Explorer window

View | Tool Windows | Explorer
Ctrl+Alt+L

This tool window lets you look at your solution from various viewpoints and perform the tasks such as creating new items (directories, files, classes, etc.), opening files in the editor, navigating to the code fragment of interest, and more.

Most of the functions in this tool window are accessed as context menu commands in the content pane and associated shortcuts.

Views

The tool window provides you with the following views:

Solution Explorer view. It contains the solution node with an organized logical view of projects and project items in the current solution, as defined in its .sln file. It also contains the Scratches and Consoles node that lets you manage your scratch files and database consoles.
FileSystem Explorer view. Shows you all files and subdirectories starting from the directory where the current solution file is located.
Unity Explorer view. Provides an organized view of all assets in a Unity project (you see exactly the same project tree as in the Unity editor). This view is only available for Unity projects.

The necessary view is selected from the list in the left-hand part of the title bar or, if the views are represented by tabs, by clicking the corresponding tab.

To configure a view, use the corresponding options in the title bar context menu. The necessary options can also be accessed by clicking on the title bar.

Item	Description
Show All Files	By default, JetBrains Rider only displays projects, files and references that are included in the current solution. You can use the Show All Files option to additionally display all subdirectories and files that are located on the file system under the solution directory. For your convenience, those items are shown in yellow. If non-solution items are not indexed by JetBrains Rider, meaning that you cannot use, for example, `Ctrl+Shift+F` to search in those files, these items are marked with the no index label. External items in the current solution are marked as attached.
Autoscroll to Source	If this option is on, JetBrains Rider will automatically open the selected item in the editor. Otherwise, you need to double-click items to open them.
Autoscroll from Source	If this option is on, JetBrains Rider automatically locates documents that you open in the editor in the current view of this window.
File Nesting Settings	Opens the File Nesting Dialog where configure presentation of files with the same names and different extensions.

Code analysis in Solution Explorer

When solution-wide analysis is enabled, files where JetBrains Rider has detected errors as well as all their parent items are highlighted with red underlines in the Solution Explorer view:

JetBrains Rider: error highlighting in the Solution Explorer

Title bar context menu

The context menu that appears by right-clicking on the title bar, provides settings for solution views, viewing modes, as well as for switching between the views, resizing the tool window, and more.

The following table lists and briefly explains the available commands and options.

Item	Shortcut	Description
Select Next View or Tab Select Previous View or Tab Show List of Views or Tabs	`Alt+Right` `Alt+Left` `Alt+Down`	These are the commands for switching between different views.
Autoscroll to Source		If this option is on, JetBrains Rider will automatically open the selected item in the editor. Otherwise, you need to double-click items to open them.
Autoscroll from Source		If this option is on, JetBrains Rider automatically locates documents that you open in the editor in the current view of this window.
Folders Always on Top		If the option is on, folders are shown above the files. Otherwise, all items are sorted alphabetically, and files and folders appear intermixed.
Show Toolbar		Shows or hides the window toolbar.
Pinned, Docked, Floating, Windowed, Split Mode		These options let you control general appearance and behavior of the tool window. See Tool Windows Viewing Modes.
Remove from Sidebar		This command hides the tool window, removes the associated tool window button from the tool window bar and removes the tool window from the quick access menu ( or). To open the tool window again (and restore the associated features), use the main menu: View \| Tool Windows \| <Window Name>.
Group Tabs		If this option is on, there is a list in the left-hand part of the title bar from which you can select the necessary view. If this option is off, the views are represented by tabs which appear in the left-hand part of the title bar.
Move to		To associate the tool window with a different tool window bar, select this command, and then select the destination tool window bar (Top, Left, Bottom or Right).
Resize		To resize the tool window by moving one of its borders, select this command, and then select the necessary Stretch to option. Note that this command is not available for the floating mode.
Hide	`Shift+Escape`	Use this command to hide the tool window.

Title bar buttons

Item	Shortcut	Description
	`Alt+Right` `Alt+Left`	If the views are currently shown as tabs (the Group Tabs option is off), this button appears to the right of the last visible tab. If the first or the last of the available views is currently selected, this button is shown as or . Click this button to open the list of views, for example, to select a different view.
		Click this icon to navigate from a file in the editor to the corresponding node (file, class, field, method, etc.) in the Project tool window. This icon is not available if the Autoscroll from Source option is currently on.
	`Ctrl+NumPad Minus`	Use this icon or shortcut to collapse all the nodes.
		Use this button to open a menu whose options are a subset of the title bar context menu.
	`Shift+Escape`	Use this icon or shortcut to hide the tool window. When used in combination with the `Alt` key, clicking this icon hides all the tool windows attached to the same tool window bar.

Context menu commands for the content pane items

The context menu of an item provides access to all the functions available for this item.

