How to Restore the New Document Option in the Ubuntu Right-Click Context Menu

One of the most surprising quirks encountered by new and transitioning users of Ubuntu Linux is the absence of a “New Document” option when right-clicking on the desktop or inside the native Files (Nautilus) file manager. Unlike Windows or macOS, which provide immediate context-menu shortcuts to spawn blank text files, modern GNOME desktop releases hide the “New Document” submenu entirely unless specific template files exist within the user’s home directory. Fortunately, restoring this essential everyday productivity shortcut requires only a simple one-minute setup.

Why the New Document Menu Disappeared

The developers of the GNOME desktop designed Nautilus to dynamically check the user’s ~/Templates folder whenever the right-click contextual menu is generated. If this folder is completely empty—which is the default state on a clean Ubuntu installation—Nautilus suppresses the New Document entry to prevent displaying an empty, non-functional submenu. As soon as you place one or more boilerplate template files inside this directory, Nautilus immediately restores the context menu option across all folders and desktop workspaces.

How to Restore the Option Using the Terminal

The fastest and cleanest method to restore the right-click option is creating a blank template file using a single terminal command:

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard to launch the Ubuntu terminal.
2. Execute the following touch command:

   touch ~/Templates/"Text Document.txt"

3. Press Enter. The command creates an empty text file titled Text Document.txt inside your user Templates folder.
4. Close the terminal. Right-click on any empty area of your desktop or inside any folder in the Files app.
5. You will now see the New Document submenu, containing Text Document ready for immediate creation.

How to Restore the Option Graphically via Text Editor

If you prefer using graphical applications rather than the command line:

1. Open the Text Editor application from the Ubuntu Show Applications menu.
2. Do not type anything into the document; leave the canvas completely blank.
3. Click the Save button in the top header.
4. In the file save browser, navigate to your Home folder and select the Templates folder.
5. Name the file Text Document.txt and click Save.

Adding Custom Templates for Word Processing and Scripts

You are not restricted to plain text documents. You can populate your ~/Templates folder with various boilerplate file types:

• LibreOffice Writer: Save a blank .odt file named Word Document.odt to spawn pre-formatted word documents with standard margins.
• LibreOffice Calc: Save a blank .ods file named Spreadsheet.ods for instant tabular worksheets.
• Bash Scripts: Save a file named Script.sh containing #!/bin/bash at the top so every newly spawned shell script has proper executable headers.
• Markdown Notes: Save a blank Note.md file for immediate Markdown documentation.