Exclude Files
Hides gitignored files in the VS Code Explorer, with a whitelist for the ones you
still want to see (.env, *.tfvars, …), right-click actions to adjust both lists,
and a status-bar toggle.
How it works
VS Code has no "hide this file" API. The only lever is the files.exclude setting,
so this extension computes that setting and writes it to the workspace configuration.
- Read the
.gitignore at each workspace folder root.
- Translate every pattern into a
files.exclude glob.
- Drop any glob that would swallow a whitelisted pattern.
- Write the result to
files.exclude.
files.exclude does not support negation, so the whitelist cannot be expressed as a
rule. Step 3 is the whole trick: a whitelisted pattern stays visible because the
exclude glob covering it is never emitted.
Only globs this extension added itself are ever removed. Entries you wrote by hand
are detected and left alone, and only the workspace layer of files.exclude is read
and rewritten — the merged view would drag VS Code's built-in defaults and your
personal global settings into the repository's .vscode/settings.json.
Where the configuration lives
| What |
Where |
| The computed exclusions |
files.exclude in .vscode/settings.json |
| Your whitelist and extra patterns |
excludeFiles.* in the same file |
| Multi-root workspaces |
each folder's own .vscode/settings.json |
You rarely need to open it by hand — see the commands below.
Commands
| Command |
What it does |
| Show a Hidden Pattern Again… |
Pick from the patterns currently hidden and move them to the whitelist. This is the way to un-hide something. |
| Toggle Hiding |
Same as clicking the status-bar item. |
| Open Settings |
Opens the Settings UI filtered to this extension. |
| Hide in Explorer |
Right-click a file or folder. Supports multi-select. |
| Always Show in Explorer |
Right-click, or use the editor tab context menu for a file that is already hidden. |
| Refresh |
Recompute now. |
| Disable and Clear Managed Excludes |
Removes everything this extension added and turns it off, so a reload does not bring it back. |
The status bar shows 👁 12 while hiding and 👁 All when off. Click it to toggle.
Recomputation also happens on .gitignore changes, excludeFiles.* changes,
workspace folder changes, and when workspace trust is granted.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Purpose |
excludeFiles.enabled |
true |
Master switch. |
excludeFiles.useGitignore |
true |
Derive patterns from .gitignore. |
excludeFiles.show |
["**/.env", "**/*.tfvars"] |
Whitelist — always visible. |
excludeFiles.hide |
[] |
Extra patterns to hide. |
excludeFiles.statusBar |
true |
Show the status-bar toggle. |
// .vscode/settings.json
{
"excludeFiles.show": ["**/.env", "**/*.tfvars"]
}
Negated .gitignore entries (!.env.example) are added to the whitelist automatically.
Workspace trust
In an untrusted workspace the .gitignore is not read. A hostile repository could
otherwise use its own .gitignore to hide files from you in the Explorer. Patterns
you added yourself still apply.
Install
npx @vscode/vsce package --allow-missing-repository
code --install-extension exclude-files-0.2.0.vsix
Or press F5 for an Extension Development Host while working on it.
Develop
npm install
node tools/make-icon.js # regenerate images/icon.png
Known limits
- Only the
.gitignore at each workspace folder root is read. Nested .gitignore
files are ignored.
- Whitelist matching compares glob patterns, not resolved file paths. Unrelated
patterns that happen to overlap textually may keep an exclude from being emitted.
files.exclude also affects Quick Open and search results, not just the Explorer.- The computed setting lands in
.vscode/settings.json, which is usually committed.
