diff --git a/web_src/js/components/DiffFileTree.vue b/web_src/js/components/DiffFileTree.vue
index 5426a672cb..981d10c1c1 100644
--- a/web_src/js/components/DiffFileTree.vue
+++ b/web_src/js/components/DiffFileTree.vue
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ function updateState(visible: boolean) {
 </script>
 
 <template>
+  <!-- only render the tree if we're visible. in many cases this is something that doesn't change very often -->
   <div v-if="store.fileTreeIsVisible" class="diff-file-tree-items">
-    <!-- only render the tree if we're visible. in many cases this is something that doesn't change very often -->
     <DiffFileTreeItem v-for="item in store.diffFileTree.TreeRoot.Children" :key="item.FullName" :item="item"/>
   </div>
 </template>
diff --git a/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTree.vue b/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTree.vue
index c692142792..d560824159 100644
--- a/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTree.vue
+++ b/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTree.vue
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 <script lang="ts" setup>
 import ViewFileTreeItem from './ViewFileTreeItem.vue';
 import {onMounted, ref} from 'vue';
-import {pathEscapeSegments} from '../utils/url.ts';
-import {GET} from '../modules/fetch.ts';
-import {createElementFromHTML} from '../utils/dom.ts';
+import {createViewFileTreeStore} from './ViewFileTreeStore.ts';
 
 const elRoot = ref<HTMLElement | null>(null);
 
@@ -13,52 +11,20 @@ const props = defineProps({
   currentRefNameSubURL: {type: String, required: true},
 });
 
-const files = ref([]);
-const selectedItem = ref('');
-
-async function loadChildren(treePath: string, subPath: string = '') {
-  const response = await GET(`${props.repoLink}/tree-view/${props.currentRefNameSubURL}/${pathEscapeSegments(treePath)}?sub_path=${encodeURIComponent(subPath)}`);
-  const json = await response.json();
-  const poolSvgs = [];
-  for (const [svgId, svgContent] of Object.entries(json.renderedIconPool ?? {})) {
-    if (!document.querySelector(`.global-svg-icon-pool #${svgId}`)) poolSvgs.push(svgContent);
-  }
-  if (poolSvgs.length) {
-    const svgContainer = createElementFromHTML('<div class="global-svg-icon-pool tw-hidden"></div>');
-    svgContainer.innerHTML = poolSvgs.join('');
-    document.body.append(svgContainer);
-  }
-  return json.fileTreeNodes ?? null;
-}
-
-async function loadViewContent(url: string) {
-  url = url.includes('?') ? url.replace('?', '?only_content=true') : `${url}?only_content=true`;
-  const response = await GET(url);
-  document.querySelector('.repo-view-content').innerHTML = await response.text();
-}
-
-async function navigateTreeView(treePath: string) {
-  const url = `${props.repoLink}/src/${props.currentRefNameSubURL}/${pathEscapeSegments(treePath)}`;
-  window.history.pushState({treePath, url}, null, url);
-  selectedItem.value = treePath;
-  await loadViewContent(url);
-}
-
+const store = createViewFileTreeStore(props);
 onMounted(async () => {
-  selectedItem.value = props.treePath;
-  files.value = await loadChildren('', props.treePath);
+  store.rootFiles = await store.loadChildren('', props.treePath);
   elRoot.value.closest('.is-loading')?.classList?.remove('is-loading');
   window.addEventListener('popstate', (e) => {
-    selectedItem.value = e.state?.treePath || '';
-    if (e.state?.url) loadViewContent(e.state.url);
+    store.selectedItem = e.state?.treePath || '';
+    if (e.state?.url) store.loadViewContent(e.state.url);
   });
 });
 </script>
 
 <template>
   <div class="view-file-tree-items" ref="elRoot">
-    <!-- only render the tree if we're visible. in many cases this is something that doesn't change very often -->
-    <ViewFileTreeItem v-for="item in files" :key="item.name" :item="item" :selected-item="selectedItem" :navigate-view-content="navigateTreeView" :load-children="loadChildren"/>
+    <ViewFileTreeItem v-for="item in store.rootFiles" :key="item.name" :item="item" :store="store"/>
   </div>
 </template>
 
