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File tabs are the visual tab controls shown in the upper portion of the editor which allow you to switch between open files. File tabs can be toggled in the Layout tab.

File tab functionality

You can drag file tabs to a new position within the file tabs space. To drag a tab, left click on it and while holding the mouse button down and move it to a new position. As you drag the file tab over other file tabs, it will be positioned in front of those tabs.

To close a file, you can:

  • Click the "X" on the file tab,
  • Double-click the file tab, or
  • Middle-click with your mouse on the file tab.

You can double-click in the empty space of the file tab area to create a new file.

This behavior is configurable; see Settings » Application layout » File tabs » Miscellaneous.

Drag-and-drop a file tab to create new instance

You can click on a file tab and drag it outside of UltraEdit / UEStudio, then drop it on another application or on the desktop to create a new instance of UltraEdit / UEStudio with that file ready for editing. If multiple instances of UltraEdit / UEStudio are already open, you can drag file tabs from one instance to another.

File tab context menu

If you right-click on an open file tabs a pop-up menu is displayed with several many options for the active file. These options are not covered in this particular topic but are elsewhere in documentation. There are two items in the context menu, however, that are unique to the file tab context menu:

"File tabs" sub-menu

The "File tabs" sub-menu offers the following options:

Dockable If checked, the file tabs area can be docked and undocked in its own "Open files" child window. This allows docking file tabs to the left, right, or bottom of the application window. If undocked, you can resize the "Open files" window as desired. This option must be enabled in order to use the cascade and tile functionality in the Window tab. If unchecked, the file tabs will be "locked" in their position and cannot be moved anywhere else (unless "Tabs at bottom" is checked).
Single line - scrollable This file tab display option will show file tabs on a single line with scroll buttons on both ends of the file tab space in case the tabs of open files exceed the visible file tab space. Clicking the scroll buttons will allow you to scroll through any file tabs not currently shown in the tab space.
Single line - drop down file list This file tab display option will show file tabs on a single line with a single button on the right side of the file tab space. Clicking this button will open a drop down list of all files that do not have visible tabs in the file tab space. Clicking on any file will activate that file and make its file tab visible.
Multiline tabs This file tab display option will show file tabs in as many rows as necessary so that all file tabs for all open files are visible.
Sort tabs by Name / Extension / Path / Modification date Selecting one of these options immediately sorts all file tabs according to the option you selected. Sorted tabs are positioned left to right, top to bottom.
Show tooltips Unchecking this option will disable the light yellow tool tip that appears when hovering over a file tab for a second. This tool tip shows the file's full path, size, creation date, and last modified date.
Tabs at bottom If checked, file tabs will display at the bottom of the main application window beneath the edit window. You don't need dockable tabs enabled for this option.

"Customize..." option

Click the "Customize" option to add or remove commands to the file tab context menu. This will open the context menu as a floating, static menu while in customization mode. To remove commands, click and drag them away from the menu. To add commands, locate the commands you want to add in the "Customize" window, then drag them over to the appropriate position in the menu.

File tab status icons

By default, file tabs will show status icons reflecting the status of the associated file. These icons are as follows:

UltraEdit-file-tab-new.png File is new and unsaved.
UltraEdit-file-tab-unsaved.png File is has unsaved changes.
UltraEdit-file-tab-saved.png File has saved changes.
UltraEdit-file-tab-remote-unsaved.png Remotely loaded (FTP) file has unsaved changes.
UltraEdit-file-tab-remote-saved.png Remotely loaded (FTP) file has saved changes.
UltraEdit-file-tab-read-only.png File is read-only and cannot be modified.

File tab options

You can set further options for file tabs under: