Android How to open a specific folder via Intent and show its content in a file browser

Question

I thought this would be easy but as it turns out unfortunately it s not   What I have   I have a folder called  myFolder  on my external storage  not sd card because it s a Nexus 4  but that should not be the problem   The folder contains some   csv files   What I want   I want to write a method which does the following  Show a variety of apps  file browsers  from which I can pick one  see picture   After I click on it  the selected file browser should start and show me the content of  myFolder   No more no less     My question   How exactly do I do that  I think I came quite close with the following code  but no matter what I do - and I m certain that there must be something I didn t get right yet - it always opens only the main folder from the external storage   public void openFolder     File file   new File Environment getExternalStorageDirectory         myFolder     Log d  path   file toString      Intent intent   new Intent Intent ACTION GET CONTENT   intent setDataAndType Uri fromFile file           startActivity intent

User · Answer

Thread is old but I needed this kind of feature in my application and I found a way to do it so I decided to post it if it can help anyone in my situation.

As our device fleet is composed only by Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, I just had to find the file explorer's package name, give the right path and I succeed open my file explorer where I wanted to. I wish I could use Intent.CATEGORY_APP_FILES but it is only available in API 29.

  Intent intent = context.getPackageManager().getLaunchIntentForPackage("com.sec.android.app.myfiles");
  Uri uri = Uri.parse(rootPath);
  if (intent != null) {
      intent.setData(uri);
      startActivity(intent);
  }

As I said, it was easy for me because our clients have the same device but it may help others to find a workaround for their own situation.

User · Answer

Here is my answer private fun openFolder         val location    quot  storage emulated 0 Download  quot       val intent   Intent Intent ACTION VIEW      val myDir  Uri   FileProvider getUriForFile context  context applicationContext packageName    quot  provider quot   File location       intent flags   Intent FLAG GRANT READ URI PERMISSION     intent flags   Intent FLAG ACTIVITY NEW TASK     if  Build VERSION SDK INT  gt   Build VERSION CODES KITKAT          intent setDataAndType myDir   DocumentsContract Document MIME TYPE DIR      else  intent setDataAndType myDir    quot     quot        if  intent resolveActivityInfo context packageManager  0     null                context startActivity intent            else                  if you reach this place  it means there is no any file            explorer app installed on your device         CustomToast toastIt context context getString R string there is no file explorer app present text            Here why I used FileProvider - android os FileUriExposedException  file    storage emulated 0 test txt exposed beyond app through Intent getData   I tested on this device Devices  Samsung  SM-G950F  dreamltexx   Os API Level  28

User · Answer

Intent intent   new Intent Intent ACTION VIEW   intent setDataAndType uri  DocumentsContract Document MIME TYPE DIR   startActivity intent     Will open files app home screen

User · Answer

This should work  Uri selectedUri   Uri parse Environment getExternalStorageDirectory      quot  myFolder  quot    Intent intent   new Intent Intent ACTION VIEW   intent setDataAndType selectedUri   quot resource folder quot     if  intent resolveActivityInfo getPackageManager    0     null        startActivity intent     else          if you reach this place  it means there is no any file         explorer app installed on your device    Please  be sure that you have any file explorer app installed on your device  EDIT  added a shantanu s recommendation from the comment  LIBRARIES  You can also have a look at the following libraries https   android-arsenal com tag 35 if the current solution doesn t help you

User · Answer

this code will work with OI File Manager            File root   new File Environment getExternalStorageDirectory   getPath       myFolder             Uri uri   Uri fromFile root            Intent intent   new Intent            intent setAction android content Intent ACTION VIEW           intent setData uri           startActivityForResult intent  1     you can get OI File manager here   http   www openintents org en filemanager

User · Answer

Today  you should be representing a folder using its content  URI as obtained from the Storage Access Framework  and opening it should be as simple as   Intent i   new Intent Intent ACTION VIEW  uri   startActivity i     Alas  the Files app currently contains a bug that causes it to crash when you try this using the external storage provider  Folders from third party providers however can be displayed in this way

User · Answer

Intent intent   new Intent Intent ACTION GET CONTENT    intent setType  text csv     intent addCategory Intent CATEGORY OPENABLE    try         startActivityForResult Intent createChooser intent   Select a File to Upload    0      catch  android content ActivityNotFoundException ex      ex printStackTrace        then you just need to add the response  public void  onActivityResult int requestCode  int resultCode  Intent data    switch  requestCode      case 0           what you want to do       file   new File uri getPath

User · Answer

I finally got it working  This way only a few apps are shown by the chooser  Google Drive  Dropbox  Root Explorer  and Solid Explorer   It s working fine with the two explorers but not with Google Drive and Dropbox  I guess because they cannot access the external storage   The other MIME type like       is also possible   public void openFolder        Intent intent   new Intent Intent ACTION GET CONTENT       Uri uri   Uri parse Environment getExternalStorageDirectory   getPath               File separator    myFolder    File separator       intent setDataAndType uri   text csv        startActivity Intent createChooser intent   Open folder

User · Answer

Intent chooser   new Intent Intent ACTION GET CONTENT   Uri uri   Uri parse Environment getDownloadCacheDirectory   getPath   toString     chooser addCategory Intent CATEGORY OPENABLE   chooser setDataAndType uri             startActivity chooser   try   startActivityForResult chooser  SELECT FILE     catch  android content ActivityNotFoundException ex    Toast makeText this   Please install a File Manager    Toast LENGTH SHORT  show        In code above  if setDataAndType is       a builtin file browser is opened to pick any file  if I set  text plain  Dropbox is opened   I have Dropbox  Google Drive installed   If I uninstall Dropbox only       works to open file browser  This is Android 4 4 2   I can download contents from Dropbox and for Google Drive  by getContentResolver   openInputStream data getData

User · Answer

File temp   File createTempFile  preview     png     String fullfileName  temp getAbsolutePath    final String fileName   Uri parse fullfileName                       getLastPathSegment    final String filePath   fullfileName                       substring 0 fullfileName lastIndexOf File separator    Log d  filePath    filePath      filePath     fullfileName        mnt sdcard Download Manager Farsi preview png   filePath        mnt sdcard Download Manager Farsi

User · Answer

You seem close   I would try to set the URI like this     String folderPath   Environment getExternalStorageDirectory     pathTo folder    Intent intent   new Intent      intent setAction Intent ACTION GET CONTENT   Uri myUri   Uri parse folderPath   intent setDataAndType myUri    file         startActivity intent     But it s not so different from what you have tried  Tell us if it changes anything    Also make sure the targeted folder exists  and have a look on the resulting Uri object before to send it to the intent   it may not be what we are expected

[android] Android: How to open a specific folder via Intent and show its content in a file browser?

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