The following scenario: 1. Fetch a VirtualFile representing a directory outside the scope of the current project. 2. Add some file or directory to that directory with another application (Windows Explorer etc.) 3. Refresh the directory by calling refresh(false, true); 4. Check whether the new file/directory is among the children of the directory. It won't be Calling refresh(false, false) will fix this situation with the disadvantage that the refresh is not recursive.