Sorting files in VS Code Explorer

Question

I'm using VS Code 1.25.1 on Win10. When I open the Explorer icon and look at a list of files in a folder, it shows the files listed alphabetically. I want to sort them by date modified, but I don't see any options to sort by other fields. Are there keyboard shortcuts? Any other options? Thanks.

Answer 1

1. Open user settings (Mac: cmd+, Windows/Linux: ctrl+,).
2. If you want this new sort order to apply to all VSCode projects, continue to step three. If you want it to apply only to the currently opened folder/workspace, first click on the "Workspace" tab that's directly below the settings search bar, then continue to step three.
3. Using the settings search bar, search for the following setting ID: explorer.sortOrder.
4. Click the dropdown for that setting and select your preferred sort order (in your case, modified).
5. If you'd like to quickly toggle this setting between different values (via a keyboard shortcut), use the Settings Cycler extension.

Answer 2

A more user friendly approach can be:

1. Open the workspace settings:

   Ctrl+Shift+p

   And open: Preferences: Open Workspace Settings.

2. Browse to Features > Explorer using the sidebar.

   

3. Use the Sort Order option to customise sorting.