Navigate through explorer by typing start of file/folder name

[MarkPieszak]

• VSCode Version: Any
• OS Version: Any

Feature Proposal
When opening a folder containing hundreds of items (for example: node_modules) There is no easy way to get to a child folder/file without scrolling around.

Would it be possible to allow the file viewer to navigate down to let's say the first file of the next letter keypressed?

node_modules (folder is highlighted)
    ( letter L is hit )
    ---- automatically scrolls down within node_modules to folders beginning with "L"
       +++ Folders shown:
       +  Lodash / etc

Just an idea, would help navigating large filesystems a bit easier.

[Tyriar]

I'd also love to have this, anything that makes it easier to navigate the explorer using only the keyboard would be awesome.

This is how Ubuntu handles it in its "Files" program:

Type 's' and you get a filter box that pops up at the bottom of the file explorer:

At this point down and up only allow navigation between files starting with an 's'. Pressing escape will clear the filter and allow free navigation again.

I believe Windows on the other hand maintains a search string and keeps a timeout for when the search expires. As such, typing "sr" in quick succession will focus the src directory, pressing "c" before the timeout expires will keep focus on src, if it's after the timeout expires then CONTRIBUTING.md will be focused. up/down are not restricted on Windows.

[MarkPieszak]

Oh well that'd be an even better implementation! If it narrowed down and only showed folders/files with the letter(s) you typed that'd be incredible. 👍

[bpasero]

Related: #9373

[Tyriar]

Haha, of course I already reported this in #4763 😛

[dougrosenfeld]

This is a great request. We too are working with thousands of files in hundreds of folders on multiple network shares. Finding and navigating with a mouse and scrolling through a large folder structure to find the file and manually selecting the file is burdensome - especially when the Explorer jumps around when clicking on a file in the Open Editors pane.

We kindly request that finding files in the Explorer be easier. The standard Windows Explorer is a good example.

For example, provide a box where you can start typing in the file name and the folders/files displayed in the Explorer are limited to names that match - even if the folders are "closed". Please support wild cards. This search needs to be very fast.

Another example, a simple goto file would be helpful.

Another example, allow typing in the Explorer to jump to a file. But don't limit it to the current folder.

[ConstantineK]

Agreed with @dougrosenfeld, as soon as I opened my first folder in the Explorer menu I intuitively looked for the bar that I could click to filter the items within the window, mainly because it is available in many code editors.

I have had multiple people ask me this same question when I introduced Code to them, and when working with larger directories with many files this would simplify the mental overhead of dealing with all of the folders.

[Tyriar]

It would make sense to tackle this when we look at adding multi-select in #1023

[bpasero]

Updated this summary: this feature asks for filtering the explorer while typing whereas #10839 would cover the request of selecting the next element in the tree that matches a specific key that was pressed.

[thekalinga]

@bpasero Is there a plan on which release this will be included in (feb/march/e.t.c)?

[bpasero]

Backlog means it is not planned for any iteration.

[thekalinga]

Wanted to check if the item is in the potential items that you might consider in this/next release?

[bpasero]

I think it is.

[gulshan]

Isn't ctrl+p and ctrl+e kind of doing this already?

[Tyriar]

@gulshan my main need:

1. Open ./node_modules/, which is excluded by default
2. Click on the explorer and start typing the name

Right now you need to scroll down and find it, which can be a pain with hundreds of modules.

[isidorn]

I am already working on this #65008
Assigning this to January milestone, so if everything goes as planned should be available in the next 2 months, or as soon as we merge that PR in insiders version.

No financial inducment needed, I enjoy my Saturdays more than money.

[RMPR]

Thanks😁😁 Le ven. 14 déc. 2018 à 10:09, Isidor Nikolic <notifications@github.com> a écrit :

…

I am already working on this #65008 <#65008> Assigning this to december milestone, so if everything goes as planned should be available in the next 2 months, or as soon as we merge that PR in insiders. No financial inducment needed, I enjoy my Saturdays more than money. — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#10026 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AWFtIWGZ3zhmv2ZCZUc4KI5IQ6ygTVeAks5u42rLgaJpZM4JZyac> .

