I found it annoying beyond measure having to carefully aim for the corner of a file I wish to select for renaming or other activities one performs when selecting a file or folder.

You can hold the Ctrl key too to select a file instead of opening it.
Or drag a selection around the file(s) you want to select.

If you only want to rename/delete a single file, you don't have to select it at all. Just right-click on it.

Who here uses the single-click to open files and under what setup does it make sense for you? I am interested because this has been the default setup in every KDE distribution I have tried so far.

I am using it since KDE3 times about 10 years ago, and I find having to double-click to open a file awkward since then.

I only use single click since ages (10+ years) and double-click is something I find really awkward.
I guess if you come from the Windows world you are just used to it, but everytime I have to use Windows the double-click to open a folder or a file drives me mad

FWIW: if you really need to have a double-click, you can change this in the System Settings -> Input devices -> Mouse (in KDE 4.x releases, don't know for Plasma5)

If you only want to rename/delete a single file, you don't have to select it at all. Just right-click on it.

Ah yes. I could change that clicking behaviour on my own personal settings.

FWIW: if you really need to have a double-click, you can change this in the System Settings -> Input devices -> Mouse (in KDE 4.x releases, don't know for Plasma5)

Actually, there is a toggle for it right within Dolphin. However, it disappeared in the latest batch of updates, so the suggestion you gave as of now, is the only GUI toggle that I know of.

Thanks for the input everyone. I have turned single-click selection back on to give it another spin.

Single-clicking took some time to get used to, but now that I've used it for several years double-clicking is the one that feels weird. Imagine if you had to double-click links in a web browser - sounds really tedious, doesn't it?

I usually navigate around using the keyboard. If I want to rename e.g. a file, I type the beginning of its filename until it's selected, hit F2, then type the new name and hit Enter. To select multiple items I drag with the mouse and use Ctrl+drag to add stuff to the selection.

Hans wrote:I usually navigate around using the keyboard...

That's exactly the disadvantage of single clicks: you loose the capability of selecting items in lists. If something can get selected the double click executes it. But I'm surprised how many single-click advocates are out there. Maybe it's easier to accommodate than I assume

Here's a tip for the OP : you can select a file in Dolphin by middle-clicking it (wheel click). It is the equivalent of the single click in Windows ("selection"). You can even "long middle click" and draw a square around several elements to select them.

i use single click too, I like it a lot. I even ended up setting up my Windows like KDE, with single click.

Tromzy wrote:Here's a tip for the OP : you can select a file in Dolphin by middle-clicking it (wheel click). It is the equivalent of the single click in Windows ("selection"). You can even "long middle click" and draw a square around several elements to select them.

i use single click too, I like it a lot. I even ended up setting up my Windows like KDE, with single click.

Ooh. I did not know that. Actually, now that I have tried out all the suggestions given I find that I really like single-clicking as well!

Hans wrote:SImagine if you had to double-click links in a web browser - sounds really tedious, doesn't it?

That's a false comparison.

You are NOT selecting links for moving or deleting, like you do with icons in a file manager.

Also, having to press a key just in order to be able to select, or aiming in the corner is MUCH more extra work than having to double click to open something.


I would love to see an actual user survey on this because I believe the single click thing default is being forced by a minority who like it against the majority who don't. And especially since "people coming from windows" are a great portion of your potential new users, it is a really bad idea to make their first experience inconvenient.

Storm wrote:Also, having to press a key just in order to be able to select...

As said above: you don't haved to, use the middle click to select.

And again: if you don't like it, change it, you can change the settings on your installation to whatever you prefer.

Storm wrote: ... I would love to see an actual user survey on this because ...

Which users did you have in mind; Windows, KDE, Linux in general, or a 'representative' (whatever that definition is interpreted as) mix of all?

Dependant upon the 'users' included in the survey there would very likely be vastly different outcomes.

On the subject of the original post, I was a 'double clicker', now I'm a 'single clicker' ... and I won't be going back

Tromzy wrote:Here's a tip for the OP : you can select a file in Dolphin by middle-clicking it (wheel click).

Middle clicking in Dolphin also generates a new tab opening the folder. What's the way to disable this behaviour?

Rewarp wrote:

Tromzy wrote:Here's a tip for the OP : you can select a file in Dolphin by middle-clicking it (wheel click).

Middle clicking in Dolphin also generates a new tab opening the folder. What's the way to disable this behaviour?

AFAIK Middle click selecting in Dolphin only works with files, not folders.

For selecting folders you could try changing: ...
System Settings -> Input Devices -> Mouse - Icons - Automatically select icons.
... and see how you get on with that. (Personally I didn't like the action).