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External Files (macOS Only)#

On the Mac, FoldNotes can point at folders of files that live outside your collection — Markdown (.md) and Bike (.bike) outlines — and let you browse and edit them in place. You work on the original files and save straight back to them; nothing is copied into your collection, given FoldNotes front matter, or added to your note list, search, or graph. It's the macOS equivalent of Editing Bike Files in iOS, extended to whole folders and to Markdown.

This is open‑in‑place, not import

It's the opposite of importing. Import makes a one‑way copy of a file as a brand‑new FoldNotes note in your collection. Open in place leaves the file where it is and edits that file. Use import when you want the file to become a FoldNotes note; use External Files when you want to keep it where it is and just edit it.

macOS only, default collection only

External Files is a Mac feature, and the section appears only while your default FoldNotes collection is active. The folders you add are remembered on this Mac — they aren't synced to your other devices.

Adding a folder#

In the sidebar, find the External Files section, choose Add Folder…, and pick any directory of .md/.bike files. A one‑time note explains that files are edited in place (not imported); after that, opening files from the folder is a single click.

Don't see the External Files section?

Check that Enable External Files is on in Settings → External Files (it's on by default). Turning it off hides the section and external search without touching your folders or files — everything returns when you switch it back on.

  • The folder appears as a collapsible item; expand it to see its sub‑folders and files.
  • You can add as many folders as you like.
  • Markdown + Bike only. The editor is markdown‑based, so the library lists .md/.markdown/.bike and skips other file types.
  • You can't add a folder that is, sits inside, or contains a FoldNotes collection, nor FoldNotes' own data folder — those hold real notes, not external files.

Browsing & opening#

External Files browsing works like the rest of FoldNotes: the sidebar shows structure, the note list shows files.

  • Sidebar — each added folder appears as a collapsible item; expand it to walk its sub‑folders.
  • Note list — selecting a folder (or any sub‑folder) lists every editable file beneath it, recursively, in its own file cell: the file name with its extension badge, the sub‑folder it lives in, and when it was last modified.

Click a file to open it in place. While it's open, the bottom status bar shows External · .md or External · .bike, so it's always clear you're editing a file outside your collection, and the file's row stays selected. Right‑click a file for Open, Open in New Window (see below), and Reveal in Finder.

Sorting#

The file list follows the same sort control in the toolbar as your notes: Last Modified or Date Created (newest/oldest first), and Title A–Z / Z–A. Two note‑only orders don't apply to plain files and quietly step aside while you're browsing External Files — Manual (hidden) and Due Date (greyed out) — with the list falling back to Last Modified — Newest first. Your chosen sort comes back untouched when you return to your notes.

No gallery view for external files

The gallery renders note cards from your collection, which external files aren't part of — so while you're browsing External Files, the Gallery toolbar button is disabled. It comes back as soon as you select any notes view.

Bike's empty "Untitled.bike" session placeholders (created every time Bike starts a new unsaved outline) are recognised and left out of the listings — they contain nothing to edit.

Standalone windows#

Right‑click a file ▸ Open in New Window opens it in its own editor window, alongside (or instead of) the main window — handy for keeping a reference file visible while you work in your collection.

Standalone windows are full citizens: search works from the window's toolbar, links navigate within the window, and Back/Forward returns you to your exact previous position — including hops between notes and external files in the same window. If the same file is open in the main window too, both show the same live text; whichever closes last writes the file.

Linking from external files#

Typing [[ in an external file opens the same link autocomplete you know from notes — but with two sources, badged in the left margin:

  • ext — other files under the same external folder, listed first.
  • fn — your FoldNotes notes.

Because external files are foreign territory, FoldNotes never writes its private [[wiki‑link]] syntax into them. Picking a target inserts a portable markdown link instead, chosen to work outside FoldNotes as well as inside:

Target Inserted link Works in
A FoldNotes note [Title](foldnotes://open?uuid=…) Clicks back into FoldNotes from anywhere
A .bike file [Name](bike://…) — Bike's native document link Bike resolves it via Spotlight, so it survives the file being moved or renamed; FoldNotes opens it internally
.md → .md A relative link (Sub/Other File.md) Git, VS Code, Obsidian — and FoldNotes

Inside FoldNotes, all three click through: note links open the note (and show the hover preview, exactly like a wiki‑link), file links open the file — in place, or within the standalone window you clicked in. A bike:// link FoldNotes can't find locally is handed to Bike, which resolves it itself.

Creating a new file#

To make a new file in an external folder:

  • Right‑click a folder or sub‑folder ▸ New File…, or
  • with an external file selected, use the New command (⌘N).

