Folder Tree Navigation

Media Sort displays your filesystem as an interactive folder tree in the left panel. This tree reflects the directory structure of your currently opened root folder and allows you to browse and manage subdirectories entirely via keyboard.

Navigating the Tree

The folder tree supports standard WASD-style navigation:

Key	Action
W	Move selection up to the previous folder
S	Move selection down to the next folder
A	Collapse the selected folder, or navigate to the closest visible parent if already collapsed
D	Expand the selected folder, or move to its first child if already expanded

When you select a folder in the tree, the media grid updates to display all files recursively contained in that folder and its subdirectories.

Expanding and Collapsing

• Expand (D): Opens a folder node to list its immediate child folders below it, indicated by a icon. Subfolders are indented to indicate nesting depth. If the folder is already expanded, pressing D moves the selection into its first child.
• Collapse (A): Hides the child folders of the selected node, switching to a icon. If the folder is already collapsed, pressing A moves the selection to the closest visible parent in the tree.

Parent Breadcrumbs

The current folder and each pinned folder display a chain of parent directories directly above their subfolder listings. These breadcrumbs are full tree nodes. They replace the regular folder icon with an icon and can be expanded and collapsed just like ordinary folders, showing their own chevron indicator.

For example, if your current folder is /home/user/Pictures/Vacation/, the tree will show:

📂 Vacation/                          (current folder)
  ▲ home/                             (parent breadcrumb: click to open)
    ▲ user/                           (parent breadcrumb)
      ▲ Pictures/                     (parent breadcrumb)
  📁 beach_photos/                     (real subfolder)
  📁 mountains/                        (real subfolder)

Clicking any breadcrumb selects it (like any other tree node). Press Enter to open that directory as the new current folder, updating the media grid and tree accordingly.

Opening a Folder

Press Enter on any selected folder to open it as the new root folder. The folder tree, grid, and search all reset to reflect the contents of the newly opened directory.

Creating a New Folder

Press C to open the “Create Folder” dialog. The new folder is created as a subdirectory of the currently selected folder. Type the desired name and press Enter or click Create to confirm.

Folder Icons

The tree uses several distinct lucide icons to convey folder type and state:

Icon	Meaning
	Regular folder, collapsed. It may contain subfolders.
	Regular folder, expanded. Its children are visible.
	Pinned folder (top-level bookmark node).
	Filesystem root (/ on Linux/macOS, drive roots on Windows).
	Restricted folder: its contents cannot be listed or it is read-only.
	Symbolic link to another folder. The resolved target path is shown next to the name.
	Folder contains a git repository (.git).
	Parent breadcrumb (ancestor of the current or a pinned folder).

When a folder matches several types, the icon priority is: pinned > root > lock > symlink > git. The git icon is intentionally the lowest-priority classification.

Symbolic Links

Symbolic links to directories appear as regular tree nodes marked with the icon, with the full path of their final destination shown next to the node name. Media Sort follows symlinks transparently:

• Expanding a symlink node lists the contents of the link target.
• Opening a symlink (select + Enter) opens the resolved target directory, not the link path.
• Moving or copying images into a selected symlinked folder writes directly into the final target directory.

The symlink refusal policy for files is unchanged: sorting actions still refuse symbolic-link file sources so a move never relocates the link’s target instead of the entry you see in the grid.

Pinned Folders

Pinned folders appear as additional root-level nodes below the current folder, marked with a pin icon and numbered shortcut labels (Alt+1 through Alt+9). Each pinned folder also displays its own parent breadcrumb chain when expanded. See the Pinned Folders page for details.

Scrolling

If your directory structure is deep or wide, a scrollbar appears automatically. Keyboard navigation (W / S) automatically scrolls the tree to keep the selected folder visible.