Netrw

Netrw is a built-in file manager in Vim (if we want to get technical, it's a plugin that ships with Vim). It allows you to browse directories and functions, similar to any other file manager you've worked with in your favorite OS.

Use :Ex (the full command is :Explore) to open the file navigation window:

Here, you can see all of the files within our workspace. Netrw already provides a quick help section in a status bar, but here are the main controls you'll need to know:

• Enter opens files and directories
• - goes up a directory
• D deletes a file or directory
• R renames a file or directory

A Netrw window can be open in split windows or new tabs as well:

• :Vex opens Netrw in a vertical split
• :Sex opens Netrw in a horizontal split
• :Lex opens Netrw in a leftmost full-height vertical split

Netrw is a powerful tool, which supports remote editing as well; for instance, to get a directory listing over SFTP, you can run the following:

:Ex sftp://<domain>/<directory>/

You can substitute :Ex with :e for the same results. You can edit individual files as well. Here's how to open a file over SCP:

:e scp://<domain>/<directory>/<file>