WSL Reveal in File Explorer

A VS Code extension that seamlessly opens Windows File Explorer from WSL and Remote SSH connections, allowing you to reveal files and folders in the native Windows file manager with a simple right-click.

☕ Support

If this extension helps you, consider supporting the development:

Your support helps maintain and improve this extension!

🚀 Features

• Zero Configuration Required - Works out of the box with any WSL distribution
• Remote SSH Support - Map remote folders (Linux or Windows hosts) to the network shares you see on Windows
• Custom File Explorer Support - Use your preferred file manager or stick with default Windows Explorer
• Context Menu Integration - Right-click any file or folder to reveal it in Windows Explorer or your custom choice
• Automatic WSL Detection - Dynamically detects your WSL distribution name
• Custom Distribution Support - Override auto-detection with your own distribution name
• Multiple Path Mappings - Each remote folder or drive can map to its own share
• Reliable Path Translation - Converts remote paths to Windows-compatible UNC paths
• Cross-Distribution Support - Works with Ubuntu, Debian, Alpine, and other WSL distributions

📋 Prerequisites

• VS Code on Windows, connected to WSL / WSL2 or to a Remote SSH host
• The extension installs into your local (Windows) VS Code, so Explorer opens on your own desktop
• For Remote SSH: the remote folders shared as network paths you can open from Windows

🌟 Show Your Support

If you find this extension useful:

• ⭐ Star this repository on GitHub
• 📝 Leave a review on the VS Code Marketplace
• ☕ Buy me a coffee to support development: buymeacoffee.com/doonfrs

Every star, review, and coffee means a lot and helps keep this project alive! 🚀

🎯 Usage

1. Open VS Code in WSL - Make sure you're running VS Code in WSL mode
2. Right-click any file or folder in the VS Code explorer panel
3. Select "Reveal in File Explorer" from the context menu
4. Windows File Explorer opens showing the selected file/folder location

That's it! No configuration needed by default.

🔧 How It Works

The extension runs in your local VS Code on Windows and works out the Windows path from the remote folder:

• WSL: reads the distribution name from the VS Code window and converts Linux paths with wslpath to Windows UNC format (\\wsl.localhost\Distribution\path), falling back to \\wsl$\Distribution\path if needed (or uses your custom configuration)
• WSL: opens Windows drive paths directly: /mnt/c/Users/me/project opens as C:\Users\me\project
• Remote SSH: swaps the remote folder for the Windows path you configured in pathMappings
• Opens the folder with explorer.exe, or with your custom command

⚙️ Configuration

Custom WSL Distribution Name

The distribution name is detected automatically, so this is rarely needed. If you still want to force a specific name, you can override it:

1. Via Settings UI:

   • Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,)
   • Search for "WSL Reveal Explorer"
   • Set "Default Distribution Name" to your distribution name

2. Via settings.json:

   {
     "wsl-reveal-explorer.defaultDistributionName": "Ubuntu2"
   }
   

Common examples:

• Ubuntu2 - for secondary Ubuntu installations
• Ubuntu-22.04 - for version-specific Ubuntu distributions
• Debian - for Debian distributions
• kali-linux - for Kali Linux distributions

Note: Leave this setting empty (default) to use automatic detection. This setting does not affect Windows drive paths (/mnt/c/...), which always open as C:\....

Path Mappings for Remote SSH

Explorer can only open a remote folder through a path Windows can reach, such as an SMB share or a mapped drive. Tell the extension which Windows path each remote folder is shared as:

{
  "wsl-reveal-explorer.pathMappings": {
    "D:\\": "\\\\host\\proj1",
    "E:\\": "\\\\host\\proj2",
    "/home/me/projects": "\\\\server\\projects"
  }
}

With these settings:

Rules:

• Keys are remote paths, values are Windows paths. Forward slashes and trailing slashes are fine in both.
• The longest matching key wins, so you can map a whole disk and override one folder inside it.
• Keys match whole folder names only: /home/me/proj does not match /home/me/project.
• Windows remote paths (D:\...) ignore case, Linux remote paths do not.
• If no key matches, the extension shows an error with a shortcut to this setting.

Tip: put mappings for one host in that project's .vscode/settings.json when different hosts need different mappings.

