Reveal note in sidebar

When I jump to one note with the quick switcher, I often miss the context of the note (“Which folders is this note in?”). There is no way yet to show the current note in the sidebar.

This is how you can show the current file in VSCode’s sidebar:

reveal

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3 posts were merged into an existing topic: Reveal note in OS (Finder/Explorer)

I would really :heart: to have both opportunities as @bernardo_v proposed.
In VS Code this is one of my “everyday-used-feature”.

I could imagine the following UI integration for “Reveal in sidebar”:

obsidian-reveal-sidebar

NOTE: I created an additional feature request for “Reveal in OS” for a better handling and differentiation.

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This (the original request) would help me a lot too, as I’m creating notes, I could set obs to create notes in the folder of the open note, and then if the note that I created needs to live somewhere else I could then easily reveal it and move it as needed.

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I would like a quick way to reveal the location of the current active file in the Obsidian file explorer pane (not the system file explorer).

It could be an option in the 3 dots More Options menu, something like Reveal in File Explorer Pane or Show in file explorer pane, see mockup below:

When clicked, it would unfold the corresponding folder and highlight the file (briefly highlight it, in the same way footnotes are highlighted when clicked eg. .markdown-preview-view .mod-highlighted)

this would complement these other feature requests :

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/breadcrumbs-doc-title-reposition-with-image-concepts/2414/3

thank you.

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When opening a file (such as through the quick switcher), it would be awesome to be able to see where that file is in its folder structure. This is a feature in Visual Studio Code, which I have found to be very helpful on occasion for orienting myself in a hierarchy of folders.

Example:

  1. Obsidian is open. All folders are collapsed.
  2. I quick search for “File A”, and open it, not knowing necessarily where it is in my vault.
  3. All parent folders of “File A” expand, and “File A” is highlighted as the selected file.

Though I personally attempt to use folders sparingly, I think this would become extra valuable to people who use deep hierarchies. Even with a shallow hierarchy, common notes tend to live together, and seeing which files are around the current file can help orienting oneself to a topic.

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I often use the button to create a new note and then have no idea which folder it is in.
Very frustrating so some form of show current structure/breadcrumb would be immensely helpful.
If Notion and Roam both have it, that’s a hint it is very useful

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This is absolutely the essential feature for an IDE, and I always believe Obsidian is the IDE for knowledge base.

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+1 for this feature

Agreed, especially with the “create file in folder” option which uses the same folder as the open file rather than the selected folder.

I would like to suggest merging this post with Option to go to the open note's parent folder to consolidate views and support for this feature.

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When I’m on a folder, it would be nice to have an option at the title bar area/hotkey to allow you to go back to a parent folder. Right now, the only way I’ve been able to do this is just by searching the note and look through the backlinks

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Yes!

Another way of resolving this issue could be making sure that the file explorer always reflects the path to the current note.

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I would prefer if this is was a hotkey that would “jump to” the current note in the file explorer. Some IDEs have this feature.

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It would be helpful to have a “locate file” functionality from the editor.

If i.e. a note is selected from the graph view or via fulltext search there is currently no possibility to locate the file in the tree structure of the file browser. This is required though if one wants to i.e. move the file, etc.

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I strongly agree. the currently chosen note should be visible in the tree-view to the left. I really liked the Joplin view - All the Notebooks were visible and also all the notes from the currently chosen Notebook (folder). Hoipefully Obsidian will have this feature soon.

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The suggestions here would be great help and timesavers. There is a similar request here: Locate File in Browser functionality.

Would it be possible for these requests to be merged for easier navigation and for consolidating the likes for this feature request?

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I agree on a way to see and go to parent without using cmd+alt+left arrow (I don’t know where I am with this)
I like the flowchart of after effect

But maybe it belong more in a plug-in ?
tell me if I should post it there instead.

Ok there is a post for breadcrumb (I didn’t know the name) in plugin also

The flow-chart image does look cool. :slight_smile:

For my workflow, I divide the projects into folders. For example:

Month & Year of Project (Super Parent Folder) -> Review of Book xyz (Parent Folder) -> Individual Reviews of Chapters (md files).

Now when I am working with “Chapter 2 Review.md”, it would be great if the file explorer automatically shows the content of the folder, in which the current file is situated. If I go to another file in another folder using breadcrumbs, the file explorer view should shift to that folder.

At the moment, I am using windows explorer to view the folder and filename, after interrupting my work flow -> then get back into obsidian again after locating the file -> go to search (or breadcrumbs) and locate the file I want. The current view of the file explorer is basically of no use to me.

I am eagerly awaiting the feature that would make file explorer display the contents of the currently focussed file.

This has been implemented as of 0.8.5

There’s now a new file menu item to “reveal file in file explorer”, which highlights the current file in the file explorer pane.

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/obsidian-release-v0-8-5/4650

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