Track Changes
English | 简体中文
Visual Studio's Track Changes for VS Code: a colored bar next to the line numbers marks every line you have changed since the file was opened.
| Color |
Meaning |
| 🟨 Yellow |
Changed, not saved yet |
| 🟩 Green |
Changed and saved |
| 🟦 Blue, hatched |
Undoing a saved change brought the line back to its content from when the file was opened; not saved yet |
| Unsaved changes |
Saved change, then a new edit |
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As in Visual Studio, the marks come from your edits and the undo history, not from comparing file contents (and not from Git):
- Every edit marks the lines it touches. Type a character and delete it with Backspace: the text is unchanged, but the line stays yellow.
- Pressing Enter marks two lines: the line the cursor was on and the new line.
- Undo restores the marks from before the edit: press Enter, then Ctrl+Z, and nothing is left.
- After undoing a saved change, the line differs from the file on disk:
- if it is back to its content from when the file was opened, it is blue and hatched, and has no mark once saved (Enter → save → Ctrl+Z → save leaves nothing);
- if it is back to an intermediate state, it is yellow, and green once saved (Enter → save → Enter → save → Ctrl+Z: the line above is green, the one below yellow).
- Redo (Ctrl+Y) turns the line green again.
- Tracking starts fresh each time a file is opened, and is cleared when it is closed.
Commands
| Command |
Description |
Shortcut |
Track Changes: Toggle Track Changes |
Show or hide the marks |
|
Track Changes: Reset Tracking for Current File |
Clear all marks in the current file, as if it had just been opened |
|
Track Changes: Reset Tracking for All Files |
The same, for every open file |
|
Track Changes: Go to Next Change |
Jump to the next changed block |
Ctrl+Alt+↓ / Cmd+Alt+↓ |
Track Changes: Go to Previous Change |
Jump to the previous changed block |
Ctrl+Alt+↑ / Cmd+Alt+↑ |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
trackChanges.enabled |
true |
Show the marks |
trackChanges.unsavedColor |
#EFD700 |
Color for unsaved changes |
trackChanges.savedColor |
#57A64A |
Color for saved changes |
trackChanges.revertedColor |
#3E8FD8 |
Color for lines undone back to their original content (hatched) |
trackChanges.markerWidth |
3 |
Width of the bar, 1–16, about one pixel per unit |
trackChanges.showInOverviewRuler |
true |
Also show the marks in the scrollbar |
trackChanges.maxFileLines |
100000 |
Files with more lines are not tracked |
trackChanges.debounceMs |
0 |
Delay before the marks refresh after an edit, in milliseconds; 0 is immediate, raise it only if very large files feel slow |
trackChanges.language |
auto |
Language of the extension's messages: auto (follow VS Code), en, zh-cn |
Language
The extension is available in English and Simplified Chinese, and follows the VS Code display language by default (Configure Display Language in the Command Palette).
- VS Code picks the language of command names, setting descriptions and the extension description from the display language; an extension cannot change them on its own.
- The messages the extension shows while running (such as status bar messages) can be set to English or Chinese with
trackChanges.language.
Notes
- The marks are drawn where gutter icons go. If VS Code's own Git change marks (
scm.diffDecorations) are on, both show side by side; set it to "overview" or "none" to avoid the duplication.
- Undo history from before the extension started cannot be matched up; undoing those changes marks the lines yellow, like a normal edit.
- When lines are deleted, the mark goes on the line after the deleted ones, as in Visual Studio.
Development
npm install
npm test # compile and run the unit tests
Open this folder in VS Code and press F5 to start an Extension Development Host. To package:
npx @vscode/vsce package --skip-license
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