Files and Git

Files panel

Browse the folders and files of the project, search them, open them, and create, rename, move, copy and delete them.

On this page

The Files panel shows the folders and files of the active project as a tree. Use it to find a file, open it, and change the files on disk: create, rename, move, copy and delete. It also shows the Git state of each file with a colour and a letter.

Where to find it

  • Left sidebar, the Files icon (an open folder, tooltip "Files"). On a fresh start the panel is open in the upper region of the sidebar. See Window layout. The panel shows the files of the active project.

What you see

Panel header — the title Files, then a toolbar . The toolbar shows only when the project has a folder on disk. Thin lines separate the root button, the create buttons and the three tree buttons. Buttons, left to right:

  • Select file root — shown only when the project has at least one worktree. It shows a folder or worktree icon and the name of the root you browse now. A long name ends with "…". When the header is narrow, the button shows only its icon. Tooltip "File root: <name>". It opens a menu with the label Browse root. See "Browse a worktree".
  • New File — an icon button (page with a plus). Tooltip "New File (⌥Ins)".
  • New Folder — an icon button (folder with a plus). Tooltip "New Folder (⌥⇧Ins)".
  • Expand All — an icon button. Tooltip "Expand All".
  • Collapse All — an icon button. Tooltip "Collapse All".
  • Refresh from disk — an icon button. Tooltip "Refresh from disk".

Panel body, top to bottom:

  • Search files… — the search field with a magnifier icon. A short status chip appears at its right end while you search.
  • Error notes — red lines for a failed live-update connection, stale folder lists, or unavailable Git status.
  • The tree. Its first row is the root folder itself (the project folder, or the worktree folder). Each row has, left to right: indent guides, an arrow (folders only), an icon, the name, and a Git letter at the right end.
  • A small pill at the bottom with a check mark. It shows a short message for about two seconds.

Right-click menu. Right-click a row, or the empty space below the last row. The menu has these entries, with the shortcut shown at the right:

  • Open (<target>) (shortcut Enter) — opens the row you right-clicked the same way as pressing Enter on it. The name in brackets tells you where it goes: Open (Orkestra), Open (PyCharm) (the IDE linked to the project), Open (Image Viewer) (the program your system uses for this kind of file) or Open (Default application) (the system's program, whose name is not known yet or not available). The target comes from the File opening settings of the project: a rule for the file's extension first, then the project default, which is Orkestra until you change it. While the system is still answering, the name can change a moment later. With several items selected the row still opens only the file you right-clicked. On a folder it reads Open (Orkestra) and opens or closes the folder.

  • Open with › — a submenu that opens the selected file in another program. Its rows, top to bottom:

    • Orkestra — opens the file in Orkestra. It also works for several selected files, one window each, up to 20 files. With more than 20 selected, the row is grey with the reason "At most 20 files" and opens nothing.
    • Default application (<name>) — opens the file in the program your system uses for this kind of file (for example Default application (Image Viewer)). While the system is still answering, the row reads Default application and already works. If the system cannot tell the file type, the row stays grey with the system's reason under it, for example "The type of this file could not be determined.", and nothing opens.
    • Other programs the system lists for this kind of file (for example Pinta, Okular), each with a two-letter mark. Click one to open the file in it.
    • The project IDE row (<IDE> — Project), or No project IDE — Link IDE….
    • File only — the code editors Orkestra found on this computer that can open a single file without a project. An editor that cannot (for example GoLand 2025.2 or later, or DataGrip) is not listed here; you can still link it as the project IDE. If Orkestra found no editor at all, the group shows "No editors found", Rescan and Choose editor…; while a Rescan runs the row reads "Rescanning…" and keeps the keyboard cursor, and when the scan then finds editors, the keyboard focus moves to the first one. If the very first scan failed, the group shows "Editors could not be listed" with the reason under it, plus Rescan and Choose editor…; while the first scan is still running, only "Scanning…" is shown. If editors were found but none can open a single file, the File only label and group are not shown. Manage editors… opens the Settings page for them.

    The programs from the system and the editors need exactly one selected file. With several items selected (also when a folder is among them) they are grey with the reason "One file only"; with one folder selected they and Orkestra are grey with "Not for folders", and Orkestra is grey with "Not for folders" too when a folder is among several selected items. On a system where Orkestra cannot open files in other programs, the project IDE row and the File only group say "Not available on this system" and offer no Rescan or Choose editor…. A grey row can be focused with the keyboard, but it does nothing. A click, Enter, Space or Right on Open with opens the submenu and puts the cursor on its first usable row. If the file has unsaved changes in Orkestra, choose Cancel, Open the disk version, or Save and open in the confirmation dialog. If you choose Save and open for a kept draft and the file is saved but its recovery copy cannot be updated, the file still opens and a red notice "Saved, but the recovery copy could not be updated" stays on screen with the reason. If the project was removed while the question was open, nothing opens and a red notice "Could not open the file" ("Its project no longer exists.") stays on screen.

