Tab Layout

Manage layouts in a workspace

Features

• Manage layouts in tree view

  • Sort layouts by name or recent use
  • Switch between saved layouts
  • Organize, create, rename, and delete layout folders
  • Drag layouts and folders between folders
  • Add / Delete / Rename / Duplicate layouts
  • Select a layout and press F2 to rename it
  • Lock shared layouts to prevent accidental changes

• Show current layout name in status bar

  

What information do a layout contain

• Tab groups and their tabs
• Orientation and size of each tab groups

How layouts stored

Layouts are stored below ${workspaceRoot}/.vscode/layouts/. Subdirectories are shown as folders in the layout tree:

.vscode/layouts/
├── frontend/
│   ├── coding.json
│   └── review.json
└── overview.json

• if any layout is selected, auto save to that active layout
• If no layout is selected, won't auto save
• Locked layouts can be loaded and duplicated, but are never auto-saved or overwritten.
• Workspace files are stored as workspace-relative paths. Resources outside the workspace retain their URI and may not be portable to another machine.

Sharing layouts

Layout files can be committed like other workspace configuration. Loading a layout does not modify its JSON; recent-use timestamps are kept in VS Code workspace state instead.

If the repository ignores .vscode/layouts/, add selected files explicitly (for Git, for example, git add -f .vscode/layouts/shared/review.json) or adjust the repository's ignore rules. Lock a committed layout when it should act as a read-only team template. Duplicating it creates an unlocked personal copy.

Limitations

• Only available for single root workspaces, which is the most common use case.
• VS Code does not expose inline editing for extension-provided tree items, so F2 uses a name input box rather than Explorer-style in-place editing.

When clause context