The (File) Browser provides quick access to your sample collections, presets and projects directly within FL Studio. Simply drag a selected item from the Browser onto the FL desktop,
Plugin, Channel, Mixer etc, and it will be loaded You can also right-click an item to 'send' it to a particular location. The Browser can be docked to either the left or right side of the main window, by dragging it to either side of the screen.
Can't see the Browser? Turn it on using the Shortcut panel or press (F8).
The Browser title bar contains the following controls:
Browser Menu - Options menu including search functions. The options here are discussed in more detail in the 'Browser Menu" section below.
Collapse Structure - Collapses all expanded folders in the Browser window.
Reread Structure - Rereads the contents of all folders in the Browser. Click this button to see any new files and
folders that were created after FL Studio was started.
Browser Snapshot - Remembers browser state for quick recall. To save a Browser state click on the down-arrow
(4), select a slot to hold the configuration, open the browser to state you want.
Snap 1 to 4 - Slots dynamically remember the last browser state open while they were selected.
Auto - Automatically opens the Browser based on the function/plugin/focus in FL Studio. Focusing the plugin opens its presets,
focusing the mixer opens mixer presets, focusing the Playlist/Piano roll/Event Editor & switching patterns opens
the project patterns, undoing/redoing opens the project history and linking a knob to a controller opens the
project remote control folder.
Rename - Renames the Snap 1 to 4 state slots.
Frozen - Freezes the currently selected slot and protects it from change. The slot will display a tick mark when frozen.
Close - Closes the Browser, as does (F8).
Divider - Left click to drag the divider to change the width of the Browser. The divider can snap to a second position, move the divider to the
desired location then Right-click to swap between the new and original location.
Using the browser content
Loading: Most items may be dragged from the Browser (left-click, hold and drag) to the desired target in FL Studio and they will be loaded automatically.
Preview: Many items (mp3, ogg, wav files) can be previewed in the Browser by left-clicking on them.
Note: Wav files may contain tempo and tempo-sync meta-data. This will be read by FL Studio if the
General settings > 'Read sample tempo information' option is selected. If this information is used the preview will be time-stretched to match the tempo of the project and the
sample may be similarly stretched when loaded into the Playlist. This can cause unexpected behavior if the tempo data saved in the sample is wrong. You can load any samples into Edison and
open the File properties dialog to change the value of any incorrectly tagged samples.
1. Browser Menu
The Browser menu contains the following options -
Search - Searches for files and folders using non-case sensitive searching. To cancel a search, press Esc.
Find (ALt+F) - Type in a search string after selecting this option. The exact phrase will be searched.
Smart find (Ctrl+F) - Allows the use of advanced search functions. Wildcards: 'sytr*' will find 'sytrus', 'syt?us' will find 'sytrus' or 'sytlus'. Tips: Use extensions ('searchword.flp' to search for flp's, etc), include the project browser by adding the string 'project' to your search as the project directory is not
searched by default.
Find previous (F2) - Jumps to the previous item of the same search type.
Find next (F3) - Jumps to the next item of the same search type.
View
Size - Changes the size of the font and spacing according to Compact, Normal, Large and Huge options.
Show folder icons - Displays an icon for each folder in the browser tree.
Show only one folder content - Only one directory will be open at a time.
Show file extensions - Shows file extensions such as .WAV, .MP3 etc.
Show unknown file types - Displays files not natively supported by FL Studio.
Sort by - Name, Type or Date.
Structure
Collapse structure (Ctrl+Up) - Collapses all expanded folders in the Browser window.
Reread structure (Ctrl+R) - Rereads the contents of all folders in the Browser. Click this button to see any new files and
folders that were created after FL Studio was started.
Configure extra folders - Opens the 'Extra search directories' dialog from the Options menu (F10). Use this to specify directories outside the FL Studio Installation path that hold your plugins,
samples, projects etc.
Current snapshot - Repeats Snap options (shown at 4 above).
Browser Folders
Preview samples - If you left click on .WAV, .MP3 or .OGG files they will be played. After clicking in a folder you can use the up/down arrow
keys on your keyboard to step through the sounds in that directory.
Locate a known file - Dropping a file onto the browser will open the folder where that file is located. This can be useful when you have a sample channel loaded
and would like to try the others from the same folder.