  • Show in folder — shows the file or the folder in your system's file manager. It works for one file, for one folder, and for several selected items (it shows the row you right-clicked). If the file manager cannot be started, a red notice "Could not show in folder" stays on screen with the system's reason until you close it.

  • File opening settings… — opens Edit project with the cursor on the Default choice of its File opening section. See Projects and the project switcher. Not shown while no project is active.

  • Open as Source — only for one selected HTML file (.html or .htm). It opens the file in the text editor, not as a rendered page.

  • New File (⌥Ins), New Folder (⌥⇧Ins).

  • Cut (⌘X), Copy (⌘C).

  • Copy Path (⌘⇧C) — needs exactly one selected item.

  • Copy Relative Path (⌘⌥⇧C).

  • Copy Contents — needs exactly one selected file.

  • Copy as Image — only for one selected picture of type png, jpg, jpeg, gif, webp or bmp.

  • Paste (⌘V) — always on.

  • Rename… (F2) — needs exactly one selected item that is not the project folder.

  • Delete (⌫) — red.

  • Highlight — a label, six colour dots (tooltips "Yellow", "Green", "Blue", "Red", "Purple", "Orange") and a clear button (tooltip "Clear highlight"). It is hidden when only the project folder is selected. With the keyboard, the Up, Down and Tab keys stop once on the dots (on the one that is set, else the first), the Left and Right keys move between the dots, and Enter or Space sets the one you are on.

  • Add to Git.

The menu shows Mac key symbols on every system. On Windows and Linux use Ctrl and Alt in place of ⌘ and ⌥.

How to

Before you start, make sure the Files panel is open and shows the tree.

Open a file

  1. Click the arrow at the left of a folder row to open the folder. Repeat until you see the file.
  2. Double-click the file row.

Result: the file opens where the File opening settings of the project say. By default (and for a project you never changed) it opens in a window on the active workbench, already in focus. A picture (png, jpg, jpeg, gif, webp, svg, bmp, ico) opens in an image window. An HTML file opens in an HTML window. Every other file, including Markdown, opens in a file window. See File, image and HTML windows and Markdown documents. Double-click on a folder row opens or closes the folder.

If the project's default is Default application or Project IDE, or a rule sends the file's extension there, a double-click (and Enter) sends the file to your system's program or to the project's IDE instead, and no Orkestra window opens. A short notice tells you where it went, for example "Sent to PyCharm". If the IDE is not linked or cannot be found, nothing opens and a notice "Default target unavailable" stays on screen with the buttons Open in Orkestra and Link IDE…. You change the default and the rules in Edit project, section File opening, or from the right-click menu with File opening settings….

Select several items

  1. Click the first row.
  2. Hold Ctrl (Cmd on macOS) and click more rows, one by one.

Result: every clicked row is selected. A second Ctrl or Cmd click on a selected row removes it. To select a block instead, click the first row, hold Shift, and click the last row. The block covers all visible rows between them.

Create a file or a folder

  1. Click the folder where the new item must go.
  2. Click New File (or New Folder) in the panel header.
  3. Type the name in the input row that appears.
  4. Press Enter.

Result: Orkestra creates the item and selects it. It does not open the file. The item goes into the folder you clicked last. If the last click was on a file, it goes into the folder of that file. If you clicked no row yet, it goes into the project folder.

Rename an item

  1. Click the row of the item.
  2. Press F2, or right-click the row and click Rename….
  3. Type the new name. The part before the last dot is selected at the start.
  4. Press Enter.

Result: the item gets the new name and stays selected. Press Esc instead of Enter to cancel. A click outside the input saves the name. An empty name cancels. Orkestra trims spaces at both ends of the name.

Delete items

  1. Select the items. See "Select several items".
  2. Press Delete or Backspace, or right-click a selected row and click Delete.
  3. If a dialog appears, click Move to trash.

Result: the items go to the system trash, so you can restore them there. A message "Moved N to trash" appears. The next row below the deleted items is selected. Dialog rule: it appears when you delete more than 5 items, or when one of them is a folder. See "States and messages".