[wAISw]

maybe exist any plugin for it?

[BalintFarkas]

Cool, looking forward to this!

[isidorn]

Navigating through file explorer by typing file/folder names will be available in tomorrow's vscode insiders.
The filtering as described in this comment #10026 (comment) we will treat as a seperate feature request and that will proabably come in the next milestone (February).
Here's a pointer to that one #66497

[rozzzly]

hallelujah ❤️🙏 my faith has been restored!

[letmaik]

@isidorn The Enable Filter on Type toggle only seems to work on folders that had been expanded at least once before-hand. Probably this is a bug? I would expect that it shows me all matches from all folders, and ideally with some way to expand everything, currently there's only Collapse All.
EDIT: Created a new issue: #66971.

[isidorn]

@letmaik nope not a bug, this is a feature which we might do in the future. To resolve all folders up front when user starts filtering.
Please file a feature request and ping me on it. Thanks

[sandy081]

@isidorn Is not this covered in test plan item - #67274 where it asked to test simple filtering which is this feature?

[isidorn]

@sandy081 yes it is, I appologize was not aware that Joao will create that test plan item.

[andyl]

I download today's insiders and gave this feature a try. I found that I can search for individual directory names only if they are open. Could not do a fuzzy-search for a directory in a path: eg "test/models/membership/"... Could not search for a directory that is closed. Is there a way to do these things? (I'm using 1.31.0-insider Date 2019-01-30)

[potatoqualitee]

ditto @andyl - i found a newly opened issue regarding that problem here: #66971

[jaykilleen]

For now (not an insider) I have added some empty files to my directories like .s-specs, .s-views, .s-controllers. .gitignored them and now using Ctrl+P. This is ok for directories that I am frequently switching to and it is only a reasonably sized rails app (like 50 controllers etc).

[AntonPuko]

Hey guys, I understand that its a cool feature for many people, but is there a way to disable it? :) I couldn't find one :(

[TimvdHorst]

@AntonPuko add the next line to your VSCode settings.json:
"workbench.list.keyboardNavigation": "simple"

[vsizov]

I think that most of the people expected this feature to work differently.
When you start typing, you filter your folders/files in the root of the project. Then you hit "Enter" and you can now type again to filter folder/files in the selected directory. This is how it works in vim and some other editors.

Why not fuzzy finder? For example, you're looking for some particular file in application/database/migrations/.... Using fuzzy finder you would need to type all the pass application/database/migrations/ and then type something specific for you need. It's too annoying. While with the proposed search you would just type: ap[Enter]d[Enter]m[Enter] and then symbols specific to your need.

I was poking around of what you did here and I didn't find any use case for me or any other developer. Sorry.

Whatever you think about this comment, thank you for the best editor in the word.

[SetTrend]

Actually, I expected the feature to work like Visual Studio 201x, Windows 10 and other Microsoft products:

No filter, just navigating the tree incrementally by typing, opening folders using using the RIGHT ARROW key, closing them using the LEFT ARROW key, and moving the focus item up/down by hitting the UP ARROW/DOWN ARROW key.

[dragonwolf83]

@SetTrend is correct. Filtering and Navigating are 2 different user stories with the expectation that both are usable without switching modes.

Navigating use case is about typing letters in the tree to focus the first item that matches. If an item is a child in a collapsed node, it would not be navigable until its parent is expanded. This is close to how Simple mode works, but it seems to not allow multiple letters which is how it works in Windows Explorer.

Highlighting breaks the navigation workflow by only navigating between matches. That should be a different key to jump to next match, much like search does.

Filtering really needs a search box which then searches for filename matches and optionally content matches. Issue #6697 is in the right direction for search. It just needs to be separated out from this navigation feature.

[Corps-Yan]

Update VSCODE to lateset version.
It has resolved.