---
description: Use this guide if you need to reach other directories in the Flatpak.
---

# Expose directories

The Bottles Flatpak is sandboxed and confined in its directories. It makes use of [portals](https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/portal-api-reference.html) to let you open and save files in other directories.

Despite this, there are some cases where you may want to explicitly expose directories to the Flatpak, e.g.:

* let the [Importer](https://docs.usebottles.com/bottles/import-from-other-managers) find windows prefixes from other managers directories;
* use the file chooser provided by the runner to open/save files in your system, outside the sandbox.

To achieve this, we can run the command

```bash
flatpak override --user --filesystem="path" com.usebottles.bottles
```

or to manage more complex cases through a GUI we can use an external program named [Flatseal](https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.github.tchx84.Flatseal), it can be easily installed from Flathub using a compatible store like GNOME Software, elementary Appcenter or Discover. It is also possible to install through the command line:

```bash
flatpak install flathub com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
```

At the first launch of Flatseal you need to select Bottles from the left menu, then scroll to the Filesystem section and make your choices.

![Flatseal > Bottles](https://1779667294-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MQH3F0OVam8XE3i-Jc-%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-9092f79a66259e8d3fdf52ef7736273b861b100f%2FFlatsealFilesystem%20\(1\).png?alt=media)

We suggest to not expose all your system or home but manually add each directory in **Other files**. In the following example we are exposing the `~/Games` folder from our home (the default location for Lutris windows prefixes).

![Exposing the \~/Games directory](https://1779667294-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MQH3F0OVam8XE3i-Jc-%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-390fe8ec44f12c34145cc3cf14554beb4e552bdb%2Fimage.png?alt=media)

Then the Bottles Importer will see the new directory.