Copy or move items with the clipboard

  1. Select the items.
  2. Click Copy (to copy) or Cut (to move) in the right-click menu. Or press Ctrl+C or Ctrl+X (Cmd on macOS).
  3. Click the target folder row.
  4. Click Paste in the right-click menu, or press Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on macOS).

Result: the items appear in the target folder, and the folder opens. After Cut, the rows are dim until you paste, and the originals move. A paste into the same folder makes a copy named like "report copy.txt", then "report copy 2.txt". If the name exists in a different folder, the Name conflict dialog opens. Paste also takes files you copied in your system file manager. Such files are always copied, never moved. If the clipboard holds only a picture, Paste creates a file named like "Pasted image 2026-10-19 14-30-05.png". If the clipboard holds nothing to paste, the message "Nothing to paste" appears.

Move or copy items by drag and drop

  1. Press the mouse button on a row. To drag many items, select them first and press on one of the selected rows.
  2. Drag the pointer onto a folder row. A folder under the pointer gets a frame. A closed folder opens after about 0.7 seconds.
  3. Release the mouse button. To copy instead of move, hold Ctrl while you release.

Result: the items move (or copy) into that folder. You can also release on the empty space below the last row. The items then go to the project folder. If a name exists in the target, the Name conflict dialog opens.

Resolve a name conflict

Before you start, drag or paste an item into a folder that holds an item with the same name.

  1. Read the Name conflict dialog. It names the item and the target folder.
  2. For one conflict, click Overwrite, Keep both or Cancel.
  3. For many conflicts, set Overwrite, Keep both or Skip on each row. The default is Overwrite.
  4. Click Apply. (To replace every conflicting item at once, click Overwrite all instead.)

Result: Orkestra does what you chose. Items without a conflict land in any case, except after Cancel on a drag.

Search for a file

  1. Click the Search files… field.
  2. Type at least two letters.
  3. Press Enter to jump to the next match.

Result: the tree shows every match, with the folders that lead to it opened. A chip at the right end of the field shows the count. Matching letters are underlined and the rows are tinted. Enter selects the next match and scrolls to it. After the last match it starts again at the first. A file whose name is the same as your text comes first. Names that start with your text come next, then the other matches. Clear the field to return to the normal tree.

Search in excluded folders

  1. Open Settings → Workbench.
  2. Under File search, turn on Include excluded folders and click Apply or OK.
  3. Type at least two letters in the Search files… field.

Result: the search also looks inside the folders that it skips by default. See "Limits and tips" for the list. The match count can grow. The choice applies to all projects and survives restart. Turn it off in Settings to return to the default search scope.

Copy the path of an item

  1. Right-click the row of the item.
  2. Click Copy Path (full path) or Copy Relative Path (path from the project folder).

Result: the path is on the system clipboard. No message appears. Copy Relative Path writes one path per line when many items are selected.

Highlight an item

  1. Right-click the row of the item.
  2. Click a colour dot in the Highlight row.

Result: the row gets a coloured bar and a tint. A highlighted folder moves to the top of its siblings. Click the clear button (tooltip "Clear highlight") to remove the colour. Orkestra saves highlights with the project, separately for each root.

Browse a worktree

Before you start, the project must have at least one worktree. See Worktrees.

  1. Click Select file root in the panel header.
  2. Click a row in the Browse root menu.

Result: the tree shows the folder of that worktree. In the menu, a check mark shows the active root, the project folder reads "Project root — <project name>", and worktree rows have a colour dot. When you switch to another project, the tree returns to its project folder.

Stage files in Git

  1. Select the files or folders.
  2. Right-click a selected row and click Add to Git.

Result: Orkestra stages the selection in Git. The Git letters update, for example from U to A. If it fails, a short message shows the reason that Git gave, for example "git add failed: … The following paths are ignored by one of your .gitignore files". If Orkestra cannot reach Git at all, the message says why, or "git add failed". If Git printed a warning although it worked, a warning notice shows that text at the bottom right. For more Git tools see Source control.

Refresh the tree

  1. Click Refresh from disk in the panel header.

Result: Orkestra reads the open folders again, retries a failed load, makes the file list for search again, and tries again to restore live updates.

States and messages

Tree and search

  • Select a project to browse its files means there is no active project. A project without a folder needs a location attached in the project switcher.
  • Loading… appears during the first read. If Orkestra cannot read a folder, use Refresh from disk. A directory with more than 2,000 entries shows the first 2,000; search can help find others.
  • The search chip reports progress, match counts, No matches or No confirmed matches when the search could not finish. Red notes explain when live updates, folder listings or Git status need a refresh. Without a note, changes made on disk appear automatically.

