Create folders for organizing documents and publications, and also for applying Share permissions on all documents and publications with the folder and within any sub-folders. Note that all Share permissions on a folder are inherited by the documents, publications, and folders within that folder.

To create a folder, on the Documents page:

  1. Select Create and then Folder.

    Example of Create drop down with Folder highlighted

  2. Specify a name for the folder.

  3. Optionally, you can add the new folder to any of your existing folders:

  4. Click Create.

Notice the blue message at the top of the page: Folder created successfully in My Onshape alert.

You can use Share on a folder the same way you use Share for documents and publications.

Viewing folders and their contents

Click the company name filter in the left panel to organize your Documents page into listing Folders, Publications, and Documents to which you have access. The Teams and Shared with me filters also display folders to which you have access.

To see the contents (documents, publications, and sub-folders) of a specific folder, click the name of the folder (an underline appears when you are in the correct position for clicking).

If there are no documents, publications, or folders in that folder, a message appears to that effect.

Breadcrumbs are displayed at the top of the page. Click these breadcrumbs to navigate along the folder tree.

Deleting folders

  1. To delete a folder from the Documents page, either:

    1. Select the folder and click on the Delete icon:

      deleting folders from the Documents page

    2. Right-click on the folder entry and select Send to trash from the context menu.

    3. Drag and drop the folder onto Trash button in the filter panel:

      Dragging a folder into the trash filter

  2. The Send to trash dialog opens. Click the Send to trash button to move the folder into the trash. The contents of the folder are also moved to Trash:

Send to trash dialog

Nesting folders

While in a folder (after opening the folder by clicking on the underlined name), click Create, then Folder button to create another folder. Check the breadcrumbs to the right of the Create button to verify that you are inside of a folder. Nested folders inherit the Share permissions applied to the top-level folder.

Screenshot example of nested folders in Onshape

In the above illustration, Help Learning Project is the parent folder and Electrical is the sub-folder.

You can drag and drop a folder into another folder, provided you have permissions on both folders.

Moving documents and publications among folders

You can move documents and publications into and out of folders both from the Documents page, and also from within a document or publication, through the Document menu.

After a document or publication is created inside a folder, you can move it to another folder, or out of a folder altogether:

  1. Select the document or publication (or use Ctrl+click to select multiple entities).
  2. Right-click the folder and select Move to. This opens the Move to dialog box (where folders are automatically sorted in ascending alphabetical order):

    Moving documents among folders

  3. Select the new folder from the list. (Use the breadcrumbs to navigate to another location, if desired.)
  4. Click Move here.

You can use drag and drop to maneuver documents, publications, and folders into and out of folders. While in a folder, you can drag a document, publication, or folder into another location in the breadcrumbs. In the example below, the test-doc document is being dragged into the aero-project folder. The selection document is highlighted in blue and the target folder is also highlighted in blue:

Example of a test document being dragged into a folder

Your cursor will have a small rectangle appended to it when the move is allowed, and a small circle with a line through it when the move is not allowed.

Keep in mind that when moving a document or publication from one root folder to another, the ownership of that document is transferred to the owner of the folder into which it is moved. The Share permissions also change to be inherited from the new root folder.

Creating a document or publication in a folder

Navigate to the folder in which you want to create the document or publication. You can also add a document into one of your existing folders without navigating to the folder first. Once the folder name is visible in the breadcrumbs at the top of the Documents page:

  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Document button or Create publication command in menu.
  3. Specify a name for the document or publication.
  4. Click OK.

Sharing a folder

When a folder is created, only the creator of the folder has any permissions to that folder. (The exception is if the folder is created within a Professional or Enterprise subscription. In that case, the administrator also has access to, and permissions on the folder.)

The creator/owner of the folder can share the folder with other users and thereby assign Share permissions to the folder. These permissions are applied on a root folder level. All documents, publications, and sub-folders within the root inherit the permissions of the root folder.

You can specify additional Share permissions on individual documents and publications within folders, but keep in mind that permissions are additive: these additional permissions are added to the folder permissions to create a larger set of permissions and access.

The Onshape best practice is to keep minimal permissions on the root folder and add additional access and permission on individual documents and publications.

To share a folder:

  1. Select the folder on the Documents page.
  2. Click the Share this folder icon:

    Share icon on Documents page

  3. Adjust permissions on the Share settings dialog for the folder, and enter the email addresses of the people with whom you wish to share the folder (or select a team or company):

    Share settings dialog

  4. Click the Share button.
  5. Click the Close button.

When a folder is shared, the permissions on that folder become the shared users’ permissions on any and all documents, publications, and folders within that folder.

Only top-level folders can be explicitly shared, and all Share details apply to the contents of the folder, including all documents, publications, and any sub-folders, even if they are moved into the folder at a later time.

For more information on Sharing, see Share Documents.

Transferring ownership of a folder

An admin of an enterprise or company may also transfer the ownership of a folder to an individual Onshape user who is not a member of the enterprise or company. Right-click on the document or folder (on the Documents page) and select Transfer ownership.

For more information on transferring ownership, see Transfer Ownership.

Copying document workspaces in folders

When copying a workspace in a folder (thereby creating a new document), you need edit permission on the folder in order for the copy to be placed in the same folder as the original document. If you do not have edit permission on the folder, the copy is placed at the root level of your Onshape account. A blue notification is displayed at the top of the window upon successful copy that is has been created in your company's account filter.

Renaming folders

To rename the current folder:

  1. Click the folder name in the breadcrumbs.

    Click the current folder name in the breadcrumbs and make edits to rename.

  2. Edit the text.
  3. Press Enter or click outside the folder name.

To rename a child folder:

  1. Right-click the child folder name from within the parent folder view.
  2. Click Rename folder.

    Right-click the current folder name and click Rename folder

  3. Edit the text.
  4. Press Enter or click outside the folder name.

To learn more about organizing documents using folders, you can follow the self-paced course here: Creating Folders (Onshape account required). You can also follow the technical briefing article here: Folders FAQ (Onshape account required).