## Opening Files

File>Open (shortcut: `C+o`) displays a file system browser dialog box and loads the specified file into a new buffer.

Multiple files can be opened at once by holding down `Control` while clicking on them in the file system browser. The file system browser supports auto-completion; typing the first few characters of a listed file name will select the file.

More advanced features of the file system browser are described in the section called “The File System Browser”.

The File>Recent Files menu lists recently viewed files. When a recent file is opened, the caret is automatically moved to its previous location in that file. The number of recent files to remember can be changed and caret position saving can be disabled in the General pane of the Utilities>Global Options dialog box; see the section called “The General Pane”.

The Utilities>Current Directory menu lists all files and directories in the current buffer's directory. Selecting a file opens it in a buffer for editing; selecting a directory opens it in the file system browser (see the section called “The File System Browser”).

### Note

Files that you do not have write access to are opened in read-only mode, where editing is not permitted.

### Tip

jEdit supports transparent editing of GZipped files; if a file begins with the GZip “magic number”, it is automatically decompressed before loading and compressed when saving. To compress an existing file, you need to change a setting in the Utilities>Buffer Options dialog box; see the section called “The Buffer Options Dialog Box” for details.