Working Files List is a Visual Studio extension tool window that shows a selectable list of files that are open in the editor.

To get started, select [View] -> [Other Windows] -> [Working Files List] on the Visual Studio menu bar.

Tool Window

The unpinned files area [A] of the tool window displays a list of every file that is open for editing; the name of the active window is displayed in bold text.

• Left-click on an item to activate the tab for that file.

• Right-click on an item, or click the tests button [B] to open its -tests file (e.g. MyFile.cs => MyFileTests.cs)

• Middle-click on an item, or click the close button [C] to close that file.

• Hover the mouse over an item to show its full name in the tool tip.

• Double-left-click on an item in the unpinned files area [A], or click its pin button [D] to pin/unpin that file

The controls at the top of the window allow sorting and grouping.

1. Project Name Sort: selects the applied sorting for each file’s containing project.

2. File Name Sort: selects the applied sorting for each file name. The selected Project Name Sort is applied before the File Name Sort.

3. File Name Segments: represents how many parts of the full file name is displayed. By default, only the name for each open file is shown. By increasing this number, it is possible to include the directories that the file is in.

4. Options: opens the Visual Studio Options page for this extension.

5. Extension Information: further details about this extension, including its license.

Pinned Items

Pinned items display an indicator to show that they are pinned [F], and appear in the pinned items area [E] in addition to [A]. They are unaffected by Project Name Sort [1] and File Name Sort [2], but (only) they can be reordered using drag and drop. Pinned items remain in [E] even after the editor for that file has been closed within Visual Studio. Unpin items to remove them from [E] by performing either of the following:

• Clicking on its pin button [D]

• Double clicking on the corresponding entry within [A]

The pinned status of items is not persisted: if a solution is closed in Visual Studio and subsequently reopened, all pinned items will become unpinned.

Options Page

Additional settings for this extension can be found in the Visual Studio options page: [Tools] -> [Options...] -> [Working Files List].

The settings available are:

• Show icon for file type: displays an icon (based on file extension) representing the content type of that file.

• Show most recently used order: shows the order of usage for each item as a bar chart.

• Set background colour according to parent project: gives each list item a background colour, which is linked with the item’s associated project.

• Highlight file name: select this to highlight an item’s file name, e.g. MyDirectory\MyFile.txt. Unselect this to highlight all text, e.g. MyDirectory\MyFile.txt.

• Show n path segments for each file: equivalent to [3] on the Tool Window.

• Group by project: divides the list of file names into sub-lists corresponding to the project that each file belongs to.

• Project display order: equivalent to [1] on the Tool Window.

• Document display order: equivalent to [2] on the Tool Window.

• Reset: resets all settings to their default values. This cannot be undone, even by clicking the dialogue Cancel button.