diff --git a/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeItem.vue b/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeItem.vue
index c39fa1f4ae..4a7569e921 100644
--- a/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeItem.vue
+++ b/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeItem.vue
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 <script lang="ts" setup>
 import {SvgIcon} from '../svg.ts';
+import {isPlainClick} from '../utils/dom.ts';
 import {ref} from 'vue';
+import {type createViewFileTreeStore} from './ViewFileTreeStore.ts';
 
 type Item = {
   entryName: string;
-  entryMode: string;
+  entryMode: 'blob' | 'exec' | 'tree' | 'commit' | 'symlink' | 'unknown';
   entryIcon: string;
   entryIconOpen: string;
   fullPath: string;
@@ -14,103 +16,67 @@ type Item = {
 
 const props = defineProps<{
   item: Item,
-  navigateViewContent:(treePath: string) => void,
-  loadChildren:(treePath: string, subPath?: string) => Promise<Item[]>,
-  selectedItem?: string,
+  store: ReturnType<typeof createViewFileTreeStore>
 }>();
 
+const store = props.store;
 const isLoading = ref(false);
 const children = ref(props.item.children);
 const collapsed = ref(!props.item.children);
 
 const doLoadChildren = async () => {
   collapsed.value = !collapsed.value;
-  if (!collapsed.value && props.loadChildren) {
+  if (!collapsed.value) {
     isLoading.value = true;
     try {
-      children.value = await props.loadChildren(props.item.fullPath);
+      children.value = await store.loadChildren(props.item.fullPath);
     } finally {
       isLoading.value = false;
     }
   }
 };
 
-const doLoadDirContent = () => {
-  doLoadChildren();
-  props.navigateViewContent(props.item.fullPath);
+const onItemClick = (e: MouseEvent) => {
+  // only handle the click event with page partial reloading if the user didn't press any special key
+  // let browsers handle special keys like "Ctrl+Click"
+  if (!isPlainClick(e)) return;
+  e.preventDefault();
+  if (props.item.entryMode === 'tree') doLoadChildren();
+  store.navigateTreeView(props.item.fullPath);
 };
 
-const doLoadFileContent = () => {
-  props.navigateViewContent(props.item.fullPath);
-};
-
-const doGotoSubModule = () => {
-  location.href = props.item.submoduleUrl;
-};
 </script>
 
-<!--title instead of tooltip above as the tooltip needs too much work with the current methods, i.e. not being loaded or staying open for "too long"-->
 <template>
-  <div
-    v-if="item.entryMode === 'commit'" class="tree-item type-submodule"
+  <a
+    class="tree-item silenced"
+    :class="{
+      'selected': store.selectedItem === item.fullPath,
+      'type-submodule': item.entryMode === 'commit',
+      'type-directory': item.entryMode === 'tree',
+      'type-symlink': item.entryMode === 'symlink',
+      'type-file': item.entryMode === 'blob' || item.entryMode === 'exec',
+    }"
     :title="item.entryName"
-    @click.stop="doGotoSubModule"
+    :href="store.buildTreePathWebUrl(item.fullPath)"
+    @click.stop="onItemClick"
   >
-    <!-- submodule -->
-    <div class="item-content">
-      <!-- eslint-disable-next-line vue/no-v-html -->
-      <span class="tw-contents" v-html="item.entryIcon"/>
-      <span class="gt-ellipsis tw-flex-1">{{ item.entryName }}</span>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-  <div
-    v-else-if="item.entryMode === 'symlink'" class="tree-item type-symlink"
-    :class="{'selected': selectedItem === item.fullPath}"
-    :title="item.entryName"
-    @click.stop="doLoadFileContent"
-  >
-    <!-- symlink -->
-    <div class="item-content">
-      <!-- eslint-disable-next-line vue/no-v-html -->
-      <span class="tw-contents" v-html="item.entryIcon"/>
-      <span class="gt-ellipsis tw-flex-1">{{ item.entryName }}</span>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-  <div
-    v-else-if="item.entryMode !== 'tree'" class="tree-item type-file"
-    :class="{'selected': selectedItem === item.fullPath}"
-    :title="item.entryName"
-    @click.stop="doLoadFileContent"
-  >
-    <!-- file -->
-    <div class="item-content">
-      <!-- eslint-disable-next-line vue/no-v-html -->
-      <span class="tw-contents" v-html="item.entryIcon"/>
-      <span class="gt-ellipsis tw-flex-1">{{ item.entryName }}</span>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-  <div
-    v-else class="tree-item type-directory"
-    :class="{'selected': selectedItem === item.fullPath}"
-    :title="item.entryName"
-    @click.stop="doLoadDirContent"
-  >
-    <!-- directory -->
-    <div class="item-toggle">
+    <div v-if="item.entryMode === 'tree'" class="item-toggle">
       <SvgIcon v-if="isLoading" name="octicon-sync" class="circular-spin"/>
-      <SvgIcon v-else :name="collapsed ? 'octicon-chevron-right' : 'octicon-chevron-down'" @click.stop="doLoadChildren"/>
+      <SvgIcon v-else :name="collapsed ? 'octicon-chevron-right' : 'octicon-chevron-down'" @click.stop.prevent="doLoadChildren"/>
     </div>
     <div class="item-content">
       <!-- eslint-disable-next-line vue/no-v-html -->
       <span class="tw-contents" v-html="(!collapsed && item.entryIconOpen) ? item.entryIconOpen : item.entryIcon"/>
       <span class="gt-ellipsis">{{ item.entryName }}</span>
     </div>
-  </div>
+  </a>
 
