Intentional Explorer Reveal

Scroll the Explorer when you open a file. Skip that scroll when you close editors.

VS Code's explorer.autoReveal setting scrolls the Explorer whenever the active editor changes. That includes the passive case: you close the other tabs, focus lands on a pinned file, and the Explorer jumps to it. This behavior was requested and closed as out of scope.

This extension wraps the close-editor commands. For the duration of the close, it turns explorer.autoReveal off, closes the editors, then restores the previous value. Opening a file, clicking a tab, or using Quick Open still scrolls, because those actions use VS Code's normal reveal.

Leave explorer.autoReveal enabled. That is the default.

Install

• VS Code: Visual Studio Marketplace
• Cursor and other VS Code forks: Open VSX

Shortcuts

Ctrl+M then Ctrl+W is a chord: press Ctrl+M, release it, then press Ctrl+W. On macOS, Cmd+M minimizes the window, so the extra close-all shortcut there is Ctrl+K Ctrl+W.

Close All Editors keeps pinned tabs open. After the other editors close, the pinned file stays active and the Explorer stays where you scrolled.

These commands are also in the Command Palette:

• Close All Editors Without Explorer Reveal
• Close Editors in Group Without Explorer Reveal
• Close Other Editors Without Explorer Reveal
• Close Editors to the Right Without Explorer Reveal
• Close Editor Without Explorer Reveal

Known limits

Clicking a tab's close button still runs VS Code's built-in close, so the Explorer can scroll in that case.

While a wrapped close runs, the extension sets explorer.autoReveal to false in workspace settings, then puts the previous workspace value back. If this folder is a git repo, .vscode/settings.json can look dirty for that moment.

Development

Press F5 to open an Extension Development Host with the extension loaded.

npm install
npm run compile

License

MIT