Edit and save code

The editor opens your project files in tabs next to your terminals and chats. It colors the code, numbers the lines, and warns you before you lose unsaved work.

Open a file

Click a file in the explorer. The file opens as a tab in the active pane. If the file is already open, Wrangl switches to its tab. See Browse and manage files.

You can also drag a file from the explorer onto a pane to open it there or to split the pane.

Images, videos, and PDFs open in a viewer tab instead of the text editor. See View images, videos, and PDFs.

Other files open in a tab that says why Wrangl cannot show them:

• A text file larger than 1 MB shows "This file is too large to preview".
• A binary file, such as a font or a program, shows "This file can't be previewed".

The tab has a Copy Path button. In the desktop app it also has Show in File Manager.

You can keep up to 15 files open. When you open one more, Wrangl closes the oldest tab that has no unsaved changes. If every open file has unsaved changes, Wrangl shows "Too many open tabs" and does not open the file. Save or close a file first.

Languages

The editor colors the code of these file types:

Other text files open as plain text without colors.

The editor also has:

• Line numbers, and an arrow next to a line number that folds or unfolds a block of code.
• Tab to indent the current line or selection.
• Ctrl+Z to undo and Ctrl+Y to redo (Cmd+Z and Cmd+Shift+Z on macOS).
• Long lines that wrap to fit the pane.

Markdown files open in a different view by default. See Work with Markdown.

SVG files open in Preview, which shows the drawing. Click Source in the toolbar to edit the SVG as text. Preview shows your unsaved changes.

View images, videos, and PDFs

These files open in a viewer tab. You can look at them but not edit them.

A larger image or video shows "This file is too large to preview" with its size and the limit. A larger PDF shows a message with the file name and the limit instead, for example "report.pdf is larger than 50 MB and can't be previewed."

• Images fit the pane at first. Use the zoom out and zoom in buttons at the bottom, 1:1 for the actual size, and Fit to fit the pane again. The bar at the bottom shows the size in pixels and the file size.
• Videos play with the usual video controls when Wrangl can decode the file's video format. A file in a format it can't decode, which can happen with some .mov files, opens with no picture and no error message. The bar at the bottom shows the size in pixels, the length, and the file size.
• PDFs show their pages one under the other. The bar at the top shows the current page and the page count, with the zoom out and zoom in buttons and Fit width to fit the page to the pane.

When the file changes on disk, the viewer shows the new version by itself.

Save a file

Press Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on macOS) while the file is open. Wrangl shows a "saved" message with the file name.

When a file has unsaved changes, its tab shows a dot instead of the close button. Hover over the dot to see the close button again. After a save, the tab shows a check mark for a moment.

On a phone, Markdown files show a Save button in the toolbar above the text.

Close a file that has unsaved changes

If you close a tab that has unsaved changes, Wrangl asks what to do:

• Save saves the file and closes the tab.
• Discard closes the tab and drops your changes.
• Cancel keeps the tab open.

If you close several tabs at once and some files have unsaved changes, the dialog offers Save & Close and Don't Save.

In the desktop app, Wrangl also asks when you quit the app with unsaved files. Click Save All to save them, or Don't Save to quit without saving.

Turn on auto save

Auto save writes your changes to disk a short time after you stop typing. It is off by default.

1. Open Settings. Press Ctrl+, (Cmd+, on macOS) in the desktop app, or Alt+, in the browser version.
2. Go to Behavior.
3. Under Editor Auto Save, turn on Enable auto save.
4. In Auto Save Delay, choose how long Wrangl waits after your last edit: 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, or 5 seconds.

Auto save does not show a message. The unsaved dot on the tab goes away when the save is done.

When a file changes outside Wrangl

Another program, a terminal command, or an agent can change a file that you have open. Wrangl watches open files and reacts in one of these ways.

The file has no unsaved changes in Wrangl. The editor loads the new version from disk. You do not have to do anything.

The file has unsaved changes in Wrangl. Wrangl keeps your version in the editor and shows a "File changed externally" message with the file name.

In the browser version, if you save after the file changed on disk, Wrangl does not overwrite the other version. It shows "File changed externally" again with two buttons:

• Reload drops your changes and loads the version on disk.
• Overwrite saves your version over the version on disk.

In the desktop app, a save writes your version over the version on disk.

The file is deleted. Wrangl closes its tab. If the file has unsaved changes, the tab stays open and Wrangl shows "File deleted on disk" with "(unsaved edits kept)".

Get back unsaved changes after a restart

Wrangl remembers your open tabs and their unsaved changes. When you open the app again, or reload the page in the browser version, the tabs come back with your changes still unsaved.

If the file on disk changed after you made those changes, Wrangl cannot tell which version you want. It shows a banner above the editor: "An unsaved draft differs from the newer file on disk." The editor shows the version on disk and does not accept typing until you choose.

• Keep my draft puts your unsaved changes back in the editor. Save the file to write them to disk.
• Use disk version drops your unsaved changes and keeps the file as it is on disk.