🗂️ Tab Index Navigator
Tab Index Navigator is a powerful VS Code extension that boosts your productivity by enabling fast and intuitive tab switching. Whether you're juggling multiple files or diving into deep workflows, this extension keeps your navigation smooth and efficient with features like keyboard shortcuts, interactive quick pick, tab history, and a status bar overlay.
✨ Features
🔢 Instant Tab Navigation
Jump to any of the first 10 open tabs instantly:
- Use
Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9 (or Cmd+1 through Cmd+9 on macOS)
- Use
Ctrl+0 (Cmd+0) for tab 10
📷 
📊 Live Tab Status in Status Bar
- Real-time position display like "3/7" (tab 3 of 7)
- Configurable position (left/right side of status bar)
- Click to open quick tab list
- Toggle mode between current tab position or total count
📷 
🧭 Interactive Tab List (Quick Pick)
- Displays all open tabs with index and tab type (e.g.
text, diff, notebook, webview)
- Searchable by filename or path
- Shows assigned keyboard shortcuts for clarity
- Click to navigate to any tab instantly
📌 Pinned Tab Recognition
- Clearly marks pinned tabs in quick pick list
- Includes dedicated shortcut:
Ctrl+Shift+I
📷 
🕘 Tab History Navigation
- Tracks your recently visited tabs
- Return to previous tabs with
Ctrl+Alt+Left
- Fully configurable history size
📷 
🧩 Split Editor & Group Support
- Displays tab group IDs (Group 1, Group 2, etc.)
- Supports horizontal/vertical split editor tabs
🌍 Multi-language Support
- UI strings available in English, Spanish, and French
- Configurable language setting
🛡️ Optional Anonymous Telemetry
- Disabled by default
- If enabled, collects anonymized usage data to improve the extension
🎯 Commands & Keyboard Shortcuts
Navigation Shortcuts
| Command |
Windows/Linux |
Mac |
Description |
| Go to Tab 1–9 |
Ctrl+1..9 |
Cmd+1..9 |
Jump to tab 1 through 9 |
| Go to Tab 10 |
Ctrl+0 |
Cmd+0 |
Jump to the 10th tab |
Utility Commands
| Command |
Shortcut (Win) |
Shortcut (Mac) |
Description |
| Show Tab List |
Ctrl+Shift+T |
Cmd+Shift+T |
Opens interactive tab list |
| Show Pinned Tabs |
Ctrl+Shift+I |
Cmd+Shift+I |
Show pinned tabs only |
| Show Tab History |
Ctrl+Shift+H |
Cmd+Shift+H |
Recently visited tabs |
| Go Back |
Ctrl+Alt+Left |
Cmd+Alt+Left |
Return to last visited tab |
| Toggle Tab Index Overlay |
Command Palette only |
Command Palette only |
Show/hide tab position in status bar |
Command Palette Commands
You can access the following commands via Ctrl+Shift+P (Command Palette):
Tab Index Navigator: Show Tab ListTab Index Navigator: Show Pinned TabsTab Index Navigator: Show Tab HistoryTab Index Navigator: Go Back to Previous TabTab Index Navigator: Toggle Tab Index Overlay
⚙️ Configuration Options
Add or modify these in settings.json:
{
"tabIndexNavigator.showStatusBarItem": true,
"tabIndexNavigator.statusBarPosition": "right",
"tabIndexNavigator.enableQuickPick": true,
"tabIndexNavigator.showTabGroups": true,
"tabIndexNavigator.showWorkspaceFolders": true,
"tabIndexNavigator.enableTabHistory": true,
"tabIndexNavigator.tabHistorySize": 5,
"tabIndexNavigator.enableTelemetry": false,
"tabIndexNavigator.language": "en"
}
🚀 Installation
- Open VS Code
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+X to open Extensions view
- Search for
Tab Index Navigator
- Click Install
- Reload VS Code if prompted
📖 How to Use
Basic Navigation
- Open multiple files
- Use keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9, Ctrl+0
- Observe live tab index in status bar
Advanced Features
- Open tab list:
Ctrl+Shift+T
- Open pinned tabs:
Ctrl+Shift+I
- View tab history:
Ctrl+Shift+H
- Navigate back:
Ctrl+Alt+Left
- Toggle tab index overlay: From Command Palette only
🛠 Troubleshooting
Keyboard shortcuts not working?
Check for conflicts in File > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts
Status bar not showing?
Ensure tabIndexNavigator.showStatusBarItem is set to true
Can't jump to tabs beyond 10?
Use the Tab List feature (Ctrl+Shift+T)
🤝 Contributing
We welcome PRs, feature requests, and ideas! Please:
- Check issues on GitHub
- Open a new issue with detailed info
- Submit PRs to the
main branch
📄 License
MIT License — see LICENSE file for details
📝 Changelog
v0.0.3
- 📄 Updated README documentation
- 🔧 Fixed duplicate icon display in marketplace
- 🎨 Improved documentation formatting
v0.0.2
v0.0.1
- 🚀 Initial release
- Tab index shortcuts (1–10)
- Status bar position + toggle
- Interactive tab list with quick pick
- Pinned tab detection
- Tab history tracking
- Multi-language support
- Optional telemetry
💝 Support
If you find this useful:
- ⭐ Star the GitHub repo
- 🛍️ Rate it on the Marketplace
- 🐞 Report issues
- 💬 Share with your dev friends
Happy tabbing with Tab Index Navigator! 🚀
