---
schema_version: "1"
id: 8110873292bbcaa7e4779f0af17575735ed0118ded0bed3ef044bfd260a817ee
title: Org Browser
collection: developer
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/developer/current/en-us/salesforcedx/webconsole/guides/get-started/web-console-ui/org-browser.md
canonical_url: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/webconsole/guide/org-browser.html
source_site: developer.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 15af8c49139b84cb5321c16d35e27bd8e8faf792e4d2dfc1bfaa6b849ca25a21
products:
  - Web Console
  - salesforcedx
---
# Org Browser

The Org Browser makes it easy to retrieve your org metadata sources by listing org metadata types and their corresponding components. Click the cloud icon (![The Org Browser icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/org_browser_icon.png '{"class": "image-icon-lg"}')) on the Web Console activity bar to access the Org Browser.

![The Org Browser page](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/org_browser2.png '{"class": "image-sm image-framed"}')

When you open the Org Browser, the metadata for the default org is saved in your local project to minimize the number of calls to the org.

## List, Filter, and Refresh Metadata

- To view the components, expand a metadata type. You can use ![Expand and Collapse all icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/collapse_meta.png '{"class": "image-icon-lg"}') to expand and collapse all the metadata types.
- To hide the local metadata types from the list, click ![Hide local types icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/local_types.png '{"class": "image-icon-lg"}').
- To show only the metadata types that you've retrieved, click ![Hide org types icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/hide_org_type.png '{"class": "image-icon-lg"}').
- To filter the metadata, click ![Filter metadata icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/filter_meta.png '{"class": "image-icon-md"}'), and enter a pattern. For example, to show only the Apex-related metadata, type `Apex*`.
- To refresh, click ![Refresh icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/refresh_icon.png '{"class": "image-icon-md"}'). Refreshing updates the:
  - Available metadata types in the org
  - Components for the corresponding metadata type
  - Folders within the metadata type and their components

## Retrieve Org Metadata

**warning:** Because of the asynchronous nature of the Metadata API calls, a simultaneous deployment and retrieval can potentially lead to a race condition. To prevent retrieving unexpected components, be mindful of using the Org Browser while deployment is in progress.

You can retrieve a single metadata component or all components of the same type. Click the retrieve icon (![Retrieve icon](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/retrieve_icon.png '{"class": "image-icon-lg"}')) next to:

- Component name to retrieve a component to your local project.
- Metadata type to retrieve all components of the type.

When you retrieve a component, a `COMPONENT_NAME.METADATA_TYPE-meta.xml` file is created with the information about the retrieved. Here's an example.

![Account.object-meta.XML file is shown under the Account object folder](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/meta_file.png '{"class": "image-xl"}')

If you retrieve an existing component, a prompt shows asking if you'd like to overwrite the file.

![Overwrite existing components](https://developer.salesforce.com/media/webconsole/overwrite_prompt.png '{"class": "image-md"}')

When you retrieve components for a metadata type, the Org Browser automatically refreshes the component list for the selected type and then retrieves them. This action makes sure that the installed extensions accurately check the local workspace for existing components.