   <div v-if="children?.length" v-show="!collapsed" class="sub-items">
-    <ViewFileTreeItem v-for="childItem in children" :key="childItem.entryName" :item="childItem" :selected-item="selectedItem" :navigate-view-content="navigateViewContent" :load-children="loadChildren"/>
+    <ViewFileTreeItem v-for="childItem in children" :key="childItem.entryName" :item="childItem" :store="store"/>
   </div>
 </template>
+
 <style scoped>
 .sub-items {
   display: flex;
diff --git a/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeStore.ts b/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeStore.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..13e2753c94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web_src/js/components/ViewFileTreeStore.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import {reactive} from 'vue';
+import {GET} from '../modules/fetch.ts';
+import {pathEscapeSegments} from '../utils/url.ts';
+import {createElementFromHTML} from '../utils/dom.ts';
+
+export function createViewFileTreeStore(props: { repoLink: string, treePath: string, currentRefNameSubURL: string}) {
+  const store = reactive({
+    rootFiles: [],
+    selectedItem: props.treePath,
+
+    async loadChildren(treePath: string, subPath: string = '') {
+      const response = await GET(`${props.repoLink}/tree-view/${props.currentRefNameSubURL}/${pathEscapeSegments(treePath)}?sub_path=${encodeURIComponent(subPath)}`);
+      const json = await response.json();
+      const poolSvgs = [];
+      for (const [svgId, svgContent] of Object.entries(json.renderedIconPool ?? {})) {
+        if (!document.querySelector(`.global-svg-icon-pool #${svgId}`)) poolSvgs.push(svgContent);
+      }
+      if (poolSvgs.length) {
+        const svgContainer = createElementFromHTML('<div class="global-svg-icon-pool tw-hidden"></div>');
+        svgContainer.innerHTML = poolSvgs.join('');
+        document.body.append(svgContainer);
+      }
+      return json.fileTreeNodes ?? null;
+    },
+
+    async loadViewContent(url: string) {
+      url = url.includes('?') ? url.replace('?', '?only_content=true') : `${url}?only_content=true`;
+      const response = await GET(url);
+      document.querySelector('.repo-view-content').innerHTML = await response.text();
+    },
+
+    async navigateTreeView(treePath: string) {
+      const url = store.buildTreePathWebUrl(treePath);
+      window.history.pushState({treePath, url}, null, url);
+      store.selectedItem = treePath;
+      await store.loadViewContent(url);
+    },
+
+    buildTreePathWebUrl(treePath: string) {
+      return `${props.repoLink}/src/${props.currentRefNameSubURL}/${pathEscapeSegments(treePath)}`;
+    },
+  });
+  return store;
+}
diff --git a/web_src/js/utils/dom.ts b/web_src/js/utils/dom.ts
index 8f758bf9ac..7ed0d73406 100644
--- a/web_src/js/utils/dom.ts
+++ b/web_src/js/utils/dom.ts
@@ -369,3 +369,8 @@ export function addDelegatedEventListener<T extends HTMLElement, E extends Event
     listener(elem as T, e as E);
   }, options);
 }
+
+/** Returns whether a click event is a left-click without any modifiers held */
+export function isPlainClick(e: MouseEvent) {
+  return e.button === 0 && !e.ctrlKey && !e.metaKey && !e.altKey && !e.shiftKey;
+}