ReecePoint

Open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files straight from the VS Code Explorer, in the app that normally opens them on Windows.

VS Code can't display Office files. Clicking one normally gets you "The file is not displayed in the text editor because it is either binary or uses an unsupported text encoding." ReecePoint fixes that: one click and the file opens in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, just as if you had double-clicked it in Windows File Explorer.

How to use it

1. Open a folder in VS Code.
2. In the Explorer sidebar on the left (Ctrl+Shift+E), left-click any Word, Excel or PowerPoint file.
3. The file opens in its Windows app. VS Code briefly shows a tab saying "Opening in external app…", which closes itself.

That's it. There are no settings and no commands to learn.

Supported files

Upper-case extensions (for example .DOCX) work too. All other file types (.md, .py, .json and so on) open in VS Code as normal.

Which app opens the file?

Whatever Windows has set as the default app for that file type, so it doesn't matter where Office is installed or which version you have. If .docx files open in LibreOffice when you double-click them in File Explorer, they will open in LibreOffice from VS Code too. To change it, go to Windows Settings > Apps > Default apps.

Need the file inside VS Code instead?

Right-click the file in the Explorer, choose Open With..., then pick Text Editor.

Requirements

• Windows only. ReecePoint hands the file to Windows File Explorer, so it does nothing useful on macOS or Linux.
• VS Code 1.80 or later.
• An app installed that can open Office files (Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and so on).

Release notes

• 1.2.1: Clearer description and documentation.
• 1.2.0: First Marketplace release.