Item	Shortcut	Description
Add	`Ctrl+N`	Use this command to create a new item (directory, file, or class). within the selected one (solution or directory). JetBrains Rider will suggest available file templates for creating new files. You can also choose Add Existing Item to associate an existing file or directory with your solution. In this case JetBrains Rider will additionally ask you whether you want to copy, move, or create a link to the existing item.
Manage NuGet Packages		This command is available on the solution and project nodes. It opens the NuGet window where you can manage NuGet packages.
Unload/Reload Project(s)		Use this command to temporarily exclude selected projects from the solution. Unloaded projects are excluded from the build, code inspection and indexing. However, you will still be able to open files (`Ctrl+Shift+T`) from unloaded projects and perform textual search (`Ctrl+Shift+F`). Note that if you want to view or edit the project file (.csproj or .vbproj) you can do so without unloading the project.
Build Solution/Selected Projects		This command builds the solution or selected projects.
Run Unit Tests	`Ctrl+U, R`	Use this command to start unit tests in the selected scope.
Advanced Build Actions \| Rebuild Solution/Selected Projects		Removes build artifacts from previous builds and then build the selected projects.
Advanced Build Actions \| Clean Solution/Selected Projects		Removes build artifacts from previous builds.
Advanced Build Actions \| Pack Solution/Selected Projects		Runs the dotnet pack command for the current solution/selected projects. The command will build the projects and create NuGet packages. Note that the command only works for .NET Core/ASP.NET Core projects.
Advanced Build Actions \| Package Solution/Selected Projects		This command helps deploying classic ASP.NET projects. It will use the `Package` MSBuild target to generate a deployment package in the form of a .zip file, which you can then deploy using the MSDeploy command line.
Reference in C# Interactive		Use this command to add reference(s) to the selected project to the C# Interactive session. If no sessions are open, JetBrains Rider will create a new session.
Edit \| Cut	`Ctrl+X`	Use this command to move the selected item or items from the current location to the clipboard.
Edit \| Copy	`Ctrl+C`	Use this command to copy the selected item or items to the clipboard.
Edit \| Paste	`Ctrl+V`	Use this command to insert the contents of the clipboard into the selected location.
Edit \| Rename	`Ctrl+R, R`	Use this command to invoke the Rename refactoring for the current file or folder.
Edit \| Edit [file]	`F4`	Use this command to open the selected file in the editor. If the file is already open, the corresponding editor tab will become active.
Copy Path(s)	`Ctrl+Shift+C`	Use this command to copy the full path(s) of the selected item or items to the clipboard.
Tools \| Copy Relative Path	`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C`	Use this command to copy a relative path to the selected item to the clipboard.
Refactor This	`Ctrl+Shift+R`	Use this command to perform one of the refactorings available for the selected item.
Inspect Code		Use this command to run code inspection for the selected item.
Code Cleanup	`Ctrl+E, C`	Use this command to run code cleanup in the selected scope.
Tools \| Add to Favorites	`Shift+Alt+F`	Use this command to add the selected item to an existing or new list of favorite items. See Managing Your Project Favorites.
Edit \| Delete	`Delete`	Use this command to delete the selected item. Note that this command will remove the selected file or project from the solution and from the file system. Therefore, use this command only if you are absolutely sure that the item is not used anywhere. In all other cases, use the Safe Delete refactoring (`Ctrl+R, D`).
Change Dialect (<CurrentDialect>)		For SQL files and database consoles: change the SQL dialect associated with the file or console.
Run '<item_name>'	`Ctrl+F5`	For an SQL file or database console: execute all the statements contained in the selected file or console.
Show History		Use this command to view local history for the selected file or directory, or to create a label for the current version of your solution.
Tools \| Synchronize '<item_name>'		Use this command to synchronize the selected item with its version saved in the file system. (If you change a file or directory contents externally, JetBrains Rider, under certain circumstances, may not be aware of the corresponding changes unless you use this command.)
Show in Explorer		Use this command to open a file browser (e.g. Windows Explorer or Finder) and show the selected item there.
Tools \| Open in terminal		Use this command to open the directory corresponding to the selected item in the embedded local terminal.
Tools \| File Path/Directory Path		This menu shows the path from the file system root to the selected element with individual directories as the menu items. When you select an item in this menu (e.g. a directory), a file browser (e.g. Windows Explorer or Finder) opens, and the selected item is shown there.
Tools \| Compare With	`Ctrl+D`	Use this command to compare the selected file or directory with another file or directory. See Comparing files, folders, and text sources and Differences Viewer for Folders.
Tools \| Compare File with Editor		Use this command to compare the selected file with the file open on an active editor tab. See Comparing files, folders, and text sources and Differences Viewer for Files.
Tools \| Create Gist		Use this command to share code by using gists.
Properties	`Alt+Enter`	Use this command to access build properties of the selected item.

File status highlights

If VCS integration is enabled for the current solution, JetBrains Rider uses colors to denote VCS file status in the Solution tool window. The following table presents information about the meaning of the colors.

Color	File Status	Description
Black	Up to date	File is unchanged.
Gray	Deleted	File is scheduled for deletion from the repository.
Blue	Modified	File has changed since the last synchronization.
Green	Added	File is scheduled for addition to the repository.
Violet	Merged	File is merged by your VCS as a result of an update.
Brown	Unversioned	File exists locally, but is not in the repository, and is not scheduled for adding.
Olive	Ignored	File will be ignored in any VCS operation.
Light brown	Hijacked	File is modified without checkout. This status is valid for the files under Perforce, ClearCase and VSS. modified without checkout.
Red	Merged with conflicts	During the last update, file was merged with conflicts.
Lilac	Externally deleted	File is deleted locally, but was not scheduled for deletion, and still exists in the CVS repository.
Dark cyan	Switched	The file is taken from a different branch than the whole project. This status is valid for CVS and SVN.