Manage Godot Projects

Use the Projects view in Godot Launcher to find and open projects or change how they are organised.

Choose a project view

Use the three icons to the left of Search to choose a view:

• List fits each project on one line, with its name, tags, tool icons, editor version and actions. Long names shorten with an ellipsis.
• Compact shows two lines, including the project path and last opened time.
• Cards, the default, shows project details with an Edit in Godot button.

All three views keep the same groups, order, search results, tags and actions. Godot Launcher remembers your choice after you close and reopen the app.

In List and Compact views, select the project icon or name to open it in Godot. In List view, hover or focus the name to see its full name, path and last opened time. Select the folder button, then Copy project path, to copy its location. Compact and Cards keep the copy control beside the path.

Start with an empty Projects view

When there are no projects, Add or create a project fills the Projects view. Choose one of the six tiles:

• Create project chooses an editor and starts a new project, even before an editor is installed.
• From Godot Project Manager reviews projects already registered with Godot.
• Scan a folder finds projects in a folder and its subfolders.
• Choose a project file adds a single project.godot file.
• From GitHub browses your connected repositories.
• From public Git URL clones a public repository.

See Add an Existing Godot Project for local imports, or Import a Godot Project from Git for repositories. When Git is unavailable, the Git tiles are disabled with an explanation; local import remains available.

The project header and list controls appear after a project is added. Removing the final project returns to these tiles.

Find a project

Projects appear in one of three groups:

• Pinned keeps chosen projects in the order you set.
• New contains unpinned projects created in the launcher that you have not opened or marked as not new.
• Recents contains other unpinned projects, including projects added from your computer or imported from GitHub.

Existing unopened projects from earlier versions also appear in Recents. Projects with an opening date come first, ordered by when you last opened them from this computer. Projects without an opening date show Not opened yet and appear below them. Activity on another computer does not change this order.

Enter part of a project name in Search to filter all three groups. Use Tags beside Search to match any selected tag, then narrow the results with text search. See Project Tags to add or manage tags.

Select several projects

Use multi-select to organise several projects without opening them. It works in Cards, Compact, and List views.

1. Select Enable multi-select, the checklist icon beside View options.
2. Select the checkbox beside each project you want to change. The toolbar shows the selected count.
3. Open Actions and choose an action. The number beside each action shows how many selected projects it will change; actions with no eligible projects are disabled.

The checkbox beside Pinned, New, or Recents selects all currently shown projects in that group. A mixed checkbox means only some are selected; select it to select the rest. Clear a checked group checkbox to deselect that group without changing other groups.

In Actions, Select all shown selects every project matching your current search and tag filters. Select New shown selects shown projects eligible for Mark as not new. Clear selection deselects everything while keeping multi-select enabled. Select Disable multi-select to leave this mode.

Switching views, changing the group order, or moving projects between groups preserves selection. Changing project Search or the Tags filter clears it. Projects removed from the list also leave the selection. Drag reordering is unavailable while multi-select is enabled.

Use Actions > Bulk edit tags to edit tags for the selected projects.

Clear New status for selected projects

Choose Actions > Mark as not new to clear New status only for eligible selected projects. This does not open the projects or change their last opened time. Unpinned projects move to Recents; pinned projects keep their position.

The Projects notification offers Undo for successful changes. If some changes fail, it names the failed projects. Retry clearing New retries only those failures; Retry Undo retries only the unsuccessful restorations. Opening or removing a project can make its Undo unavailable.

Pin or unpin selected projects

Choose Actions > Pin or Actions > Unpin. Each action changes only selected projects whose pin state differs from the requested state.

Newly pinned projects appear together at the top of Pinned, in their current display order. Previously pinned projects keep their relative order. Unpin returns projects to New or Recents as appropriate. Selection stays active as projects move between groups.

If an action partly fails, successful changes remain saved. Retry in the notification retries failed changes. If saving the pinned order fails, retrying the order does not repeat successful pin changes.

Remove selected projects

1. Choose Actions > Remove from list.
2. Review the project names and count in the confirmation.
3. Select Remove, or Cancel to keep every project listed.

Bulk removal always asks for confirmation, even when individual-project confirmation is turned off in Settings > Behavior. Project folders and files stay on your device. There is no Undo for removal; add an existing project to list it again.

Successful removals leave the list and selection. If some fail, those projects remain selected and the notification names the failures. Retry opens another confirmation for only the failed projects; it does not repeat successful removals. A project removed elsewhere is reported as unavailable rather than replaced with another target.

Choose the group order

The default group order is Pinned, New, then Recents. Empty groups are hidden from the project list.

1. Select the View options icon beside the three view icons.
2. Drag a whole group row to its new position. The dialog includes all three groups, including empty ones.
3. Select Save to use the order in all three views.

The order is saved on this computer. Restore default order resets the draft; select Save to apply it. Cancel or Escape discards unsaved changes.

To reorder with the keyboard, focus a group row and press Space or Enter. Use the up and down arrow keys, then press Space or Enter to drop it. Press Escape while sorting to cancel the move and keep the dialog open.

After saving, the bottom-left Group order saved notification offers Undo to restore the previous order and View options to reopen the dialog. If saving fails, the existing order stays in place and the dialog keeps your draft for retry.

