# Joplin as file explorer?

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796>\
**Category:** Lounge\
**Created:** [4 June 2021 13:24 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796 "2021-06-04T13:24:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bepolymathe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/bepolymathe/32/8492_2.png) [@bepolymathe](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/bepolymathe)\
**Post date:** [4 June 2021 13:24 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/1 "2021-06-04T13:24:39Z")

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Hi !

I would like to share a thought with you. I have just changed my professional computer, which was an opportunity to drastically harden the installed and legitimate software for computer security. Gone are the file synchronization softwares like dropbox (not good) or the nextcloud client (good) allowing me to work at home and at work until then.

Fortunately, I managed to get the right to install Joplin on the work computer. My main (and favorite) workflow is save. The IT department who thought they would forbid me to use nextcloud because they refused to install the synchronization client... sees it coming back through the window via Joplin 😉

The crazy question I have is the following. What if I integrate my workflow folder (about 40 GB) directly into Joplin thanks to the excellent Hotfolder (thanks to @JackGruber )? Has anyone ever tried to use Joplin as a file explorer? It could be very handy because all my documents could be in a Joplin notebook and sorted/filtered with tags...

Is it crazy? Risky? A bad idea?

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**Author:** ![roman\_r\_m](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/roman_r_m/32/3297_2.png) [@roman\_r\_m](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/roman_r_m)\
**Post date:** [4 June 2021 13:51 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/2 "2021-06-04T13:51:52Z")

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I don't think it's risky - just create a backup first and you'll be fine. But probably crazy.

UPD  
Forgot to add - if you intent to sync 40 GB to Nextcloud it's going to take forever.

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**Author:** ![bepolymathe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/bepolymathe/32/8492_2.png) [@bepolymathe](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/bepolymathe)\
**Post date:** [4 June 2021 14:35 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/3 "2021-06-04T14:35:26Z")

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> [@roman\_r\_m](#):
>
> I don't think it's risky - just create a backup first and you'll be fine. But probably crazy.

That's for me 😉

> [@roman\_r\_m](#):
>
> Forgot to add - if you intent to sync 40 GB to Nextcloud it's going to take forever.

I don't plan to put all the files at once but to integrate them as I need them.

In fact, I must admit that I've been wanting to try using a flat file structure (instead of a folder tree) with tags for the files for years. A bit like [TagSpaces](https://www.tagspaces.org)

.

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**Author:** ![laurent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laurent](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/laurent)\
**Post date:** [4 June 2021 14:37 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/4 "2021-06-04T14:37:28Z")

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Why not giving it a try? Is there something that you think might cause problems? I've been moving more and more of my files under Joplin too as it's easier to search and then I also have them on mobile. I didn't move 40 GB though.

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**Author:** ![bepolymathe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/bepolymathe/32/8492_2.png) [@bepolymathe](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/bepolymathe)\
**Post date:** [4 June 2021 14:46 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/5 "2021-06-04T14:46:21Z")

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> [@laurent](#):
>
> Why not giving it a try?

I'm tempted to try it... if only to give you a feedback 😉

Well, after that I have to find a solution to put all my files in a single folder because they are in a tree structure that is sometimes a bit deep.

This will also allow me to make Zettelkasten with the files too which is an interesting experiment (echoing your [post](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/what-would-make-a-good-zettelkasten-plugin/17782) Laurent).

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**Author:** ![adam](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/adam/32/9077_2.png) [@adam](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/adam)\
**Post date:** [14 June 2021 09:27 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/6 "2021-06-14T09:27:39Z")

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Brand-new baby Joplin user here. If this works, this would solve so many things for me! And Joplin has already done that. Good, synched notes and to-dos between mobile and Linux... I've been looking for something this good for I don't know how long. And to be able to organise documents by tags rather than hierarchical file folders.... sweet Merlin and all his little imps. Combining that with notes at the same time makes this a research tool I have been dreaming of.

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**Author:** ![Edwin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/edwin/32/9063_2.png) [@Edwin](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Edwin)\
**Post date:** [14 June 2021 09:50 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/7 "2021-06-14T09:50:29Z")

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Same thing for me, I'm currently exploring the Embed search and more specifically the [Note overview](https://github.com/JackGruber/joplin-plugin-note-overview/) plugin to see how I can best organise my files using Joplin.

The '10MB mobile crash limit' initially held me back, but with the sync setting on Manual I can live with it until the day it is being fixed, so I don't depend on a different app for those files.

Once I figured out a system that works for me I'll report it here, hoping you'll do the same! 😊

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**Author:** ![roman\_r\_m](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/roman_r_m/32/3297_2.png) [@roman\_r\_m](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/roman_r_m)\
**Post date:** [14 June 2021 09:57 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/8 "2021-06-14T09:57:32Z")

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> [@Edwin](#):
>
> The '10MB mobile crash limit' initially held me back, but with the sync setting on Manual I can live with it until the day it is being fixed, so I don't depend on a different app for those files.

It's been fixed for over a year now. There's still a limit of 100Mb but it's there as a precaution. (Maybe we should just get rid of it)

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**Author:** ![Edwin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/edwin/32/9063_2.png) [@Edwin](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Edwin)\
**Post date:** [14 June 2021 10:07 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/9 "2021-06-14T10:07:16Z")

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Ah that's good news! Edit:

Just found a related topic indeed, but I've got ever better news, which I posted there:

> [@What's the latest on resource sizes / limits?](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/whats-the-latest-on-resource-sizes-limits/12358/30):
>
> I just synced a 1000 pages PDF of 44Mb sucessfully from W10 (2.0.8) to Android (2.0.1) via a NextCloud server using E2EE. My Fairphone 3+ took over 5 minutes decrypting it, but hey, once the job is done its's done: it just works! Repeated the process with a 149Mb PDF file and it seems the 100Mb limit has been removed, because it synced too without issues or advisories. This file took almost 20 minutes to decrypt, as expected, and now opens perfectly from within the Joplin app. Very happy with t…

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**Author:** ![roman\_r\_m](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/roman_r_m/32/3297_2.png) [@roman\_r\_m](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/roman_r_m)\
**Post date:** [14 June 2021 13:09 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/joplin-as-file-explorer/17796/10 "2021-06-14T13:09:20Z")

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Ah,looks like it's been removed already then.