# Browse and edit files

Find your project, edit and save code, search files, and understand the Workspace and Git controls.

Audience: Hosted & self-hosted. Reviewed: 2026-09-29.
Web version: https://www.forgevps.com/docs/files

## Understand the Files page

Files combines a file browser with a code editor. The folder tree helps you find files on the machine; opening a file creates an editor tab. The Workspace menu controls which folders you keep close at hand.

These are the actual files on your VPS. Saving an edit changes that file on the machine. The editor is not an extra copy of the project and does not automatically publish a GitHub deployment.

## Find and open your project

1. Select the correct machine and open Files.
2. Expand folders in the tree until you reach your project. To keep the project handy, open Workspace → Add Folder to Workspace… and choose its folder.
3. Open the project’s README or another text file. It appears in an editor tab.
4. Open more files as needed and use the tabs to move between them.

Adding an existing folder to Workspace makes it easier to navigate; it does not upload, clone, or move that folder. Remove from Workspace removes the shortcut. Delete is a separate action that removes the actual file or folder.

## Make and save an edit

1. Click the file you want to change and edit its contents.
2. Use Save, or press Ctrl+S on Windows/Linux or Cmd+S on macOS while in Files.
3. Wait for the save to finish. If it reports an error, resolve that error before assuming the machine has the new contents.
4. Check your application. A development server may reload automatically; a production app may need a build, restart, or deployment.

Saving is explicit. An unsaved change in an editor tab is not the same as a saved change on the machine. If you close a tab with unsaved work, read the confirmation so you do not discard it accidentally.

## Find a file or a piece of code

- To open a file by name, press Ctrl+P or Cmd+P while in Files and use the quick-open picker.
- To find text in the project, choose Search in the Files sidebar. Open a result to jump to its matching line.
- If a terminal command, Git operation, or agent created files, use Refresh file tree beside Workspace to see the updated folders.

Some home-directory housekeeping entries are hidden to keep the tree readable. Use Show system files in the Workspace menu to reveal those entries. This does not delete files or change their permissions. The server directory picker is a separate view and hides dot-prefixed directories.

## Create, upload, rename, and measure

Right-click an item in the file tree to see the actions that apply to it. Use New File…, New Folder…, Upload Files…, Rename…, or Delete as appropriate. Upload Files… transfers selected files from your computer into the chosen machine directory.

Choose Storage usage… on a file or folder to calculate how much disk space it uses. A folder measurement includes its hidden contents. Large folders can take time to scan; an error or unfinished reading is not a size of zero.

Opening a file is not the same as running it. Use Terminal for commands and Servers for a managed application.

## Review changes with Git

1. Choose Git in the Files sidebar to see source-control information for your project.
2. Open a changed file or use Compare with Last Commit to inspect the difference.
3. Stage the intended changes, enter a commit message, and commit when ready.
4. Push when you want to send the commit to the configured remote repository.

Save, commit, and push are different steps. Save writes the file on the machine; commit records changes in Git; push sends commits to the remote. A hosted GitHub deployment is triggered by a push to its configured branch, not merely by saving a file.

- [Run project commands](https://www.forgevps.com/docs/terminal/markdown)
- [Deploy from GitHub](https://www.forgevps.com/docs/github-deployments/markdown)