The Folder Sidebar
The folder tree beside the Media Library: grid and list view, All media, Unorganized and No known usage, search, and what its counts are counting.
On this page
MediaFlow adds a folder tree beside the native Media Library, in both grid and list view. The native screen is never replaced — it is still the WordPress Media Library, with a tree next to it.
The sidebar is sticky, and the tree scrolls inside it, so the folders stay reachable however far down the library you have scrolled.
All media, Unorganized and No known usage
Views sit above the folders, each with a live count:
| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| All media | Every attachment, regardless of folder. |
| Unorganized | Everything with no manual folder. |
| No known usage (Pro) | Files nothing MediaFlow checked references. See Where media is used. |
Grid view and list view
The tree behaves slightly differently in each, because the two screens work differently:
- Grid view filters in place. Choosing a folder narrows the grid without a page reload.
- List view filters through the URL, and there is also a folder dropdown in the toolbar. A hidden field keeps your folder selection while you search, so searching inside a folder stays inside that folder.
Searching the tree
A Search folders box sits above the tree. Matches keep their ancestors on screen so a result is never left floating under nothing, and the tree remembers which folders you had collapsed. Clear returns to the full tree.
What the counts count
The counts are folder membership counts. The tree loads folder names and counts only — never the attachments themselves — so a library with tens of thousands of files does not make the sidebar slow.
The Auto badge
Automatic folders carry an Auto badge. Its tooltip names the page, post or term the folder mirrors, so you can always tell what a derived folder is derived from.
Without a licence
The sidebar works. Creating, renaming, reordering, nesting and deleting folders, and dragging media into them, are all free — see Free vs Pro.
What an unlicensed sidebar does not offer is the Pro controls: folder colours and icons, Download as ZIP, the automatic folders and the No known usage view. Those are not shown as controls that fail when clicked.
See Working without a licence.
In the media modal
The folder picker is also available in the media modal — the picker you get inside Gutenberg, Elementor and the Classic editor — so media can be filed while it is being inserted. See Moving media into folders.
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