The short answer is you can set JupyterLab to start out in what you consider the ‘parent’ directory in your system’s file tree structure if you indeed need to access that directory in the file browser panel / file navigation panel.
The basis for this is covered in several posts on this Forum, JupyterLab issues, and StackOvefflow. See:
- Jason Grout’s reply in the issue ’ File Browser - Visibility Beyond Current Working Directory’
- here in ‘Is it possible to navigate to a parent directory in the jupyter tree?’
- Minor UX - navigate to parent of entry point directory
Jason Grout’s answer there and Michał Krassowski’s answer here and here covers how you could start JupyterLab where you want in your file system hierarchy. Michał Krassowski has a nice related 2021 summary here, too.