Opens the Markdown preview beside your editor as soon as a .md file becomes active, and closes it when you're done. No more clicking "Open Preview to the Side".
Features
Auto-open Preview - A Markdown file becoming the active editor opens its preview in a split beside it.
One preview that follows you - A single preview panel is reused and always shows the file you're editing.
Auto-close Preview - The preview closes when the last Markdown tab is closed. Closing one of several keeps it.
Diff-aware - Markdown files opened in a diff view (e.g. Git "Open Changes") get no preview by default; opt in with a setting. Only one preview tab opens, never an extra source tab.
Turns auto-open/auto-close on or off. Enabling also opens the preview right away.
Auto Preview Markdown: Open Preview To Side
Ctrl+Shift+V
Opens the preview beside the current Markdown file, e.g. after you closed it. Replaces VS Code's built-in Ctrl+Shift+V while the extension is enabled
On Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl
To change a key, open Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S) and search for Auto Preview Markdown.
Configuration
Search for Auto Preview Markdown in Settings. Changes apply immediately, no reload needed.
Setting
Default
Description
autoPreviewMarkdown.enable
true
Auto-open the preview when a Markdown file becomes active, and auto-close it with the last Markdown tab. The Enable/Disable command flips this.
autoPreviewMarkdown.openPreviewToSide
true
Use Ctrl+Shift+V to open the preview beside the editor. Set to false to give Ctrl+Shift+V back to VS Code's built-in shortcut and keep the rest of the extension.
autoPreviewMarkdown.openInDiffEditor
false
Also open the preview for Markdown files shown in a diff editor (e.g. Git "Open Changes").
autoPreviewMarkdown.closePreviewOnNonMarkdown
true
Close the preview when you switch to a file that is not Markdown. It reopens when you come back to a Markdown file.
