How to get folder/file tree back on VSCode?

Question

Sometimes when I search for files in the left sidebar in VSCode, after going into "search mode", there is no visible way to get the sidebar of the folder/file tree back! I have to close the editor and reopen. How do I get the folder tree back after searching in VSCode, is there a keyboard shortcut or menu item for it? I have searched several times but can't figure it out, and keep having to quit the editor to get it back after searching.

Answer 1

After clarification, it appears you have just lost visisbility of what is called the "Activity Bar" in vscode - where the icons like Explorer, Search, SCM, etc. live by default.

If you can't see that Activity Bar anymore, you can try View/Appearance/Show Activity Bar. Or type Activity into the Command Palette and use one of those commands to focus or toggle it.

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Where I thought you were doing a filter on the Explorer files:

Where the letters appear for the Explorer search that you typed - mouse over that and it will expand to include an x to close the search.

And there is an unbound command list.toggleFilterOnType which will toggle off/on the filter on type functionality. You will still see the letters you typed in the upper right though, but they won't be actively filtering if you toggle it off.

This demonstrates both:

Answer 2

Actually, your explorer window is closed you can use CTRL + SHIFT + E or you can go to view and then click Explorer.