Changelog File Opener
Open every file listed in a changelog, ticket or clipboard in one click.
Release notes, Jira tickets and pull-request descriptions often list a dozen changed files. Instead of hunting for each one with Go To File, select the list (or copy it) and open all of them as editor tabs at once.
Features
- Open Listed Files – select lines in any text editor (or just put the caret on a line), right-click, and choose Open Listed Files.
- Open Files from Clipboard – copy text that contains file paths from anywhere (changelog, Jira, Teams, email…), or copy files and folders in Windows Explorer, then use Tools → Open Files from Clipboard or press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+O.
- Smart path matching – you don't need full paths.
OrderService.cs or Services/OrderService.cs finds the file anywhere in your repo or solution.
- Works with paths from other machines –
C:\Users\someone\Repos\App\src\Api\OrderService.cs falls back to matching the last three path segments in your own checkout.
- Understands messy text – bullets, quotes, backticks, trailing punctuation, and line-number suffixes such as
File.cs:42, File.cs:42:7 or File.cs(42,7) are all handled. URLs are ignored.
- Folders too – a folder path opens the files inside it (up to 30).
- Stays responsive – disk searching runs in the background so Visual Studio doesn't freeze.
Usage
From a changelog
- Open the changelog (or any text file) in the editor.
- Select the lines that list the files. With no selection, the current line is used.
- Right-click and choose Open Listed Files.
From the clipboard
- Copy the text containing paths, or copy files/folders in Windows Explorer.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+O, or choose Tools → Open Files from Clipboard.
Example
PROJ-123: Fix order totals
- src/Services/OrderService.cs
- `src\Web\Controllers\OrderController.cs` (modified)
- "C:\Repos\My App\Startup.cs"
- Repositories/OrderRepository.cs:42
All four files open as tabs.
Paths that contain spaces must be wrapped in "double quotes" or backticks.
How files are found
For each path, the extension tries, in order:
- An absolute path that exists on disk.
- The path relative to the git repository root, the folder of the current document, and the solution folder.
- A suffix match against every file under those folders. If more than one file matches, up to 5 are opened and the matches are listed in the Output window so you can write a longer path next time.
Folders such as bin, obj, .git, .vs, node_modules and packages are skipped.
Limits
| Limit |
Value |
| Files opened per run |
50 |
| Files opened per folder path |
30 |
| Matches opened for an ambiguous name |
5 |
Anything that can't be found is reported in Output → Changelog Opener and in the status bar.
Changing the shortcut
Tools → Options → Environment → Keyboard, search for OpenFiles, then assign a new shortcut. You can also add a shortcut for Open Listed Files there.
Requirements
- Visual Studio 2022 (17.0) or later, including Visual Studio 2026
- Windows, 64-bit
Feedback
Found a bug or have an idea? Please open an issue on the project page or leave a review on the Marketplace.
License
MIT
