When you are working with multiple files in large projects, managing folders and tracking open files can quickly become a confusing mess.

In this post, we’re covering a nifty way to find and open files much faster inside the UltraEdit text editor—much like how you can do so in terminal-based editors. (Written by Ben S., UltraEdit & Idera Chief of Staff)

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One of the many reasons I appreciate UltraEdit is its flexibility. While other editors might take a more “opinionated” approach, embracing one singular workflow, UltraEdit is that laid-back friend who says, “Hey, however you wanna get this done, I’m cool with it.”

Take something as simple as – believe it or not – opening a text file. Sounds basic but, to me at least, UltraEdit turns it into an art form.

Yearning for terminal-like agility

Although our interactions with software now mostly happen in polished, user-friendly interfaces, some of us long for the unencumbered speed of navigating file systems and quickly manipulating plain text files on the command line. If you’ve ever zipped through a Unix system on the terminal with the occasional vi edit or jumped around a DOS prompt, you’ve known the empowering satisfaction of keyboard-only control.

Listing a folder’s contents in PowerShell… but ls -al in Unix still holds a special place in my heart

And yet, when we get into our modern GUI-driven editors, integral functionality is often buried under menus, submenus, or other mouse-driven UIs. The second we’re forced to grab the mouse, that “in the zone” flow starts to fade. A small disruption for sure, but aggregated over time, those interruptions chip away at our momentum and ultimately productivity.

UltraEdit’s secret weapon: The command palette. Wait…what?

You want me to use MORE UI?

Picture this: you’re neck-deep in coding, or maybe it’s reformatting, or writing the next great American novel (or, you know, a config file)…whatever it is, you realize you need to open that other file in that other directory and make some edits. Instinctively, your fingers come off the keyboard and your hand drifts toward the mouse. File *click*, Open *click*, pause, orient, think, where do I need to go?…or maybe Alt + Tab over to File Explorer for further mouse-driven hunting.

But with UltraEdit, there’s a better way.

Instead of dancing with the mouse, just hit Ctrl + Shift + P. UltraEdit’s command palette opens, and the magic begins. Start typing your file path, and UltraEdit’s brainpower kicks in, auto-completing the directory structure faster than you can say “Search this folder.”  

Using the command palette to open files: It’s not quite as awesome as the terminal, but it’s pretty darn close…

Just like with the terminal, you can use Tab to auto-complete subfolder paths. When you’ve got the text file path you want to open locked down, press Enter and you’re in.

Wildcards work too. Want all the JavaScript files in some folder? Navigate there with the command palette, type *.js, and press Enter to load them all into UltraEdit.

Watch it in action:

My personal favorite aspect of this is relative paths support. Maybe I have no idea where I am (heh, story of my life), but I know there’s a file one level above that I need now. Just like in a terminal, I can type ..\.. and UltraEdit shows me all files one directory up. From there, I can just start typing the file’s name, press Enter, and voilà: instant access.

Navigating with relative paths delights me

Cutting corners…in a good way

Look, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic. But for me, shaving a 15-second mouse interaction to open a plain text file down to 3 seconds on the keyboard is a little joy that adds up over time. And when you’re in the zone with your synapses firing at lightning speed, every second matters.

Check out UltraEdit and give this a try. Once you start zipping through files like you’re in the terminal, you might never want to go back.