How do I search for files in Visual Studio Code?

Question

I am used to Resharper where I can search for files, not the content, but the filename, which makes it quick to open new files.

Is this feature implemented in Visual Studio Code and is there a shortcut for it?

Can we use wildcards to search for a particular file? Example markdown files starting with Pan as Pan*.md — Porcupine, May 19 '18 at 01:11
you can make it with Explorer Tree https://stackoverflow.com/a/61460710/2736742 — A. Morel, Jun 04 '20 at 16:05

score 1494 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 19 '19 at 15:56

1494

Using Go to File... which is under the Go menu or using keyboard shortcut:

On Windows Ctrl+p or Ctrl+e
On macOS Cmd ⌘+p
On Linux Ctrl+p or Ctrl+e

Then type the file name.

Also be sure to checkout that you can set your own keybindings and that there are cheatsheets available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

edited Dec 19 '19 at 15:56

javiercmh

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answered May 07 '15 at 17:52

Mike

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Ctrl+e only seems to show the first-found file. How to find multiple files with the same name under various folders? – SamDevx May 25 '16 at 06:28
1

That's the responsiveness of the vscode. When you stop typing, it will perform a search across the files. By default, it shows recent files first and does actual search later. P.S. default is both Ctrl+P and Ctrl+E now (key binding of workbench.action.quickOpen). – Mike May 25 '16 at 14:43
21

this (and ctrl/cmd+p) doesn't work for excluded folders such as node_modules. it would be nice to have a way to search all files at times. – Sonic Soul Jun 07 '16 at 23:38
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This seems to only work for the current folder. What if I want to search across the entire project? My files are rarely in the folder I'm currently in. – Julian Jun 13 '16 at 17:23
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On OSX `cmd` + `e` searches on the current file, the correct key binding is `cmd` + `p` that brings the command palette where you can search for files and much more – Tiago Dec 22 '16 at 12:16
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This answer looks obsolete or incorrect. Another answer is correctly stating that the right combination is `cmd` + `p`. – Ivan Yurchenko Jan 24 '17 at 12:12
Can't you just override the ignored search files in `.vscode/settings.json`? – jscul Mar 10 '18 at 21:08
12

This search only recent files, not all files – Hrvoje Golcic Jun 12 '18 at 09:20
@HrvojeGolcic not only, when you start typing it searches both, it has a small delay because of async operations – Mike Jun 12 '18 at 09:40
@Mike actually you're right I see now. But for some reason it just don't want to search for bootstrap lib files that I have in 'node_modules' folder even though it finds other things in 'node_modules' folder. I don't get it – Hrvoje Golcic Jun 12 '18 at 10:10
you may try https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33258543/how-can-i-exclude-a-directory-from-visual-studio-code-explore-tab#answer-33277809 – Mike Jun 14 '18 at 15:56
1

only search recent files (Mac OSX) – sakhunzai Feb 12 '19 at 08:46
What about file name patterns like "*.map"? – Jens Mander May 22 '19 at 11:39
Note, this is for the default VSCode shortcut keys. Thank you Mike – Jovylle Bermudez Oct 05 '21 at 04:13
@sakhunzai Ensure your files are not ignored. Ain't they in `.ignore` or `.gitignore` directories? Was my case precisely. Checkout this one: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55949132/vscode-how-to-get-file-search-not-content-to-include-git-ignored-files – Onkeltem Jan 24 '22 at 05:48
I sometimes wonder, does any thought go into these default assignments _at all_? Obviously `Cmd-f` is already associated with `find text` but I wonder what mnemonic the designers were thinking when they associated `Cmd-p` with `Go to file`? Eclipse for example has `Cmd-Shift-R` for similar `Open Resource` which is easier to remember... Of course remapping is possible but there could be conflicts. – Ed Randall Feb 10 '22 at 11:34

score 85 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 22 '16 at 13:19

85

On OSX, for me it's cmd ⌘ + p. cmd ⌘ + e just searches within the currently opened file.

edited Dec 22 '16 at 13:19

Tiago

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answered Oct 19 '16 at 19:48

nikk wong

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Using VS Code Version 1.7.2 Cmd+P (Mac) or Ctrl+P (Windows) brings up the Command Palette. This gives you access to an entire set of commands including File Search. See the docs at https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/codebasics – bitsand Dec 13 '16 at 17:15
This should be the accepted answer, commands have changed in more recent versions. – Tyguy7 Jul 24 '17 at 22:19
Yes, CTRL+P allows to to type a file name in and open it. But it replaces currently opened file. How can I keep opening files just like gong through Solution Explorer and clicking files? – Mark Aug 15 '19 at 09:36
@Mark when the filename is in italics, it will be replaced by the next file you open. Select "Keep Open" (right-click the tab), or use "View: Keep Editor" in the command palette. – bronson Jan 23 '20 at 23:04
Or, @Mark, a much better answer: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38713405/open-files-always-in-a-new-tab – bronson Jan 24 '20 at 00:22

score 75 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 27 '20 at 13:41

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If you want to see your files in Explorer tree...

