Folders are all global??

[JesperWe]

Describe the Bug

The new beta for Folders works in a way that I believe is unexpected for the majority of users. The folder structure is global between all collections.

If I for example create folders "Products" and "Documents" for my Media collection, those same two folders also show up under Users, where they make no sense.

I am not sure if this is a bug or by design, but to me it feels wrong.

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/JesperWe/folders-are-global

Reproduction Steps

The reproduction repo is just a blank payload with folders enabled for Users and Media collections.

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

area: core

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 20.11.0
  npm: 10.8.2
  Yarn: 1.22.22
  pnpm: 10.11.0
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.39.1
  next: 15.3.0
  @payloadcms/email-nodemailer: 3.39.1
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.39.1
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.39.1
  @payloadcms/payload-cloud: 3.39.1
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.39.1
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.39.1
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.39.1
  react: 19.1.0
  react-dom: 19.1.0

[Patrickroelofs]

I have also noticed this, I think the folders object in the collection should get an option where we can filter folders that content can be moved in to. Similar to how we can choose which blocks are allowed in a field.

[bratvanov]

An RFC (#12729) discussing collection-specific folders and the current reality of global folders was just opened by the Payload team – please feel free to add your comments there.

[JesperWe]

I am closing this issue since it is moot and superseded by the much larger discussion in the RFC

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically locked. Please open a new issue if this issue persists with any additional detail.