Open Folder Button

Open Folder Button is an Obsidian Desktop plugin for Windows by altokun.

It adds a small button to each folder row in Obsidian's file explorer. Select the button to open that local folder in Windows Explorer without changing the folder's expanded or collapsed state.

Requirements

• Windows 11
• Obsidian Desktop 1.12.7 or later
• A local vault backed by the Windows filesystem

The plugin does not support mobile devices, macOS, Linux, or remotely backed vaults that do not expose a local filesystem path.

Usage

1. Open Obsidian's file explorer.
2. Find the folder you want to open in Windows Explorer.
3. Select the folder-open button on the right side of the folder row.

The button is added only to folder rows. Normal folder selection, expansion, and collapse remain available.

Privacy and safety

• Does not read or write note contents in your vault
• Does not make external network requests
• Does not collect telemetry or analytics
• Does not display advertisements
• Passes the resolved local folder path directly to explorer.exe as an argument without constructing a shell command string
• Rejects paths that resolve outside the vault

Compatibility notes

Open Folder Button depends on Obsidian's internal file explorer DOM structure. A future Obsidian update may change that structure and require a plugin update.

Windows controls foreground focus and may reuse an existing Explorer window, so bringing Explorer fully to the front cannot be guaranteed in every environment without native focus APIs.

Problems will be tracked through GitHub Issues after the public repository is available.

Support

Open Folder Button is free and open source.

If it saves you a few clicks, you can optionally support future development on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/altokun_number_one

The plugin does not show donation popups or notifications.

Build

npm.cmd install
npm.cmd exec -- tsc --noEmit
npm.cmd run build

License

Open Folder Button is available under the MIT License.