The easy way to browse a file's directory without leaving Vim, is to use one of the built-in Netrw commands to open the current file's directory: * [ help :Explore] * [ help netrw-:Explore] * [ help netrw-:Sexplore] * [ help netrw-:Vexplore] * [ help netrw-:Hexplore] * [ help netrw-:Texplore] Netrw or some of its replacements (like NERDtree) also allow simply editing a directory name to bring up a directory browser, for example with :new %:p:h. If you have Vim 7.4.191 or higher, the mapping can be shortened to: