A second, independent file tree in the Explorer sidebar.
Multexplorer sits below the built-in Explorer and behaves like a completely separate instance of it — its own root folder, its own opened tabs, its own preview behavior. Point it at a different folder than your workspace root (or the same one) to browse and edit alongside your main file tree without either one interfering with the other.
In the screenshot above, the built-in Explorer ("FRAMEWORK") and Multexplorer
are both rooted at the same deploy folder, but each opened a different file
into its own split — .prettierrc from the Explorer on the left, deploy.yml
from Multexplorer on the right — without either replacing the other's tab.
Features
- Independent root — pick a folder for Multexplorer with
Multexplorer: Open folder...(Ctrl+K Ctrl+Shift+O). This never touches your actual workspace, so the built-in Explorer is unaffected. - Right-hand split on open — opening a file from Multexplorer splits it
into a new editor group on the right, if the editor area isn't already
split. Configurable via
multexplorer.splitView. - Non-clobbering tabs — Multexplorer keeps its own single reusable tab,
separate from the built-in Explorer's preview tab, so opening files from
either tree no longer replaces a tab opened by the other. Configurable via
multexplorer.sharePreviewTab.
Settings
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
multexplorer.splitView |
true |
Open files from Multexplorer in a right-hand split if the editor area isn't already split. |
multexplorer.sharePreviewTab |
false |
Share VS Code's single preview tab with the built-in Explorer. When off, Multexplorer keeps its own preview-style tab that only it reuses or replaces. |