How to order items in File Explorer with drag and drop?

Drag and drop sorting of items in File Explorer via Bookmarks integration

Contents

• Overview
• Example 1: ordering items in a subfolder (short example)
• Example 2: step by step ordering items in root folder (long detailed example)

Overview

After installing the Custom File Explorer Sorting obsidian plugin you can take an advantage of drag and drop to conveniently reorder items in Obsidian File Explorer. This functionality is available thanks to integration with Obsidian bookmarks feature. You actually reorder items in a dedicated bookmark group and the File Explorer can reflect that order.

At the same time this feature doesn't interfere with more advanced, config-driven automatic sorting capabilities of the plugin. More details available in the home of File Explorer Custom Sort

The basic simple drag and drop scenario looks like below. More advanced examples and step-by-step tutorial in subsequent sections of this page.

Example 1: ordering items in a subfolder (short example)

Below the sequence from start to end.
For full quality video with play / pause controls go to Video for Example 1: ordering items in a subfolder (short example)
For more detailed instructions examine the step-by-step Example 2 below

Example 2: step by step ordering items in root folder (long detailed example)

Step 1 (optional): open bookmarks in new tab for convenience

For convenience of the side-by-side view you can show bookmarks in a tab

Step 2: bookmark folder items for sorting via context menu

Use context menu to create bookmarks representing the items to sort by drag and drop.
A dedicated group in bookmarks will be created to contain items for sorting

Step 3: drag and drop to reorder items

In bookmarks rearrange the items to get the desired order

Step 4 variant A: apply the order via context menu

To apply the order set in bookmarks you can use the context menu, the ribbon toggle or the command.
Below the variant with context menu.

Step 4 variant B: apply the order via ribbon toggle button

To apply the order set in bookmarks you can use the context menu, the ribbon toggle or the command.
Below the variant with ribbon toggle.

Step 4 variant C: apply the order via command

To apply the order set in bookmarks you can use the context menu, the ribbon toggle or the command.
Below the variant with the command.

Full length video of the Example 2 end-to-end

For full quality video with play / pause controls go to Video for Example 2: ordering items in root folder (long example)