Path Prefix (legacy)

wsl-reveal-explorer.pathPrefix is the older single-prefix setting. For Remote SSH it is only used when no pathMappings key matches, and it puts the whole remote path under one share:

{
  "wsl-reveal-explorer.pathPrefix": "\\\\server\\share"
}

/home/user/project then opens as \\server\share\home\user\project. Prefer pathMappings for new setups. In WSL windows, leave it at the default \\wsl$.

Custom File Explorer

Use your preferred file manager instead of the default Windows Explorer:

1. Via Settings UI:

   • Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,)
   • Search for "WSL Reveal Explorer"
   • Set "Custom Command" to your preferred command

2. Via settings.json:

   {
     "wsl-reveal-explorer.customCommand": "explorer.exe {path}"
   }
   

Available placeholders:

• {path} - The folder path to open

Examples:

• Total Commander: "C:\\totalcmd\\TOTALCMD64.EXE /O /T {path}"
• FreeCommander: "C:\\FreeCommander XE\\FreeCommander.exe /C /T {path}"
• Directory Opus: "C:\\Program Files\\GPSoftware\\Directory Opus\\dopus.exe {path}"
• Q-Dir: "C:\\Q-Dir\\Q-Dir.exe {path}"

Note: Leave this setting empty (default) to use Windows Explorer.

🛠️ Development

To contribute or modify this extension:

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd vscode-wsl-reveal-explorer

# Open in VS Code
code .

# Press F5 to run in Extension Development Host
# Test the functionality by right-clicking files in the explorer

Tests

The path conversion lives in paths.js and has no VS Code dependency, so it runs under plain Node:

npm test

test/machine.test.js additionally checks the generated paths against your real machine (real wslpath, real drives, every folder must exist). It runs only under Windows Node started from the WSL share:

Set-Location \\wsl.localhost\<Distribution>\path\to\vscode-wsl-reveal-explorer
node --test "test/*.test.js"
# Also open one Explorer window the same way the extension does:
$env:REVEAL_OPEN = "1"; node --test "test/*.test.js"

🐛 Troubleshooting

If the extension doesn't work:

1. Ensure you're running VS Code on Windows, in WSL mode or Remote SSH
2. Check that the extension is installed locally: in the Extensions view it should be listed under "Local", not under the WSL or SSH section. Reload the window after updating.
3. Check that Windows File Explorer can access your configured paths manually
   • For WSL: \\wsl$\<distribution>
   • For Remote SSH: the Windows path in your pathMappings

Distribution Detection Issues

If the extension opens the wrong folder or fails to work:

1. Check your actual WSL distribution name:

   # In WSL terminal, run:
   wsl.exe -l -v
   

2. Set the correct distribution name manually:

   • Use the exact name from the command above
   • Go to VS Code Settings and search for "WSL Reveal Explorer"
   • Set "Default Distribution Name" to the correct name (e.g., Ubuntu-22.04, Ubuntu2)

3. If you set this setting earlier as a workaround, try clearing it first: detection now uses wslpath and $WSL_DISTRO_NAME, which report the real distribution name (e.g. Ubuntu2, not Ubuntu)

Remote SSH Issues

For Remote SSH connections:

1. "No path mapping matches ...": add the remote folder (or one of its parents) to pathMappings. The error shows the exact remote path to use.

2. Explorer opens but shows an error: paste the mapped Windows path into Explorer's address bar. If that fails too, the share itself is not reachable from Windows.

3. Path mapping examples:

   Remote path: D:\src\app              (Windows host)
   Windows path: \\host\proj1\src\app
   Configuration: "pathMappings": { "D:\\": "\\\\host\\proj1" }
   
   Remote path: /home/user/project      (Linux host)
   Windows path: \\server\share\project
   Configuration: "pathMappings": { "/home/user": "\\\\server\\share" }
   

File Explorer Issues

If your custom file explorer doesn't open:

1. Verify the file explorer is installed and accessible from the configured path
2. Check the custom command syntax - ensure it's a valid PowerShell command
3. Test manually: Try running the command directly in PowerShell to debug issues
4. Use default: Set the custom command to empty to fall back to Windows Explorer

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👨‍💻 Author

Feras Abdalrahman

• GitHub: @doonfrs
• VS Code Marketplace: doonfrs