How to force folder refresh in Sublime, when “Project > refresh” doesn't work?

Question

Especially when using an sftp drive (but this problem is also an issue with local drives, although thankfully not as frequent), the folders in the sidebar just keep

Answer 1

Try to Install this package: https://packagecontrol.io/packages/SideBarEnhancements

1. Open the package folder. Main menu -> Preferences -> Package Control: -> Package Control: Install Package
2. Search the keyword: Side​Bar​Enhancements
3. Enjoy it

After you install this plugin, you will see the refresh button in your sidebar option:

Answer 2

This isn't going to be a very useful answer but it documents some early behaviour in Sublime Text that would solve your problem, assuming you need no later features from Sublime Text 2/3 (a big assumption indeed).

Sublime Text 1 had the handy feature in the folder context menu to "Refresh folder". This cause an immediate indexing of only the specified directory (and subdirectories) which was a boon when using networked drives over high-latency connections.

This was deprecated in Sublime Text 2.

Version 1 is available here or by direct download here. It's not clear that these will be available indefinitely though, so this isn't necessarily a long-term solution.

Answer 3

I have added this myself the other day. I constantly work in an environment where files in the project are changing before I can see them.

Goto 'Preferences' menu -> 'Key Bindings' -> 'User' which will open a JSON file, add below code, save and close that file.

{ "keys": ["ctrl+f5"], "command": "refresh_folder_list" }

It will work like charm 100%. Thanks for asking this question.

Answer 4

1. Open Sublime Text.
2. Select Preferences from the top menu and click Key Bindings – User. Here you will see a JSON file that should contain an array of objects (initially the array is empty). Every object will represent a shortcut.

3. Add the following (new shortcut object) entry into the array (between the brackets):

   { 
       "keys"    : ["f5"], 
       "command" : "refresh_folder_list" 
   }
   

You should be able to refresh the folders with F5.