when you click anywhere in the explorer tree and start typing something on the keyboard, the search keyword appears in the top right corner of the screen : ("module.ts")

And when you hover over the keyword with the mouse cursor, you can click on "Enable Filter on Type" to filter tree with your search !

answered Apr 27 '20 at 13:41

A. Morel

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This would be a great approach but for some reason the results are restricted to only a few items. E.g. I know I have around 30 odd files of a certain name in a monorepo - when I follow these instructions the results are limited to 6 files it seams – Jacques Sep 14 '20 at 09:24
This stopped working for me a while ago and I don't know why. Wasn't able to find any option to en- or disable it. Have I overlooked anything? – audioslave Jan 29 '21 at 12:07
@audioslave I currently have version 1.52.1 of VS Code and it works fine. – A. Morel Jan 29 '21 at 16:59
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I'm on 1.52 and it only shows files that were visible (not in a collapsed folder) in the tree before filtering. @A.Morel try your example again but this time before you filter collapse the "dinner" folder. When you apply the filter not only will the file in that folder not appear, but the folder won't even be listed. – Stephen Teodori Feb 05 '21 at 15:43
@StephenTeodori I think it's a bug. When I went to change the "Collapse Results" setting, it worked again. – A. Morel Feb 05 '21 at 19:29
This is almost helpful. But VSCode doesn't allow you to expand all folders so it's a bit useless to find multiple files in a large project. – Phill Apr 21 '21 at 08:18
can you customize this color? – relik May 13 '21 at 20:24
Issue with symlinks https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/124341 – irvnriir May 21 '21 at 12:22
While this feature still exists, I think it's use is not intuitive and it certainly has its limits. For example, it appears when a folder is not expanded its contents will not be considered by the filter. A better option appears to `Ctrl` + `p` Windows or the equivalent on other OS'es. – Manfred Jun 12 '21 at 12:17
I find this feature totally useless in its current form. Hopefully this will be improved, visual studio solution explorer does this much better. Ctrl-P is a clunky alternative when you want to see more than one file at once in situ – Brett Jul 25 '21 at 11:04
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I've created this to see if it could be improved https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/129340 – Brett Jul 25 '21 at 11:37
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Why after 2 years I'm only finding this now. There should be some initial UI for this and not just a key press feature. – MarsAndBack Jan 26 '22 at 15:53
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@MarsAndBack Indeed, I fully agree! Here is a Github issue for improving this feature, vote for it if you want an improvement: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/70646 – Tobias Feb 22 '22 at 09:35

score 31 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 06 '20 at 08:13

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Win: CTRL+P or CTRL+E

Mac: CMD+P or CMD+E

Don't want to remember another shortcut?

Open the Command Palette:

Menu: View -> Command Palette
Windows Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+P

and hit backspace to delete ">" character and then begin typing to search for files via filename. :)

edited Apr 06 '20 at 08:13

LightCC

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answered Aug 21 '17 at 07:40

GorvGoyl

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Deleting ">" was the key! – hoper May 20 '21 at 15:15

score 26 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:42

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Other answers don't mention this command is named `workbench.action.quickOpen`.

You can use this to search the Keyboard Shortcuts menu located in Preferences.

On MacOS the default keybinding is cmd ⌘ + P.

(Coming from Sublime Text, I always change this to cmd ⌘ + T)

edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:42

Misha Akopov

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answered Jun 06 '19 at 16:58

JLF

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I accidentally deleted the CMD + P shortcut and now i can't recover it ; the d workbench.action.quickOpen does not show on my commands list... What can i do ? – delphirules Jul 18 '19 at 16:19
You can search for the action by typing the name of the action into the Keybindings search bar in the Keybindings view. When it appears in the search results, simply click the + icon on the left side to set a keybinding again – JLF Jul 18 '19 at 21:06
oh finally i find that keybindings. – Robin Jun 05 '20 at 12:43

score 23 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:41

23

Also works in ubuntu with Ctrl+E

edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:41

Misha Akopov

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answered Jun 16 '17 at 12:52

