Documents gives a space one connected library for folders, uploads, articles, and supported app files. Its structure begins with the areas members already know, then adds ordinary folders for more detailed organization. This keeps a file's location understandable without creating a second map of the community.
One Browser For Different Kinds Of Work
The Documents browser brings related material together even when it began in different parts of Visual Space. A direct upload can sit beside an article, a folder, or a file created by another app. Members do not need to remember which tool originally produced an item before they can find and open it.
The browser keeps the collection easy to scan by placing folders before non-folder documents. Uploaded files and supported app content then remain together as document cards instead of being separated into competing libraries. For more about the wider role of Documents, see Documents. File cards and supported previews are covered in Files And Previews.
The header helps confirm where you are. It shows the current space area or folder name, the space it belongs to, and the number of documents currently shown. When you open a folder, that folder becomes the browsing location and the grid shows its direct contents rather than flattening everything below it into one long view.
The activity tree, folder branch, location header, and mixed grid all describe the same Onboarding library context.
The Space Structure Comes First
Documents mirrors the community's established structure. From broadest to most specific, content can belong to:
The space, subspace, and activity levels are fixed parts of the community structure. Documents uses their names and relationships; it does not turn them into freely rearrangeable folders. This makes material associated with an activity easier to rediscover from that same activity, even after the conversation or post where it first appeared has moved on.
Below those fixed levels, folders provide the flexible part of the library. A team can create nested folders to reflect a project phase, a body of research, a media collection, or another useful working arrangement. Each folder shows only its direct children when opened, so a deep library stays navigable without mixing every descendant into its parent view.
A folder is still an organizing container. It does not become an activity, host meetings, or gain the collaboration behavior of the space area above it. Use activities to define working areas and participation context; use folders to arrange the documents inside that context.
Desktop And Mobile Browsing
On desktop, Documents places the activities and folder tree beside the main document grid. Expanding a branch reveals folders beneath the relevant area, while selecting an area or folder loads the same location in the grid. The tree and grid are two views of one hierarchy, so a folder does not have one location in the panel and another in the browser.
Folder branches load as they are needed. A collapsed branch does not have to expose its entire descendant tree before you can begin browsing, and an empty folder does not pretend to contain another level once its contents are known. This keeps a large community library responsive and prevents the side panel from becoming an overwhelming outline.
On mobile, the persistent tree is hidden to leave room for the documents themselves. The header and grid become the primary browsing surface: open the current area, select a folder card, and continue through its contents. The hierarchy and access rules are unchanged; only the navigation is simplified for the smaller screen.
Opening Engineering makes it the current location and shows Architecture as the folder's direct child.
Understand A Folder Before Reorganizing It
Documents provides two useful kinds of folder information. A folder's own information identifies its name, type, and owning space area. This is helpful when similarly named folders appear under different activities.
The current browsing area's Get info view summarizes what is presently listed there:
This information is a snapshot of the current location, not a recursive report for every nested folder. Open a child folder to inspect what is directly inside it. Storage and file-handling details are explained further in Files And Previews.
Location And Access Belong Together
Folders do not have separate privacy or sharing settings. Every nested folder and document inherits the visibility rules of the space, subspace, or activity that contains it. A folder inside a private activity remains within that activity's access boundary, no matter how many additional folder levels are added below it.
This distinction is important:
Creating another folder therefore does not create a new private room, and moving an item between folders in the same area does not create a new permission boundary. Moving content to a different subspace or activity is more consequential because the destination area's access rules become the inherited rules for the moved content and its nested descendants. Check the destination before moving material across area boundaries.
The same access checks apply when a member follows a direct link or opens a result that returns to a folder. A link can restore the location, but it cannot bypass private-space membership or private-area access.
Links That Tolerate Reorganization
Document links use a stable item identity instead of depending on the complete nested folder path. As a result, moving an item or folder within the same space can change where it appears without making an existing shared link depend on its former path.
Deep folder links still carry enough location context to open the relevant browsing area. Search can use that context to return a member near the document rather than sending them only to the activity root. Access is checked again when the link opens, so link stability never means permanent access.
Stable links make routine organization safer, but they do not erase the meaning of location. The item appears under its new parent, the browser reflects the new path, and the destination area's access rules apply. For practical moving and folder-management guidance, see Organizing Documents.
Common Questions
Can I replace the space, subspace, and activity structure with my own folder tree?
No. Those areas are the fixed upper structure shared across Visual Space. You can add flexible folders beneath the appropriate space area.
Why do folders appear before files and app content?
Folders provide the routes through the library, so Documents presents them before non-folder items. Files, articles, and supported app files can still share the same location below them.
Why can I see the folder tree on desktop but not on mobile?
Mobile uses the header and document grid as the main navigation to preserve space for content. Opening folder cards follows the same hierarchy as the desktop tree.
Does a folder have its own privacy setting?
No. It inherits access from its owning space, subspace, or activity. Add a folder to organize material, not to create a new audience.
Why does folder information not include everything in deeper folders?
The current area's information summarizes the entries presently listed there. It is not a recursive audit of the whole descendant tree.
Will moving a document break a link I already shared?
Moving it within the same space is designed to preserve its stable identity, so the link does not depend on the old nested path. The reader must still have access to the item's destination area.
Is a folder another kind of activity?
No. Activities provide community context and can host activity-specific experiences. Folders only organize documents within the inherited area.
Continue With A Practical Workflow
Use Organize Documents And Folders to create a useful structure, move material into place, and verify the result. To bring an existing set of files into the library while preserving its folders, follow Upload Files And Folders.