Secondary Explorer

Secondary Explorer

Adds a secondary explorer view to manage files and folders, create, view, rename, delete, cut, copy, paste, and more—outside the default workspace explorer.

Preview

Features

• 📁 Secondary Explorer View: Manage files and folders in a dedicated sidebar.
• 🗂️ Multi-Folder Support: Display and organize multiple local folders.
• 🔀 Tree/List Toggle: Switch between hierarchical tree and flat list views.
• File & Folder Operations: Create, view, rename, delete files/folders.
• 🔎 Pattern Filtering: Filter files/folders per root using include/exclude glob patterns (e.g., show only Markdown files: *.md).
• ✂️ Cut, Copy, Paste: Move or duplicate files/folders.
• 🗂️ Multi-Selection Support: Supports Multi file or folder selection for Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete operations.
• 🗂️ Reveal & Copy Path: Reveal in File Explorer, copy absolute/relative paths.
• 🪟 Open Folder in New Window: Open any folder in a new VS Code window.
• 🖉 Improved Rename: Renaming a folder updates open editors.
• 🔄 Quick Actions: Refresh, open settings, and perform file operations.
• 🗑️ Remove Folder: Remove a configured root folder (does not delete from disk).
• 🧭 Quick Add: Add selection to Secondary Explorer from the default explorer/editor context menu.

Getting Started

Installation

1. Open the Extensions view in VS Code (Ctrl+Shift+X).
2. Search for Secondary Explorer.
3. Click Install.

Activation

The extension activates automatically on startup and adds a new "Secondary Explorer" view to the sidebar.

Usage

Adding Folders

1. Click the Secondary Explorer icon in the sidebar.
2. If no folders are configured, click Add Folder to Explorer or use the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run Secondary Explorer: Settings.
3. Add local folder paths to display in the secondary explorer.

File & Folder Operations

• New File/Folder: Use the toolbar or context menu to create file or folders.
• Rename/Delete: Right-click to renaming a file or folder.
• Cut/Copy/Paste: Use context menu or keyboard shortcuts to move or duplicate files/folders.
• Reveal in File Explorer: Right-click to reveal any file/folder in your OS file explorer.
• Copy Path/Relative Path: Right-click to copy absolute or relative path to clipboard.
• Open Folder in New Window: Right-click any file or folder to open it in a new VS Code window.
• Open In Integrated Terminal: Right-click any file or folder to open it in a VS Code Integrated Terminal.
• Open to the Side: Right-click any file to open the file to the side.
• Open File: Click or Enter to open files.

Keyboard Shortcuts

These are the following shortcut keys when focused in Secondary Explorer

• Enter: Open File.
• Ctrl+N: Create new FIle or Folder.
• Delete: Remove selected file or folder.
• Ctrl+X: Cut selected file or folder
• Ctrl+C: Copy selected file or folder
• Ctrl+V: Paste into selected folder
• F2: Rename selected file or folder

You can also toggle the view mode from the view title toolbar:

• View as List / View as Tree

Configuration

Configure folders to display via VS Code settings:

// settings.json
"secondaryExplorer.paths": [
  // Simple string paths (support ${workspaceFolder} and ${userHome})
  "${workspaceFolder}/docs",
  "${userHome}/notes",
  "C:/path/to/folder",
  "C:/path/to/folder/file.txt",

  // Or rich objects with filtering and custom name
  {
    "basePath": "${workspaceFolder}",
    "name": "Workspace",
    "include": ["*.md", "*.txt"], // include: only file patterns
    "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist", "build", "out"] // exclude: file or folder patterns
  }
]

Include/Exclude Logic:

• exclude always takes priority over include.
• include accepts only file patterns (e.g., *.md).
• exclude accepts both file and folder patterns (e.g., node_modules, *.log).
• For example: If you set include: ["*.md"] and exclude: ["node_modules"], all Markdown files inside node_modules will be excluded from the tree view, even if they match the include pattern.

Workspace-level configuration recommended.

Notes:

• Paths must be absolute and exist on disk to render.
• Include/Exclude accept glob patterns; include is applied to files, and folders are expanded only if children match include.
• Variable interpolation is supported in string and object forms: ${workspaceFolder}, ${userHome}.

Acknowledgements

Built by Sivaraman — MIT License.

TIP For more details, see the CHANGELOG.md and LICENSE.md files.