Find your way around

The top bar, the sidebar, tabs and split view, the home screen, the command palette and density, and how to replay the interface tour.

On this page
Documentation sections

Filarr's window has three parts: a bar at the top, a sidebar you open when you need it, and the page you are working on, in tabs. This article names each part and what it does, so the rest of this help makes sense.

The screen at a glance

  1. Main navigation. The pages of Filarr: Home, Folders, Notes, Board, Tasks, Collections, Timeline, Automation, Reminders, Shares, Trash, Marketplace, Settings and Help. The Marketplace only appears with a cloud account. Help opens this help inside the app, with a search box and a Read this page on filarr.com link on each article.
  2. Folders. Your folder tree. Click the arrow next to a folder to see its subfolders, and click a folder to open it. Clicking the Folders heading opens the Folders page, with every folder, its size and its activity.
  3. Storage used. How much space your files take. With a cloud account, the bar shows your quota. See what takes up space shows a map of your storage.
  4. Search. One box for everything: files, folders, notes and settings pages. Type a word and the results appear below.
  5. Header buttons, from left to right: the inbox (cloud accounts), Toggle theme between light and dark, the Focus timer, the sync status (cloud accounts; click it to open Sync activity) and Density.
  6. Your profile. Click your avatar for Profile, Switch profile, Settings and, when your profile can be locked, Lock.
  7. New tab. Opens a new tab on the home screen.
  8. Recent notes. A block of the home screen with the notes you worked on last. All notes opens the Notes page.
  9. New. Creates a folder from the home screen. With shared vaults, it also offers New shared vault and I have an invitation code…. The two buttons on its left switch the folders between List view and Grid view.

On a narrow window, the theme, timer and density buttons are hidden to leave room for search.

The sidebar

The sidebar is a drawer: it is closed by default so the page gets all the room.

  • Open it with the menu button at the top left, or with Ctrl+B.
  • Close it with the same button, with Ctrl+B, or with Esc.
  • Open an entry in a new tab with a middle click.

Under the main navigation, you find:

  • Folders: your folder tree. The + next to the heading creates a folder, and the heading itself opens the Folders page. Below the tree, To tidy shows how many files wait to be put away. See Tidy up with "To tidy".
  • Favorites: the files and folders you marked as favorites. Right-click one and choose Assign a shortcut (Ctrl+1-9) to open it with a key.
  • Recent files: what you opened last.
  • At the bottom, Storage used and See what takes up space.

Tabs and split view

Each page opens in a tab, above the content. Filarr remembers your tabs for each profile.

  • Ctrl+T opens a new tab, Ctrl+W closes the current one.
  • Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab move to the next and previous tab.
  • Right-click a tab for Close tab, Close others, Split right and Move to other panel.

To see two pages side by side, drag a tab to the left or right edge of the window. Drop it when Open on the left or Open on the right appears. Drag the divider between the two panels to resize them, and double-click it to merge them back. Ctrl+\ moves between the two panels.

The home screen

Home is where Filarr opens. It is a grid of blocks: figures on your files and notes, Pick up where you left off, Recent notes and All folders, among others. You can rearrange it, add or remove blocks and pick another layout: right-click an empty area and choose Customise home. See Customize your home.

The command palette

The command palette finds files and runs commands without the mouse. Press Ctrl+P or Ctrl+K, then type a few letters.

Results are grouped into Files, Actions, Settings, Navigation and Recent. When a command shows a shortcut on the right, that shortcut runs it directly next time. Use the arrow keys to choose, Enter to run and Esc to close. Commands that cannot run on the current page are not listed.

While you type in a note, Ctrl+P opens a quick switcher to jump between notes instead.

Density

The Density button in the header sets how much fits on the screen: Comfortable, Compact or Dense. Choose Dense to see more lines at once, Comfortable for more space around each item.

Replay the interface tour

Filarr shows a short tour after the first setup. To see it again:

  1. Open Settings (Ctrl+,).
  2. Choose About.
  3. Next to Interface tour, click Relaunch.

Filarr returns to the home screen and starts the tour again. It highlights ten areas in turn: the sidebar, search, creating folders, notes, collections, automation, the trash, the theme, your profile and the settings.