VSCode - how to close the search result sidebar panel?

Question

I disabled the activity bar (the leftmost panel with shortcuts buttons).

When I search for something the search results shown in side bar, replacing the file explorer. When I'm done with the search - how can I close the search results and see the file explorer bar again?

Given that there's no activity bar with the file structure bar shortcut on it? I tried clicking escape but the file results won't disappear. There's not even a button to close it.

Ctrl-shift-E? Or right-click on activity bar to show the search icon again. It is a little unclear what you are asking. — Mark, Jan 08 '19 at 06:41
Not sure why the question is unclear at all. It's perfectly obvious what Alexey is asking. — JakeJ, Jun 03 '19 at 14:32

score 12 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 16 '20 at 16:03

12

After pulling up search with Cmd+Shift+F, I'm able to close with Cmd+B on Mac.

answered Dec 16 '20 at 16:03

Alexander Terry

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Inazense · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-09T08:00:12.587

11

I assume that you see something like this when you realize a search:

You can go back to the Explorer sidebar on two different ways:

Press in the File icon that is up of the Search icon
Use the Ctrl+Shift+E shortcut

edited Jan 09 '19 at 08:00

answered Jan 08 '19 at 08:45

Inazense

1,517
3
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The thing is I hidden the bar with File and other icons. Don't want it taking place on my screen. Thanks for the shortcut though. – Alex Craft Jan 09 '19 at 06:55
So Ctrl+Shift+E then - sounds vaguely familiar. – Mark Jan 09 '19 at 08:24
3

⇧⌘E if you are on a Mac – Paul Brennan Dec 15 '20 at 14:03

Everett · Answer 3 · 2021-03-12T14:28:13.577

This is a frustrating takeover of screen real-estate!

The UI for VSCode's search results pane aren't fully like a modal and they're not quite like a vertical tab. If you hover over the icons in the left-hand margin, you'll see the keyboard shortcuts for the "Explorer" and for "Search". On a Mac, it's Command + 1 to toggle the explorer and Command + 3 to toggle the search results.

However, toggling the explorer may not leave your screen the way it was before the search, so this isn't really the clean solution many of us were hoping for.

Here's a related question/answer with instructions for creating a key-binding.

The closest I have been able to come to the "expected behavior" I desire is to add the following rule to the top of my keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "Escape",
  "command": "workbench.view.explorer",
  "when": "searchViewletVisible"
}

The when clause helps scope its effect, but it may conflict with other commands.

Thanks! I've modified it though to enable this key binding only when search view is visible: `"key": "Escape", "command": "workbench.view.explorer", "when": "searchViewletVisible"` — sruzic, Mar 12 '21 at 07:08

serdarsen · Answer 4 · 2021-09-01T07:47:57.667

2

In my case I wanted to close the sidebar when press Escape:

keybindings.json

{
    "key": "Escape",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeSidebar",
    "when": "sideBarFocus"
}

Resource

https://stackoverflow.com/a/64704130/5994546

edited Sep 01 '21 at 07:47

answered Aug 31 '21 at 12:38

serdarsen

193
2
8

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 04 '21 at 05:09

To close the search bar when using "Edit", "Find in Files" or "Replace in Files" in order to collapse the search results and/or panel I usually right-click on the "Search" label at the top of the results and click "Hide Side Bar" in the resulting drop down.

VSCode - how to close the search result sidebar panel?

5 Answers5

keybindings.json

Resource