Keep photos of the people you love visible while you code. Point it at a folder and it cycles through your images in the VS Code side bar — set it and forget it.
Features
- ▶️ Automatic slideshow of images in any local folder.
- ⏮ ⏯ ⏭ Controls for Previous / Play-Pause / Next, plus keyboard shortcuts.
- 🖱️ Controls and the file name appear only on hover, keeping the view clean.
- 🔀 Shuffle or sequential order (by name or date).
- 🖼️ Full-screen lightbox — double-click any image to expand it across the editor area.
- 📌 Multiple panels — show the slideshow in the Explorer, Source Control, and/or Run & Debug side bars simultaneously, always in sync.
- 🗂️ Optional sub-folder scanning.
- 💾 Remembers your folder between restarts.
- 🌗 Looks native in light and dark themes.
How to use
- Install Photo Slides from the Extensions view (
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + X). - Open the Explorer side bar (
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + E) and find the Photo Slides panel. - Click Select photo folder and pick a folder with images.
That's it — the slideshow starts automatically. From then on:
- Hover over the image to show the controls and file name.
- Double-click the image to open it full-screen in the editor area with large controls.
- Right-click the image for Reveal in File Explorer or Change Folder….
- Use the ⚙️ icon in the panel header to open the settings.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
→ |
Next image |
← |
Previous image |
Space |
Play / Pause |
Escape |
Close full-screen lightbox |
Showing the slideshow in multiple panels
By default Photo Slides lives in the Explorer. You can also show it in the
Source Control (scm) and/or Run & Debug (debug) side bars.
Open VS Code settings and set:
"photoSlides.panels": ["explorer", "scm", "debug"]
All enabled panels are fully synchronized: same photo, same play/pause state, same shuffle — controlled by a single shared timer. Navigating or pausing in any one panel instantly updates all the others.
Panels that aren't listed in photoSlides.panels don't show up at all in their
side bar — no need to manually collapse or hide them.
Settings
Open them from the ⚙️ icon in the panel header, or search Photo Slides in VS Code Settings.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Folder | — | Path to the image folder (the Browse… button fills it automatically). |
| Panels | ["explorer"] |
Which side bars display the slideshow ("explorer", "scm", "debug"). |
| Interval (seconds) | 5 |
Time between images during automatic playback. |
| Shuffle | true |
Random order instead of sequential. |
| Recursive | false |
Also include images from sub-folders. |
| Sort order | name |
Sequential-mode order: by name or by date. |
| File types | jpg jpeg png gif webp bmp svg |
Image extensions to include. |
| Image fit | contain |
contain shows the whole image; cover fills the panel. |
| Autoplay | true |
Start playing automatically when a folder is loaded. |
License
MIT © Matías D. Rohleder
Built so I could watch photos of my baby girl, Victoria, while I code. 💛