ExplorerSorter

Manually control file and folder order in the VS Code Explorer using a simple .order file.

ExplorerSorter lets you define a custom file order for your workspace or project without replacing the built-in Explorer.

Why ExplorerSorter?

VS Code does not provide a built-in way to manually define the order of files and folders in the Explorer.

ExplorerSorter solves that problem with a simple .order file.

• No custom tree view
• No extra sidebar
• No UI replacement
• Just the built-in Explorer in the order you want

Features

• Uses the built-in VS Code Explorer
• Manual ordering with workspace-relative .order files
• Exact path rules
• Glob rules
• Recursive .order inheritance
• Folders kept before files
• Lexical fallback for unmatched entries
• Works well for large workspaces and monorepos

Install

Install from the VS Code Marketplace.

Quick Start

Create a .order file in your workspace:

src/index.ts
src/**/*.test.ts
README.md

Then let ExplorerSorter do the rest:

• it sets explorer.sortOrder to modified
• it applies your .order rules per directory
• it keeps unmatched entries in lexical order

Rule Types

Exact rule

src/index.ts

Glob rule

src/**/*.test.ts

Comment

# keep important files first

Rules are always workspace-relative.
Lines starting with # are ignored.

Example

Given this .order file:

src
README.md
package.json
docs

ExplorerSorter prioritizes matching entries in that order while leaving unmatched files in lexical order.

How It Works

ExplorerSorter does not replace the Explorer UI.

Instead it:

1. sets explorer.sortOrder to modified
2. reads your .order files
3. computes the desired order per directory
4. updates file and folder modification times to reflect that order

VS Code then displays the built-in Explorer using that computed order.

How Ordering Works

• Rules are evaluated per directory
• For a child directory, the child .order file is applied first
• Parent .order rules are applied after the child rules
• Exact and glob matches are applied first
• Entries with no matching rule stay in lexical order
• Folders and files are sorted separately, so folders stay before files
• Ignored directories are skipped using:
  • explorerSorter.ignoredDirectories
  • explorerSorter.extraIgnoredDirectories

Example Inheritance

If the workspace root .order contains:

src
README.md

and docs/.order contains:

guide.md

the merged rule order becomes:

guide.md
src
README.md

Settings

explorerSorter.ignoredDirectories
Replace the built-in ignored directory list completely.

explorerSorter.extraIgnoredDirectories
Append additional ignored directories without replacing the defaults.

Use Cases

ExplorerSorter is useful when you want to:

• keep important files at the top of a project
• group files by how you actually navigate them
• make onboarding easier for teammates
• make large workspaces easier to scan
• keep monorepos organized

License

Licensed under the MIT License.