remix-project/apps/remix-ide/docs/file_explorer.md

File Explorers

To get to the File Explorers module - click the file explorers icon.

The basic files explorer lists all the files stored in your browser's browser storage. You can see them in the browser folder.

Important Note: Clearing the browser storage will permanently delete all the solidity files stored there. This is an inherent limitation of a browser-based IDE. However, if you want to store files outside of the browser and on your computer's filesystem, use Remixd or use the desktop version of Remix-IDE. RemixD enables you to have access to a selected folder on your hard drive. Remix Desktop is a version of Remix-IDE in an Electron app.

You can rename, remove or add new files to the file explorer.

We will start by reviewing the icons in the image above.

The book icon - A. is the link to the module's documentation.

The icons to the right of the browser file explorer in the image above only appear for browser storage.

Create new File

The icon marked B. above. Creates a new file.

Publish to Gist

The icon marked C. above. Publishes all files from the browser folder to a gist. Only file in the root of browser will be published. Files in subfolders will not be publish to the Gist. Gist API has changed in 2018 and requires users to be authenticated to be able to publish a gist.

Click this link to GitHub tokens setup and select Generate new token. Then check the Create gists checkbox and generate a new token.

Take the token and paste it in Remix's Settings module in the GitHub Access Token section. And then click Save. Now you should be able to use the feature.

Create a folder

The icon marked D. above. Creates a new folder in browser file explorer.

Context Menu (Right Click)

Right click on a file or a folder and the context menu will appear.

You can rename or delete a selected file or a folder. You can also create a folder.

To create a file with the context menu, right click on a folder to get the Create File option. A file will be created inside that folder.

The functionality of the context menu also works with RemixD (which gives you have access to a folder on your hard drive).

Note: When working with RemixD, you need to open and close the localhost folder to refresh the view.