Folder Toolkit

Folder Toolkit makes Obsidian's file explorer easier to scan and temporarily simplify. It combines independent folder and note colors, cascading folder styles, subtree borders, permanent hiding, and session-only folder focus.

Features

• Independent text and background colors for folders and notes
• Per-effect folder cascading with explicit inheritance blockers
• Rounded-box or vertical-rail borders around folder subtrees
• Optional colored backgrounds or borders on open note tabs
• The same eight switchable palette templates as Bases Visuals, plus custom hex colors
• Permanent file and folder hiding with a searchable manager
• A temporary focused-folder view that presents any nested folder as the visible explorer root
• Segment-safe path updates when files and folders are renamed or deleted
• Multiple file-explorer panes, desktop, and mobile support

Usage

Right-click or long-press a file or folder and use the actions in Obsidian’s plugin-action group:

• Edit folder colors… or Edit file colors… chooses independent text and background effects. Folders can cascade either effect and add a subtree border. Draft changes preview directly in the file explorer; Save keeps them and Cancel restores the saved rule.
• Hide file/folder permanently removes the item from the explorer until hidden items are shown or the path is unhidden.
• Focus this folder temporarily hides unrelated branches. Use Exit folder focus from a visible folder or the command palette to restore the explorer.

Use Folder Toolkit: Toggle hidden items to reveal hidden paths. The settings tab contains the palette selector and a searchable manager for all appearance and hidden-path rules.

Set Open note tabs to Colored background or Colored border to carry each open note's effective cascaded colors into its workspace tab. Text rules color the tab title, while background rules independently color the tab surface or border.

Folder focus lasts only for the current Obsidian session. Permanent hiding and appearance settings persist.

Installation

Community plugins

After approval, install Folder Toolkit from Settings → Community plugins → Browse.

Manual installation

Copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/folder-toolkit/

Reload Obsidian and enable Folder Toolkit.

Privacy

Folder Toolkit works entirely offline. It makes no network requests, collects no telemetry, and never modifies note content or frontmatter. Its stored data contains only vault-relative paths and visual preferences.

Development

npm install
npm run check

License and acknowledgements

Folder Toolkit is MIT licensed. Its independently implemented feature set was inspired by the MIT-licensed File Color and File Hider community plugins.