Duplicate a project

Open the project's more-actions menu and select Duplicate to create an independent copy. Choose the new name, destination, and copied preferences or save data, then set up its tools in More options. The source Godot version and renderer stay fixed.

See Duplicate a Godot Project for copy choices, GitHub publication, and recovery.

Mark a project as not new

1. Open a new project's more-actions menu.
2. Select Mark as not new.

The project moves to Recents. A pinned project stays in Pinned, with its position unchanged. This changes only the New status; it does not open the project or give it an opening date.

Select Undo in the bottom-left New status cleared notification to restore the status. Undo preserves other changes, such as pinning the project, and is available only while the notification remains visible. Opening or removing the project makes that Undo unavailable.

Single-project New status notifications dismiss after three seconds. Hover over a notification or focus one of its controls to pause the timer. An open dialog also pauses it. Use the close button to dismiss it. If a notification action fails, the notification stays visible with its actions available for retry. Restarting the app does not restore an Undo notification.

Open or manage a project

Each project provides its folder, selected tools, and status. In Cards view, use the card actions to:

• Select Edit in Godot to launch the project with its selected Godot editor.
• Use the pin button to move the project into or out of Pinned.
• Use the terminal or code editor button to open the project folder in that tool.
• Use the folder button to open either the project folder or its Godot editor settings folder.
• Use the settings button to open Project Settings.
• Use the more-actions button to run or duplicate the project, import or export Godot editor settings, or remove the project from the launcher.

To remove a project, open its more-actions menu and select Remove Project From List. Confirm with Remove if prompted. The project disappears from the list; its project folder stays on disk.

For the meaning of tool and warning icons in each view, see Godot Launcher Project Status Icons.

Run a project

Select Run project from the project's three-dot more-actions menu to start its main scene with the project's selected Godot version. This action is available in Cards, Compact, and List views.

If no main scene is set, Run project is disabled with an explanation. Open the project with Edit in Godot, set its main scene, then reopen the more-actions menu.

Run starts the project directly. If a new or imported project needs resource imports or a C# build, open it in Godot once, let preparation finish, and confirm that it runs there before trying Run project again. The project folder and its selected editor must be available; the menu explains if either is missing.

If Godot reports an error, Godot reported an error shows a warning with the available error detail. The project may still be running, and Godot can recover from some errors automatically. The warning does not confirm that the project is working correctly. You see at most one such warning per run.

Select Edit in Godot to investigate, or Close to dismiss the warning.

If the project cannot start, the launcher shows Could not run. If it starts and then exits unsuccessfully, Project stopped unexpectedly appears, even if an earlier error warning is still open. Use Edit in Godot, when available, to investigate, or Close to dismiss the dialog.

While the launcher is tracking a running instance, Run project is disabled with This project is already running. Run does not change the project's New status or last opened time. Close the running game's window to stop it.

Open Terminal Here

Select Open Terminal Here in a project's actions in any project view to open that project's folder in a terminal. Before using it, enable Terminal and choose a detected terminal in Tool Settings.

If the action reports that Terminal is disabled, enable it in Tools. If no supported terminal is available, install one in its system location and select Rescan in the Terminal drawer. See Tool Settings for supported terminals and limitations.

Open a project in its code editor

When a project has an associated code editor and Terminal is available, select the small arrow beside the terminal button. Choose Open Terminal Here or Open in Visual Studio Code (or Open in VSCodium). Selecting the terminal button itself still opens the terminal directly. These controls work in Cards, Compact, and List views.

If Terminal is disabled or unavailable, the associated code editor's icon replaces the terminal button. Select it to open the project folder directly; there is no dropdown. Projects without a code editor keep the terminal button and its setup guidance.

Choose the associated editor in Project Settings > Code Editor. Manual opening opens the folder without starting Godot or changing its last opened time. If it fails, check code editor troubleshooting.

The automatic opening setting opens the editor whenever you edit the project in Godot. It is on by default; turn it off in Settings > Behavior to keep opening the code editor manually.

Install a missing editor

When a project needs an official editor that is not installed, its Godot version shows a warning and the project cannot be opened. Select the download icon labelled Install required editor to download that exact editor. The launcher repairs every listed project that is waiting for the same editor when the download finishes. Custom-built editors cannot be downloaded this way; register the build instead.

In List and Compact views, the same warning appears beside the required Godot version. The download action remains available in the row so you can recover without changing views.

During a download, select Cancel editor download, the X beside its spinner, to stop it before extraction starts. This action is available in all three views. Cancelling stops the shared download for every project waiting for that editor version and edition. The projects stay listed with a missing editor; select Install required editor to retry.

Reorder pinned projects

Drag a pinned project's reorder handle to move it. The handle appears when you hover over the project and stays visible while dragging. The new order is saved on this computer.

You can also reorder with the keyboard:

1. Focus the reorder button for a pinned project.
2. Press Space or Enter to pick it up.
3. Use the arrow keys to move it.
4. Press Space or Enter to drop it, or Escape to cancel.

Clear search and tag filters and disable multi-select before reordering pinned projects.

Related guides

• Create a Godot Project
• Add an Existing Godot Project
• Project Settings