---
title: "File Manager Preferences"
description: "Customize the default behavior of the Topol Plugin File Manager, including whether files open as a list or as tiles by default when it launches."
url: https://docs.topol.io/email-editor/guide/file-manager-preferences.html
---

# File Manager Preferences

**The `fileManagerPreferences` object adjusts how the built-in File Manager opens and behaves.** Three settings are available: the default file view, the Pexels stock photo integration, and a cap on batch uploads.

## How to set your preferences

Include a `fileManagerPreferences` object inside your `TOPOL_OPTIONS` configuration. All your custom settings go inside this object.

```ts
 fileManagerPreferences: {
   // your custom options here
},
```

### Set default file view (list or tiles)

The File Manager shows files and folders in a List view by default. The buttons in its top-right corner switch between List and Tiles view at any time:

![File view options](https://docs.topol.io/file-manager-file-view-options.png)

The default view is set to List view. If you'd prefer to see the Tiles view first by default, specify the `defaultTilesView` option in the `fileManagerPreferences` object and set it to `true`.

```ts
 fileManagerPreferences: {
  defaultTilesView: true, // true = tiles view, false = list view
},
```

> **INFO**
>
> Tiles view is skipped in folders holding 500 or more items, which open as a list regardless of this setting so that large folders stay responsive.

### Hide Pexels integration

By default, the File Manager comes with a built-in integration to Pexels, a free stock photo library. This integration allows users to search and add high-quality images directly from within the editor.

![File view options](https://docs.topol.io/filemanager-pexels.png)

If you'd like to hide this integration, specify the `hidePexelsIntegration` option in the `fileManagerPreferences` object and set it to `true`.

```ts
 fileManagerPreferences: {
  hidePexelsIntegration: true, // true = hide, false = show
},
```

### Limit the number of files uploaded at once

By default, users can select and upload an unlimited number of files at once through the File Manager. In some cases bulk uploads can cause issues, for example when your backend proxies storage requests to a service with rate limits.

The `maxUploadingFiles` option sets a hard cap on how many files can be uploaded in a single batch. When a user selects more files than the allowed limit, only the first N files are uploaded and a notification is shown informing the user that the limit was reached.

To enable this, specify the `maxUploadingFiles` option in the `fileManagerPreferences` object and set it to a positive integer:

```ts
 fileManagerPreferences: {
  maxUploadingFiles: 5, // allow up to 5 files per upload
},
```

**Example: restrict to single-file uploads**

```ts
 fileManagerPreferences: {
  maxUploadingFiles: 1, // only one file can be uploaded at a time
},
```

When `maxUploadingFiles` is set to `1`, the file picker automatically switches to single-file selection mode, so users cannot select multiple files in the browser dialog.

When `maxUploadingFiles` is set to `2` or higher, the file picker remains in multi-select mode, but only the allowed number of files is uploaded. If the limit is exceeded, the user sees a notification like:

> "Only 5 out of 12 files were uploaded due to the upload limit."

> **WARNING**
>
> A value of `0` is treated as `1`, so this option cannot be used to switch uploading off entirely.

> **Preventing file deletion**
>
> Whether a user can delete files and folders is controlled by a permission rather than a File Manager preference. To hide the delete button, set `canRemoveFiles` to `false` via the `permissions` option. See [Roles and Permissions](https://docs.topol.io/email-editor/guide/roles-and-permissions.html#overriding-individual-permissions) for details.

## Related options

Three top-level options affect the File Manager but sit outside `fileManagerPreferences`. **`imageMaxSize`** caps the size of a single file in bytes (default 2 MB), which is a different limit from `maxUploadingFiles` and its file count. **`enableFileManagerInGif`** makes the File Manager available for GIF blocks. **`customFileManager`** hands file selection to your own application, which makes all the preferences above irrelevant. See [Custom File Manager](https://docs.topol.io/email-editor/guide/custom-filemanager.html).