How do I open a file explorer sidebar in Vim with NERDTree?

Explanation

The NERDTree plugin provides a full-featured file explorer sidebar in Vim, giving you a visual directory tree that you can navigate, search, and manipulate files from — similar to the sidebar in VS Code or other modern editors. It remains one of the most popular Vim plugins of all time.

How it works

Toggle the NERDTree sidebar with:

:NERDTreeToggle

This opens a vertical split on the left side of your screen showing the directory tree rooted at your current working directory. Running the command again closes it.

Essential key mappings inside NERDTree

Once the NERDTree window is focused, use these keys to navigate and act on files:

File manipulation menu

Pressing m on any node opens a menu with powerful file operations:

• (a)dd a child node — create a new file or directory (append / for directories)
• (m)ove the current node — rename or relocate a file
• (d)elete the current node — remove a file or directory
• (c)opy the current node — duplicate a file
• (l)ist the current node — show the full path

This means you can create, rename, move, and delete files without ever leaving Vim.

Recommended vimrc configuration

Add a quick toggle mapping and some sensible defaults:

nnoremap <C-n> :NERDTreeToggle<CR>
nnoremap <Leader>nf :NERDTreeFind<CR>

let g:NERDTreeShowHidden = 1       " show hidden/dot files
let g:NERDTreeIgnore = ['\.pyc$', '__pycache__', 'node_modules']
let g:NERDTreeMinimalUI = 1        " hide the help text header
let g:NERDTreeDirArrowExpandable = '▸'
let g:NERDTreeDirArrowCollapsible = '▾'

Revealing the current file

The :NERDTreeFind command opens NERDTree and automatically scrolls to and highlights the file you are currently editing. This is incredibly useful for locating a file within a large project tree. Map it for quick access:

nnoremap <Leader>nf :NERDTreeFind<CR>

Auto-close when NERDTree is the last window

Add this autocmd to automatically close Vim when NERDTree is the only remaining window:

autocmd BufEnter * if winnr('$') == 1 && exists('b:NERDTree') && b:NERDTree.isTabTree() | quit | endif

Tips

• Use C on a directory to change the tree root to that directory, and u to go up one level
• Press cd on a directory node to change Vim's working directory to that path
• NERDTree supports bookmarks: press B to toggle the bookmarks list, and :Bookmark name to save the current node
• For a lighter built-in alternative, consider Vim's native :Explore (netrw) — but NERDTree offers a persistent sidebar and richer file operations
• For Neovim users, nvim-tree.lua and neo-tree.nvim provide similar functionality with Lua-native performance and modern features like Git status indicators