Auto-Collapse Explorer

Auto-Collapse Explorer attempts to keep the Explorer neat and tidy by only expanding the directory of the file that is currently in focus. All directories are closed.

Features

When focus changes to a new document, that document is revealed in the file tree and all other open folders are collapsed.

The extension only does this while the Explorer is the visible sidebar view. If you are working in Search, Source Control, or with the sidebar closed entirely, it stays out of your way.

Thanks for trying out this extension! Hope you enjoy!

Required setup: keep the "Auto-Collapse Explorer" section expanded

After installing, you will see an empty Auto-Collapse Explorer section at the bottom of the Explorer. Leave it expanded. If you collapse it, the extension stops collapsing folders.

Why this is necessary

Revealing a file in the Explorer forces the Explorer open, which is what used to yank you out of Search or Source Control every time you clicked a result. To avoid that, the extension has to know whether the Explorer is already on screen before it does anything.

VS Code offers no API for that. Extensions cannot ask which sidebar view is visible, and the request for one (microsoft/vscode#48198, microsoft/vscode#255992) has not been implemented.

What an extension can check is whether one of its own views is visible. So this extension contributes an empty section to the Explorer and uses it as a probe: if that section is visible, the Explorer is open. VS Code reports a section as not visible when it is collapsed, which is why collapsing it makes the extension go quiet. The section is empty by design and takes up a single header row.

Contributing

Pull requests are always welcome. VS Code is not my everyday editor and maintenance/enhancement of this extension suffers.