Windows & Projects

Zed lets you work on multiple projects in a single window. Projects appear in the threads sidebar on the left, and you can switch between them while keeping your context intact.

How Projects Open

By default, when you open a folder in Zed, it opens as a new project in your current window's threads sidebar rather than creating a new window. This keeps related work together and preserves your agent threads and layout.

Action	Result
File > Open	Opens in current window (threads sidebar)
File > Open Recent	Opens in current window (threads sidebar)
Drag folder to Zed	Opens in current window (threads sidebar)
`zed ~/project`	Opens in current window (threads sidebar)

Working with Multiple Projects

When you have multiple projects open:

Click a project header to collapse or expand its threads; Cmd+click (macOS) or Ctrl+click (Linux/Windows) to switch to that project
Each project has its own file tree, git state, and search scope
Agent threads are tied to their project context
Your workspace layout (splits, tabs) is preserved per project

Think of projects in the threads sidebar like browser tabs, but for repositories.

Opening in a New Window

Sometimes you want a completely separate window. Here's how:

From Open Recent

When using File > Open Recent (ctrl-r|ctrl-r):

Enter or click opens in the current window (threads sidebar)
Cmd+Enter or Cmd+click (macOS) / Ctrl+Enter or Ctrl+click (Linux/Windows) opens in a new window

From the CLI

Use the -n flag to force a new window:

zed -n ~/projects/other-project

Other CLI options for controlling window behavior:

Flag	Behavior
`-n`, `--new`	Always open in a new window
`-a`, `--add`	Add to the current window's threads sidebar
`-r`, `--reuse`	Replace the current project in the existing window

See CLI Reference for full details.

Via Settings

You can change the default CLI behavior with the cli_default_open_behavior setting:

{
  "cli_default_open_behavior": "new_window"
}

Options:

existing_window (default): Open folders in the current window's threads sidebar
new_window: Open folders in a new window

This setting affects CLI and double-click behavior, not the File > Open menu.

Adding Folders to a Project

If you want to add a folder to your current project (not as a separate project in the threads sidebar), you have several options:

File menu: File > Add Folder to Project
Project panel: Right-click in the project panel and choose "Add Folders to Project"
Open Recent: Select a recent project and click the "Add Folder to this Project" button

This adds the folder as an additional root in your current project's file tree, similar to VS Code's multi-root workspaces.