A dialog asks for a name and a type — Markdown (.md) or Bike Outline (.bike) — and defaults the type to the most common one already in that folder. It states exactly where the file will be created and never overwrites an existing file. The new file opens in place, ready to edit.

Because you name it up front, external files skip the collection's automatic naming (no "Untitled", no rename banner).

FoldNotes edits and adds — it never renames, moves, or deletes your files

You can freely edit an external file's contents and create new files in the folder, but FoldNotes will not rename, move, or delete files it doesn't own — do that in Finder. The reasoning is deliberate: editing and adding can't break anything that already exists, whereas renaming, moving, or deleting a file could silently break links and references that live outside FoldNotes — a [[link]] from another file, a relative path, a git history, another app's vault, a script that opens the file by name. FoldNotes can't see or repair that web, so it won't be the tool that quietly breaks it. (You name a new file when you create it; to change that name afterwards, rename it in Finder.)

A file opened from outside your collections — including double‑clicking a .md when FoldNotes is your default Markdown editor — is treated as external and read exactly as written: its own front matter (from Obsidian, a static‑site generator, or any other tool) is preserved verbatim and never parsed, rewritten, or reported as an error. Only a genuine FoldNotes note (its front matter carries FoldNotes' own fn-… keys) opens as a collection note.

Managing folders#

Right‑click an External Files folder for:

  • New File… — create a .md/.bike in it (above).
  • Rename… — change the name shown in the sidebar (doesn't touch the folder on disk).
  • Reveal in Finder — show the folder (or file) in Finder.
  • Refresh — re‑scan for files added or removed outside FoldNotes.
  • Remove "…" from Sidebar — stop listing the folder. This is non‑destructive: it only disconnects the folder from FoldNotes; your files stay exactly where they are on disk.

Staying in sync#

Because FoldNotes edits the original file (often in iCloud Drive), changes flow both ways:

  • Your edits save straight back to the file — visible in Bike, in another editor, or on another device.
  • Edits made elsewhere appear here — FoldNotes reloads the open file when it changes.
  • If it's changed in two places at once and you have unsaved edits, FoldNotes asks which version to keep — your changes, or the other version. Nothing is overwritten without you choosing.

Keep backups

As with any file you edit across apps and devices, keep backups of anything important.

Editing a Bike file#

External .bike files round‑trip faithfully — outline structure, row identity and bike://… links, lists, quotes, code, note rows, inline formatting, and open/done tasks (with completion times). Features the .bike format can't carry — tables, images, footnotes/comments, FoldNotes' four‑state tasks and inline task metadata — are switched off while editing one. See Editing Bike Files in iOS for the full round‑trip detail; the same engine powers external .bike editing on the Mac.

Row attributes — priority, due dates, and more#

Recent Bike releases add row attributes: small pieces of data attached to a row that Bike renders as badges — a priority, a due date, or any custom attribute you invent. FoldNotes reads, shows, and edits them, and writes them back in Bike's own format — so a badge you set in FoldNotes shows up in Bike, and one set in Bike is preserved when you edit the file here.

The Row Attributes editor — priority, due date, and any custom attribute

A row that carries attributes shows a small @ at the end of its line. Click the @ to open the Row Attributes editor, where you can set a priority (High / Medium / Low), a due date, or add any custom attribute by name and value — and add more to a row that already has some. It's also on Format ▸ Row Attributes…, with the keyboard shortcut ⌥⌘A.

You can also reach it while typing:

  • On a task line, type / — the Row Attributes editor opens straight away.
  • On any other row, type / and choose Row Attributes… — the same editor, for a plain paragraph. (Bike lets you attach attributes to any row, not just tasks, so FoldNotes does too.)

These live in the Bike file, not the text

Attributes are stored as Bike's own row attributes — nothing is ever added to your outline's text. Priority is written as Bike's 1–3 (High = 1), a due date as a plain date. They stay with their row when you drag it around the outline, and they remain fully editable in Bike, where the same badges appear. (Bike's own row‑attributes panel is ⌘⇧A.)

What's in the Inspector#

For an external file, the Inspector shows just the tabs that apply: Outline, Info, and Tasks. The collection‑only tabs — Note Graph, References, Properties — are hidden, since a file edited in place isn't part of your collection.

Where the files stay#

Nothing is imported. External files stay exactly where they are, never appear in your note list, search, graph, or backups, and gain no id:/fn-… front matter. Removing a folder from the sidebar leaves every file untouched.

To bring a file into FoldNotes as a real note instead, use Import.