Left-click a folder to expand/collapse it.
Right-click and select Explore Folder to open the folder in a Windows Explorer window.
Hover the mouse over the name of a folder for a short description in the hint-bar. The folders seen by default in
the Browser window include:
All subfolders of FL Studio Folder/Samples
- Contains a collection of generator/effects presets, scores, samples etc.
FL Studio Folder/Loops - Contains a collection
of sample projects (FLP files). This folder is seen in the Browser as "FLP
loop files"
Adding custom directories
To make your own directories visible in the Browser, use the File Settings 'Browser extra search folders' list to add (up to 10 of) your own directories. Custom directories appear in the Browser
in green font.
Current project (dynamic folder)
The Browser contains a special folder named Current project. The contents of this folder change dynamically to match the currently loaded project, when expanded it shows: A list of patterns that contain
automation events for any automated controls in the project. For more information, see the Project Browser page.
You can also add custom folders to be seen in the Browser from the File
Settings window.
Plugin database
The Plugin database contains a collection of plugin presets ready to be dragged and dropped on the FL Studio interface. This list is also accessible from the Plugin picker
(Ctrl+F8). The plugin picker displays the plugins in the database as an array (generators
left, effects right, as shown below). To use the Plugin picker, click, hold and drag the icon of the plugin you want to use. The
picker interface will close leaving you holding the plugin ready to drop on the desired location inside FL Studio.
Adding plugins to the Plugin database:
1. Open the Plugin database - at the location where you want to save the plugin. Note: It's possible to save a plugin to more than one location in the database, just repeat the method with
a new location open.
2. Open the plugin - Using the usual methods, open the plugin to be added to the database.
3. Save the plugin to the database - Select the Plugin menu option Add to plugin database.
4. Click OK - to the popup and the plugin, along with a thumbnail screenshot will be saved to the database.
Note: Advanced users can manually re-arrange the plugin database, it is located in the FL Studio installation directory at "..\Data\Patches\Plugin database". If you have extensively customized the
list you may want to make a backup copy of this directory external to the FL Studio directory as a precaution against losing this data during a future FL Studio install.
Browser Icons
Each file in the Browser has a special icon located next to its name, indicating file type:
FL Studio project files
FL Studio loop file (*.FLP) -
Right-click and select 'Open' (or click the mouse wheel) to load the project in FL Studio. A loop file is the native project format of FL Studio. Each
file contains the data that belongs to your project, including patches and settings for all instruments, FX and channels, but does NOT include sample
data or DrumSynth/SimSynth presets. If you open a loop file that doesn't have the required samples or presets, FL Studio performs a search of the folder
from which the file was loaded, followed by the sample folder and all custom folders added to the Browser (see Directories). If you want to skip this
search process, press and hold ESC when you see the loading icon in the Hint bar.
Zipped loop file (*.ZIP) -
Left-click and drag onto the FL Studio desk-top or hint-bar to load the project. A zipped loop file is a save format that includes all the data of
the .FLP file, plus all associated samples and SoundFont files. It is a standard .ZIP file containing an .FLP. When opening a .ZIP file, FL Studio
uncompresses it and searches/opens the .FLP file. Any samples included in the FLP are loaded automatically. A zipped file also allows you to archive an
important project and share it with collaborators, even if the project uses non-FL Studio samples.
Samples and Patches
Left-click the icon to preview sample and some presets (excluding SoundFonts). Right-click to send to the currently selected channel or new
Sampler, Granulizer or Fruity Slicer channel.
Most browser items can be applied with a drag and drop action. For example to apply a channel preset to a channel, just drag and drop the preset
on the appropriate channel settings button (see Step
Sequencer) or drop it directly on the Channel Settings window. You can drop the channel preset or sample below the last channel
to create new one.
The (File) Browser provides quick access to your sample collections, presets and projects directly within FL Studio. Simply drag a selected item from the Browser onto the FL desktop,
Plugin, Channel, Mixer etc, and it will be loaded You can also right-click an item to 'send' it to a particular location. The Browser can be docked to either the left or right side of the main window, by dragging it to either side of the screen.
Can't see the Browser? Turn it on using the Shortcut panel or press (
F8).
