Files, folders and the drawer
Make files and folders, import documents, browse your project in the file drawer, sort and filter, move things around, and use the Trash.
The file drawer is where a project's files and folders live. It slides up from the bottom of the window, and can fill the whole window when you're organizing.
Open the drawer
- Click the folder handle at the bottom center of the window, or press Cmd+\. On Windows, Ctrl+Space works too.
- Click the expand button on the handle to make the drawer fill the window; click it again to bring it back down.
- On mobile, tap the project's Files tab.
The drawer has four areas:
- Toolbar (top left): New file (+), New folder, Import and Trash, followed by where you are (Main is the top of the project; folders appear after it as you open them).
- Show and View (left): filters and layouts, below.
- Files (middle): click a folder to open it, a file to open the file.
- Side panel (right): Tags, the writing Timer and the Word count goal, switched with the icons on the far right.
The magnifying glass at the top right of the files filters them by name as you type.
Make a file
- On the dashboard, click the kind of file you want (Text, Manuscript, Grid, Cards, Wiki or Outline). Or click + in the drawer, or press Cmd+Option+N (Cmd+N in the desktop app), and choose a kind.
- Type a Name. Add a Description and Tags if you like. Creating in shows the folder it will go in; Change picks another.
- Click Create. The file opens.
- Tap New file on the project's Home tab, or + on the Files tab.
- Choose the kind of file, type a name and tap Create.
File names follow the same rule as project names: no / \ ? % * : | " < >.
Import documents
Bring in work from other apps as text files.
- Click Import on the dashboard, or the upload icon in the drawer (on mobile, the upload icon on the Files tab).
- Choose one or more files: .txt, .md, .docx or .rtf.
- Each becomes a text file in the folder you're in, named after the document. Markdown files open formatted and are set to Markdown.
Word documents keep their headings, bold, italic, lists and paragraphs; pictures in them are left out. To bring a whole book across, import the chapters and then add them to a manuscript.
Folders
- New folder: the folder icon in the drawer toolbar. Folders can hold other folders, up to three levels deep.
- Open a folder: click it. Go back up with the path at the top of the drawer.
- Color a folder: right-click it and pick a color.
- Rename or delete: right-click it.
Folders are for you; your BYOK only sees projects and the text files in them.
Move, copy and organize
- Drag a file or folder onto a folder to move it there, or along the row to change the order (with Manual sorting).
- Select several with Shift-click or Cmd-click, then drag them, or right-click for actions on all of them.
- Drag out of the drawer to use files elsewhere: onto a manuscript to add text files as sections, onto an outline to add linked rows, or into your text to add a link to the file.
- Copy, cut and paste: right-click a file for the copy, cut and paste buttons, then paste into another folder. Copying needs an internet connection, and in the desktop app it needs sync turned on; cutting and pasting (moving) works anywhere. Copying a manuscript copies its chapters too, into a new folder named after the copy, so the copy and the original never change each other.
- Move to another project: right-click a file and choose Move Project. A manuscript takes its chapter files with it. If the move would break something, such as outline rows that link the files, Studio says so and asks first.
The right-click menu
Right-click any file in the drawer (on mobile, long-press it):
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Favorite | Star the file. Favorites appear on the dashboard and under Show › Favorites. |
| Copy, cut, paste, trash | The row of icons. |
| Rename | Rename the file. (Files synced to a BYOK can't be renamed until you unlink them; see Wi-Fi sync.) |
| Tags | Add or remove tags. |
| Treat as Markdown / Treat as plain text | Text files: see Markdown. |
| Version History | Earlier versions of the file. See Version history. |
| Syncing | Link or unlink the file with your BYOK devices. See Wi-Fi sync. |
| Move Project | Send the file to another project. |
| Backup to Drive | With Google Drive connected: back up the text file now. |
Show, sort and view
Show (left of the drawer) narrows what you see:
- Favorites (star): only starred files.
- Tags (tag): only files with the tags you tick in its Filter by tags list. Clicking a tag in the Tags panel on the right does the same.
- Recent (clock): files by last edit, newest first.
View changes the layout:
| View | Best for |
|---|---|
| Icons | Seeing a project at a glance. |
| List | Long projects: one row per file, with stars, dates and tags. |
| Details | Descriptions, sync status, dates and tags in columns. Click a description to edit it. |
Sort: right-click empty space in the drawer and choose Manual, Name, Date Modified, Date Created or Kind.
The drawer from the keyboard
Cmd+\ opens the drawer and puts the keyboard in the file list. Then ↑/↓ move, Enter opens, → goes into a folder, ← comes back out, Cmd+↑ goes to the parent folder, and typing a name jumps to the first match. In Icons view all four arrows move around the grid.
The Trash
Files you delete go to the Trash, so a slip is never final.
- Open it: the trash can in the drawer toolbar (on mobile, Trash at the bottom of the Files tab).
- Restore: right-click a file in the Trash and choose Restore. It goes back where it was.
- Delete for good: right-click and choose Permanently Delete, or click Empty Trash to clear everything.
- Leave the Trash: click the trash can again.
Still stuck?
Send us a note from Contact Support, or choose Report Bug in Studio’s account menu so your app version comes along with it. For the device itself, see the BYOK device manual.