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Navigate files and folders

To browse the project structure and open files for editing, you can use:

Other ways to access specific items of interest are:

  • The Recent Files window
  • The Bookmarks tool window
  • Navigation with arrows

Project tool window

You can use the Project tool window to explore the project structure. Simply scroll through the window contents and expand or collapse the folders.

The navigation bar is an alternative to the Project tool window.

To explore the contents of a folder listed in the navigation bar just select it: a list will appear.
To navigate to a listed item, select it from the list: the selected item will become the last element of the navigation bar breadcrumbs. If it's a folder, its contents will be listed so that you can continue the navigation.

Recent Files window

IntelliJ IDEA has various tools to navigate items that have been recently used, for example the Recent Files window.

To show the window:

  • Select View > Recent Files on the main menu

Or:

  • Press CTRL+E

The list of recently used items will appear. By default, the focus is on the item that was accessed last.

Bookmarks tool window

The Bookmarks tool window allows you to manage one or more lists of elements of your project that you often use to be able to select them quickly. It is also the place where IntelliJ IDEA keeps the list of bookmarks and breakpoints. Please refer to the IntelliJ IDEA documentation to find out how to use this tool.

Studio keeps track of the last changes made to the caret position inside files.

To move stored cursor positions back and forth:

  1. To display the IntelliJ IDEA toolbar, select View > Appearance > Toolbar on the main menu.

  2. Select Back to move the focus on the previous caret position in the editing area.

    Or:

    Select Forward to move the focus on the next caret position.

File details

To show the size and modification timestamp for the files in the Project tool window, select View > Appearance > Details in Tree View in the main menu.