i have checked 'collapse non-selected branches' but it never collapses the folders if i go up, only if i go to deeper into the directory structure
is there a way to change this to collapse the unused branches everytime i change a folder?
I don't think there is a proper way to do that, but you might be able to use a kludge, e.g. if you are using the toolbar or hotkey to go up a level, make the command toggle the tree off & on so that it resets which things are expanded:
Go UP BACK
Set TREE=Toggle
Set TREE=Toggle
thanks for the fast reply, it works as a stop-gap, but there's a flickering of the tree panel and it doesn't affect clicking of folders, a hard-coded implementation would be much better 
If you're clicking folders in the tree, you could click the arrow part to select + contract them at once, FWIW.