Why is the "Add folder" option greyed out or not available?

Author: Erik Haake
Date Published: 2025-07-10
Last Updated: September 2025
Audience: Everyone
Environment: Cloud, Self-Hosted, Replicated – KOTS

Summary

If the folder icon is greyed out after clicking the "Add" button above the file explorer, or when right clicking a container and going to Add -> New Item, the reason is that there isn't a valid location in your explorer tree for the folder to reside.

Folders can only be placed inside of item sets, not directly inside of component items. According to the Jama Help Guide:

Folders are a structural item type that contain other items, not an array of different item types. Folders can contain only text items and the same item type as the folder itself. Folders can be located or moved inside a set of the same item type, or inside another folder. You can't place a folder inside a component of mixed item types.

For example, you might encounter this issue if you've just created a new project and are scaffolding the structure by creating component items. If your project structure does not contain any item type sets, then the option to create a folder will be greyed out.

Solution

Create a set of items within your project and the option to create a folder will return.

Additional Information/Metadata

• Folders
• Cannot create Folder
• Container items

References

• Add a folder (Jama Help Guide)

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