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An Obsidian file explorer with folder focus at its core.
Folder focus
Right-click any folder → Focus to show only that folder's subtree. Everything outside it is hidden, so you can work on one area of your vault without distraction. Great for large vaults, per-project workflows, or when attachments and archives keep drowning out the notes you actually care about.
Choosing a folder to focus
Three ways to pick the target, all from the focus bar at the top of the view:
- Search input — click it (or just start typing) to list every folder in the vault with a fuzzy filter as you type; matches jump straight into parents/children hierarchies. Click a row or press Enter to focus it.
- Recent history — the clock button lists recently focused folders for one-click re-focus. Entries you no longer need can be removed individually right inside the menu.
- Context menu — right-click any folder in the tree → Focus, or use Clear focus on empty areas / the same menu.
The clear (×) button exits focus mode and restores your previous expansion state exactly as it was.
What focus mode does
- Only the focused subtree is rendered; expanding folders never leaks content from outside it.
- Creation lands inside the focused folder: New note / New base / New canvas always go to the focused root — even the header buttons skip Obsidian's new-note location setting while it points outside the focused subtree.
- Search, drag & drop targets, and auto-reveal all respect the focus boundary — dragging a file onto empty space moves it into the focused folder instead of the vault root.
- Focus state is persisted across restarts and follows folder renames automatically.
File tree essentials
Beyond focus, this is a full explorer: indentation guides and expand/collapse chevrons (folders first), inline creation at the correct position and depth, rename (F2) that preserves each file's extension, duplicate, delete-to-trash with confirmation, copy/cut/paste and drag & drop with multi-select support, keyboard navigation (arrows / Enter / F2 / Delete), middle-click to open in a new tab, and an auto-reveal toggle that keeps the tree synced with the active editor file.
Installation
Manual install: copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into VaultFolder/.obsidian/plugins/focus-explorer/, reload Obsidian, and enable the plugin in Settings → Community plugins.