Wender Alves Libório

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Works on Windows 7 as well! – Scofield Dec 04 '18 at 09:03
Works for me on Windows 10! – Apps 247 Oct 21 '20 at 13:58

score 17 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 04 '18 at 10:49

17

You can also press F1 to open the Command Palette and then remove the > via Backspace. Now you can search for files, too.

answered Apr 04 '18 at 10:49

ochs.tobi

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This is the same as pressing Cmd + P – Jacques Sep 14 '20 at 09:25
One difference is, this method is cross-platform – R.D. Alkire Jul 22 '21 at 17:11

score 14 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 10 '22 at 05:16

14

Method1

Go->Go to File OR cntrl+p
Search your file

Method2

view->command palette OR cntrl+shift+p
type "Go to file"
Search your file

answered Feb 10 '22 at 05:16

lava

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score 12 · Answer 9 · answered May 06 '17 at 12:23

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I'm using VSCode 1.12.1

OSX press : Cmd + p

answered May 06 '17 at 12:23

Giang

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score 12 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 20 '18 at 05:38

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consider you have thousand of files in vs code and you want to search for a file with particular name then

Right click VS code editor.
Select Command Palete
In the text box type the file name

answered Feb 20 '18 at 05:38

Siddarth Kanted

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Need to press backspace when inside the Command Palette, before starting to type file name. – gomisha Jun 26 '18 at 10:39

score 11 · Answer 11 · edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:41

11

If you just want to search a single file name

Just Ctrl+P, then type and choose your one

If you want to open all files whose name contains a particular string

Open search panel
Put any common words inside those files
in 'files to include', put the search string with *, e.g. *Signaller*

edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:41

Misha Akopov

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answered Dec 03 '18 at 23:29

Xin

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The "search panel" is called Find in Files (Ctrl+Shift+F). To access "files to include" you need to click the "..." icon (Toggle Search Details) or 4 times tab, then space and tab again. – Diego F. Rodríguez V. Mar 11 '20 at 04:41
4

`Put any common words inside those files`. That's the issue. I'd love to find every file with a certain name. – Bernhard Döbler Aug 10 '20 at 17:29
@BernhardDöbler same here! – Jacques Sep 14 '20 at 09:26
@BernhardDöbler you can use the regex search and search for .* as a workaround if you're not looking for binary files – cladelpino Feb 21 '22 at 22:23

score 10 · Answer 12 · answered Oct 24 '21 at 18:01

The problem with Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P) is that it searches your workspace while ignoring files and folders set in the .gitignore file. To change this behavior, add "search.useIgnoreFiles": false in your settings.json file under .vscode directory.

NOTE that search.exclude and files.exclude settings will override this. So, in your settings.json file, you should comment them out or set these two settings to false as well if you want to search all the files and directories in your VS Code project. An example for settings.json where search.exclude and files.exclude are commented out for searching all the files:

{
    "search.exclude": {
        //"**/Lib": true,
        //"**/Scripts": true
    },
    "files.exclude": {
        //"**/Lib": true,
        //"**/Scripts": true
    },
    "search.useIgnoreFiles": false
}

Look here for more info.

score 9 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 31 '20 at 22:08

9

For windows. if Ctrl+p doesn't always work use Ctrl+shift+n instead.

answered Dec 31 '20 at 22:08

MonirRouissi

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score 5 · Answer 14 · edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:42

5

To search for specifil file types in visual studio code.
Type ctrl+p and then search for something like *.py.
Simple and easy

edited Jan 03 '20 at 13:42

Misha Akopov

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answered Aug 02 '19 at 04:12

Vinod Kumar

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score 3 · Answer 15 · answered Jun 25 '20 at 19:27

3

If using vscodevim extension, ctrl + p won't work so I saw another answer using:

ctrl + shift + p

which opens the command palette. Hit backspace to remove the '>' and then start typing your filename.

answered Jun 25 '20 at 19:27

Ying n Yang

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score 1 · Answer 16 · answered Jun 04 '21 at 01:48

1

Check your settings for 'Use Ignore Files' and 'Use Global Ignore Files'. If these are checked, VSCode won't search any folders listed in .gitignore or .ignore

answered Jun 04 '21 at 01:48

Peter Koopman

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How do I search for files in Visual Studio Code?

16 Answers16

If you want to see your files in Explorer tree...

Don't want to remember another shortcut?

Other answers don't mention this command is named `workbench.action.quickOpen`.

Linked

How do I search for files in Visual Studio Code?

16 Answers16

If you want to see your files in Explorer tree...

Don't want to remember another shortcut?

Other answers don't mention this command is named workbench.action.quickOpen.

Linked

Other answers don't mention this command is named `workbench.action.quickOpen`.