Git status and file marks

  • M marks a changed tracked file, A a staged new file, U an untracked file, ! a conflict and D a deleted file. Ignored items have no Git letter and appear dim. A plain folder has no Git marks.
  • A folder icon opens a directory; file badges identify common types. @ means a symbolic link, which Orkestra does not follow. A dim row has been cut and is waiting for Paste.

Actions and dialogs

  • A message at the bottom confirms a successful action or explains why create, rename, delete, copy, move, paste or Add to Git failed. Common causes include a duplicate or invalid name, a missing item, denied permission, an operation outside the project, or trying to place a folder inside itself. An overwrite that stops partway may mean the item changed during the operation.
  • Deleting more than five items, or any folder, opens Move items to trash?. Choose Move to trash or Cancel; the items go to the system trash so you can restore them there.
  • Name conflict lets you choose Overwrite, Keep both or Skip. Overwrite first moves the old item to the system trash and replaces a folder as a whole; Keep both creates a free name such as report (1).txt. Cancel after a paste skips only conflicts, while Cancel during a drag cancels the whole move.
  • If an external program cannot open a file, Orkestra explains why. One file only means select exactly one file; Not for folders means choose a file. Unsaved edits prompt you to Cancel, Open the disk version or Save and open. A saved draft may still show a recovery-copy warning, and a removed project prevents opening the file.
  • If the file manager cannot start, Show in folder reports the system reason. If an editor cannot be listed, use Rescan or Choose editor…. When a file is too large or unsupported, Copy as Image reports that it cannot copy it.

Limits and tips

  • A single click only selects. A double-click opens a file. The arrow at the left of a folder opens or closes it.
  • Keys work when the tree has focus. Click a row first. Keys do nothing while the right-click menu or a name input is open.
    • Up and Down arrows move the selection. Shift plus an arrow extends it. Ctrl+A (Cmd+A) selects all visible rows. Esc clears the selection.
    • Home and End jump to the first and last row. Enter opens a file (where File opening says, as the Open (<target>) row shows) or toggles a folder.
    • Right arrow opens a folder, or moves to its first item. Left arrow closes a folder, or moves to the parent.
    • F2 renames. Delete or Backspace deletes.
    • Ctrl+C copies. Ctrl+Shift+C copies the path. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C copies relative paths. Ctrl+X cuts. Ctrl+V pastes. Use Cmd on macOS.
    • Alt+Insert makes a new file. Alt+Shift+Insert makes a new folder.
    • Type a letter to jump to the next item whose name starts with it. More letters within 0.7 seconds extend the text.
  • Search reads the whole project folder, not only the open folders. It matches the path from the project folder, ignores case, and splits your text at spaces: every word must appear in the path. It reveals the first 500 matches. While a search is active, folders that lead to a match stay open.
  • Search never looks inside folders named node_modules, .git, dist, .next, out, build, .cache or coverage, also with Include excluded folders on.
  • By default search also does not look inside folders named .worktrees, .orkestra-data, .dev_space, .cockpit-gates, test-results or playwright-report, inside other projects and worktrees in the project folder, or inside external mounts. Turn on Include excluded folders to search the folders and projects in this list. External mounts stay skipped.
  • Hidden files and files that Git ignores are searched.
  • In very large folders, search covers shallow folders first.
  • All of these folders stay in the tree. Open them with the arrow to browse their files.
  • Orkestra watches up to 512 open folders for live updates. For more folders, and for external mounts, it shows the amber note.
  • When the panel is narrow, the buttons at the right end of the header do not show. Make the sidebar wider to see them.
  • A folder lists folders first, then files, in alphabetical order. Highlighted folders come first.
  • Expand All opens folders level by level and stops after about 2000 entries. Collapse All closes everything except the project folder.
  • Delete does nothing for the project folder row. That row cannot be dragged or renamed.
  • The tree accepts only drags that start inside the tree. To bring files from your system file manager, copy them there and use Paste. A drag onto a file row does nothing. A drop into the folder that already holds the item does nothing.
  • A dragged row also carries its full path as text. Drop it into a terminal window to type the path. See Terminal windows. With many rows selected, the text holds only the path of the row you dragged.
  • The tree remembers the open folders, the selection, the scroll place, the search text and the cut marks while you switch to other sidebar modules or roots (up to 8 roots). It forgets them when you restart Orkestra. Highlights stay. The menu has no entry to show an item in your system file manager.