Filters and Collections are both ways to sort and group Assets inside the Content Browser. There are a few key differences between them:
Filters automatically show or hide Assets in the Asset View. You can have multiple filters active at the same time, and toggle them on or off individually. Filter combinations are only saved locally.
Collections contain manually added references to Assets. You can only view the contents of one collection at a time in the Asset View. Collections can be local to your machine, or you can share them with other users.
Filters and Collections apply to individual Content Browsers. This means that you can have different Content Browsers displaying different types of Assets - for example, one Content Browser could display only Static Meshes belonging to a specific Collection, and another could display the 20 most recently opened Assets.
Filters
Filters provide a way to narrow down the Assets visible within the Asset View of the Content Browser. Filters can be based on either:
Asset type, such as Blueprints, Materials, Static Meshes, and so on.
Asset state, such as whether an Asset is currently checked out of source control.
Unlike Collections, you can have multiple filters active at the same time.
Adding Filters
On the Content Browser's Search and Filters bar, click the Filters button. This opens a menu which shows all available filters you can select from, divided into specific categories.
Click a filter to enable it. You can also add all filters under a category by clicking the category itself.
Filters are additive, which means that any new filters you add will increase the number of possible Assets that display in the Asset View. For example, if you start by selecting the Static Mesh filter, you will only see Static Meshes. If you then select the Blueprint filter, you will see Static Meshes and Blueprints.
Deactivating Filters
Click a filter to toggle it on and off. Deactivated filters are grayed out and have no effect. To turn a filter back on, click it again.
In this example, the Material filter is enabled and the Static Mesh filter is disabled.
Removing Filters
You can remove filters you no longer need by using one of the following methods:
Right-click the filter in the Search and Filters bar, then select Remove: [Filter Name] from the context menu.
Click the Filters button, then click the filter you want to remove to deselect it. You can also click an entire selected category to remove all of the filters that belong to that category.
Removing a filter also removes it from the Search and Filters bar. If you only want to toggle the filter off temporarily, click the filter to deactivate it, as described in the Deactivating Filters section above.
Bulk Filter Operations
Right-clicking a filter in the Search and Filters bar opens a context menu with the following bulk filter operations:
|
Operation |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Enable Only This: [Filter Name] |
Disables all other filters except for the currently selected one. |
|
Enable All Filters |
Enables all filters. |
|
Disable All Filters |
Disables all filters. Note that this doesn't remove any filters from the Search and Filters bar. |
|
Remove All Filters |
Removes all filters from the Search and Filters bar. This operation cannot be undone. |
|
Remove All But This: [Filter Name] |
Removes all filters except for the currently selected one from the Search and Filters bar. This operation cannot be undone. |
Using the Recently Opened Filter
The Recently Opened filter enables you to view the 20 most recently opened Assets for a selected folder and can be found in the Filters menu, under the Other Filters category.
When using the Recently Opened filter, selecting the Content folder will display the most recently opened Assets for the entire project folder. Selecting a sub-folder might show only a few items, or nothing at all. The list is dependent on the most recently opened Assets being contained within the folder being selected.
Note that this filter can return fewer than 20 items, or even no items, if you're working in a brand new project.
The Recently Open filter in the Content Browser.
You can change the number of Assets listed by the Recently Opened filter. In Editor Preferences, under Content Browser, change the Number of Assets to Keep in the Recently Opened Filter.
Collections
Collections serve as a way to organize sets of Assets into groups. Unlike folders, Collections don't contain the Assets themselves, but only references to those Assets. In practice, this means that one Asset can belong to more than one Collection.
Collections display in the Sources panel, under the folder tree.
Creating Collections
To create a new Collection, follow these steps:
Click the Add (+) button on the Collections panel.
![Adding a new Collection]()
Select the Collection type.
![Selecting a Collection type]()
You can choose from one of the following options:
Type
Description
Shared Collection
Shared Collections are visible to other users. This option is only available if you're working in a multi-user project.
Private Collection
Private Collections are available only to the users who have been specifically invited to view the Collection. This option is only available if you're working in a multi-user project.
Local Collection
Local Collections are only available on your local machine.
Enter a name for your new Collection, then press Enter.
You can create child Collections by right-clicking a Collection, then selecting New from the context menu that appears and following steps 1-3 outlined above.
Adding Assets to Collections
You can add one or more Assets to a Collection by using one of the following methods:
Click the Asset to select it, then drag it into a Collection.
Right-click the Asset. Then, from the context menu, select Manage Collections, and click the Collection you want to add the Asset to.
Collections the Asset already belongs to will have a check mark next to their name.
Click the Asset to select it, then enable the check mark next to the Collection you want to add the Asset to.
If the Asset is already a part of that Collection, the check mark next to the Collection will already be enabled. In this case, clearing the check mark will remove the Asset from that Collection.
If you add an Asset to a Collection that has a parent Collection, the Asset will also be added to the parent Collection.
Removing Assets from Collections
You can remove Assets from a Collection by using one of the following methods:
Right-click the Asset. Then, from the context menu, select Manage Collections, and click the Collection you want to remove the Asset from.
Collections the Asset already belongs to will have a check mark next to their name.
Click the Asset to select it, then disable the check mark next to the Collection you want to remove the Asset from.
If you select an Asset in a Collection and press Delete, you can delete the Asset entirely. You will get a prompt verifying that this is what you want to do, but keep in mind that deleting an Asset means it is completely removed from your project. To simply remove an Asset from a Collection, always use one of the methods described above.
Renaming and Deleting Collections
To rename a Collection, right-click it and select Rename from the context menu. Then, enter a new name and press Enter. To cancel the rename, press Escape.
To delete a Collection, right-click it and select Delete from the context menu, then click Delete on the confirmation window that appears. Note that, since Collections are references to the actual Assets, deleting your Collections will not delete the Assets within the Collection.