Maximize Editor, Terminal & Chat
One key (Ctrl+M) or one button maximizes whatever you are working in: an editor, the terminal,
or a chat in the secondary side bar. The same key or button puts the layout back the way it was.
It's the "maximize the active part" of IDEs like Eclipse, for VS Code.
VS Code's own maximize commands each stop short:
- Maximize Editor Group only hides the other editor groups. The side bars and the panel stay,
and with a single group it does nothing at all.
- Maximize Panel only takes over the editor area. The side bars stay, so with wide ones the
terminal barely grows.
What Ctrl+M does
| Focus is in |
Ctrl+M maximizes |
Ctrl+M again |
| An editor: a file, a terminal tab, a chat tab… |
Zen Mode: side bars, panel and activity bar hidden. With split editors, the active group also fills the editor area. |
restores |
| The panel: Terminal, Output, Problems, Debug Console… |
The panel fills the whole window |
restores |
| The secondary side bar, for example a chat |
VS Code's own Maximize Secondary Side Bar |
restores |
- Restore brings back exactly the side bars and panel that were visible before. Zen Mode
records them when it starts.
- Leaving Zen Mode some other way is fine (Esc Esc, Ctrl+K Z). The shortcut and the buttons follow
VS Code's actual layout, not a state of their own.
- Editor title bar: a ⛶ Maximize Editor button, which turns into Restore Layout.
- A tab's right-click menu: Maximize Editor / Restore Layout, acting on that tab's group.
- Panel title bar: ⛶ Maximize Panel (Full Window) / Restore Layout. It sits next to VS Code's own
maximize button, which only fills the editor area.
- Secondary side bar: VS Code's own maximize button already does the job.
- Command Palette: Maximize: Maximize Editor, Maximize: Maximize Panel (Full Window) and
Maximize: Restore Layout, each shown only when it applies.
Install
Requires VS Code 1.140 or later.
- From the Visual Studio Marketplace: search for Maximize Editor, Terminal & Chat in the
Extensions view, or run
code --install-extension lucidsleep.vscode-maximize.
- From the source:
git clone https://github.com/lucidSleep/vscode-maximize.git, then
npm install and npm run package, which writes vscode-maximize-<version>.vsix. Install it with
code --install-extension vscode-maximize-<version>.vsix, or in the Extensions view, the … menu
→ Install from VSIX…
Settings it changes
The extension ships new defaults for these settings. Anything you set yourself still wins.
| Setting |
VS Code default |
With this extension |
Why |
zenMode.fullScreen |
true |
false |
maximize inside the window, don't go full screen |
zenMode.centerLayout |
true |
false |
keep the editor at full width |
zenMode.showTabs |
multiple |
multiple |
keep the tabs, which hold the Restore Layout button |
zenMode.hideLineNumbers |
true |
false |
a maximized editor is still an editor |
zenMode.hideStatusBar |
true |
false |
keep the status bar |
zenMode.silentNotifications |
true |
false |
keep notifications |
terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell |
[] |
the extension's commands |
let the shortcut reach VS Code from inside the terminal |
- The Zen Mode values apply to VS Code's own Zen Mode too (Ctrl+K Z). For the original behaviour
there, set the value back in your
settings.json.
- If you set
commandsToSkipShell yourself, your list replaces the default instead of adding to
it, and Ctrl+M in the terminal reaches the shell again. The extension then offers, once, to add its
commands to your list.
Changing the shortcut
Ctrl+M is bound in six rows, one per layout situation. Extensions can see the layout state
(Zen Mode on, panel maximized…) only through a keybinding's when clause, so each situation calls its
own command.
To use another key, open Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S), search for maximize., and change
the key of each of the six rows. VS Code keeps each row's when clause.
What Ctrl+M replaces: VS Code's Toggle Tab Key Moves Focus. In a terminal, Ctrl+M is
the Enter key for the shell, and this extension now takes it there too.
Limitations
- Double-clicking a tab can't trigger it. The extension API reports no tab clicks, so the
double-click keeps VS Code's own behaviour (
workbench.editor.doubleClickTabToToggleEditorGroupSizes).
- Maximizing the panel at the top or bottom needs it centre-aligned (
workbench.panel.alignment: center, the default). This is a VS Code limitation. Otherwise the panel button is hidden and
Ctrl+M keeps its usual meaning in the panel.
- Restore also un-maximizes an editor group you had maximized yourself before.
- With split editors, VS Code shows its own Unmaximize Group button next to Restore Layout
while maximized. Both work, but only Restore Layout also leaves Zen Mode.
- Chat views and other web views see a key first. Most pass Ctrl+M on to VS Code. One that uses
it itself keeps it, and the title-bar button still works there.
- VS Code doesn't tell which side bar or panel a web view is in. Ctrl+M from a web view outside
the editors, such as a chat, maximizes the secondary side bar when it's open, and the editor
otherwise. That's right for a chat in the secondary side bar, the usual place. For a web view in
the panel, use the panel's ⛶ button instead.
Development
npm install # dev dependencies only; the extension has no runtime dependencies
npm test # unit tests (node:test), no VS Code needed
npm run check # type check: JSDoc types, strict
npm run package # build the .vsix
- Try it live: open the folder in VS Code and press F5. That starts an Extension Development
Host window with the extension loaded.
src/maximize.js holds the logic. It never imports vscode, so the tests drive it with a fake
workbench.src/extension.js registers the commands and reports any failure, with its stack trace, in
the Maximize output channel.package.json holds the when clauses that pick a command for each layout situation.
License
MIT
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