# Using native file dialog for selecting files and folders

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/using-native-file-dialog-for-selecting-files-and-folders/17926>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [June 1, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/using-native-file-dialog-for-selecting-files-and-folders/17926 "2021-06-01T20:58:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 3

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**Author:** ![jamesobutler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jamesobutler/32/7511_2.png) [@jamesobutler](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jamesobutler)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/using-native-file-dialog-for-selecting-files-and-folders/17926/3 "2021-06-02T12:50:51Z")

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> [@Loading data in Slicer from terminal](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/loading-data-in-slicer-from-terminal/17912/6):
>
> I usually drag-and-drop data into the application window and hit Enter to open it.

Users from my group almost exclusively do this because they hate using the standard QFileDialog to navigate to directories. They much prefer using the native file explorer to find the files they want to load. @lassoan I’m assuming this behavior of using drag-and-drop is also a result of this similar preference to the native file dialog over the QFileDialog?

Could we change to the following which uses native file explorer?

```auto
qfiledialog = qt.QFileDialog()
tuple_file_paths = qfiledialog.getOpenFileNames() # Select file(s)
directory = qfiledialog.getExistingDirectory() # Select directory

```

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_[View the full topic](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/using-native-file-dialog-for-selecting-files-and-folders/17926)._
