Sort order in nautilus
 

In Windows when I wanted to move a file to the top of file listing in Win Explorer I would put a "~" in front of it. This doesn't work in Nautilus. Is there a way to force a file to the top of the file listing?

More generally, how does Linux sort items?

By default Nautilus lists in alphabetical order. Alphabetical order in Nautilus means numbers before tilde before alphabets. Folders listed before files. If you go to View > Arrange Items you have other choices for sorting order.

I found putting a number in front of the filename moves it to the top. However, this isn't great when the filenames already start with a number. But I guess it will have to do.

My version of Nautilus (2.16.1) doesn't have View > Arrange Items. (I usually run in Edgy since I find it more stable then Feisty.) I'll have to boot to Feisty to see if it has a different version that has that option. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure the option should be present in 2.16, although it may be labeled differently.

There is a sort manual which implies in the order you drag the files but I haven't tried it. Date modified also looks interesting because it can place the most recently accessed files first.