Vscode: Allow to open multiple workspaces in the same window

[kdubuc]

Workspace feature is great because we can grouping projects in a top context (microservices projects in a big API workspace). But, only one workspace can be open. This feature can be powerful if multiple workspaces can be open at the same time (in the same window).

And another request : it will be great if :

• Right click on the workspace name should open menu with a "settings" item (which open xxxx.code-workspace).
• Workspace settings should contain a name attribute (to clearly identify the workspace in the left pane in VS Code)

[amandaporto]

Agree, this functionality is really lacking. Working with multiple repos/folders where you want to keep a certain separation from one another (while maintaining easy access) is a bit of a pain right now.

[develleoper]

To clarify, this story is specifically _not_ relating to multi-root workspaces, but rather requesting the ability to display multiple _separate_ workspaces within the same OS window, correct? Asking because I noticed the github issue has the #multi-root label, which I believe may be inaccurate.

[zbentley]

@develleoper that was my assumption as well, and the duplicate issue that was closed in favor of this one also seems to indicate that. I'm not the reporter though.

[MikeChipshop]

Seconding (and the rest!) this.

The ability to have collapsible Workspace folders open in the app at the same time would be a godsend. Currently I'm having to negate this by adding different folders to the initial workspace, but this is far from ideal.

Having the ability to have multiple workspaces open at once would make this an absolute project management powerhouse!

[mookman288]

From a new user perspective, this was my step-by-step experience:

1. Create new workspace.
2. Attempt to rename the workspace to . This failed (see @kdubuc second request.)
3. Add all of the projects for that particular client to this workspace.
4. Attempt to create a second workspace for a different client. This failed.

Coming from Eclipse, my first instinct is to be able to create individual project folders for each project, and I organized that by heading. I agree with @MikeChipshop that multiple workspaces open at once would increase project management utility.

[siran]

I second the proposal.

[damniamgood]

I am working with python and I don't want to share my python virtualenv between each project (folders) inside a workspace. As python interpreter setting is applied to a workspace, I need the ability to have multiple workspaces show up in single vscode instance(screen) for better management

[zjp]

The UI makes this idea very intuitive. Before googling how to do this, I thought it was already built-in.

[hcallaway]

Agreed! This would be awesome! I look forward to hearing more about its progress.

[globalfaisal]

It would definitely be very handy to have this feature.

[outpoints]

Support!

[rayholtz]

I am also in favor of this feature. I run VSCode on a vertical monitor, and there's a lot of vertical screen space that could be taken up by multiple workspaces. Thanks!

tl;dr, +1

[HansHovanitz]

I came across this while googling how to do it.

This feature would be very helpful!

[mittalyashu]

We can set the custom settings for each workspace and have multiple workspaces opened inside a single instance of VS Code can make it bit complicated.

Apart from that, it is a good idea to have this feature.

[shane-smith]

@mittalyashu - it is already possible to set custom settings for a folder, and to have multiple folders open inside a workspace. I'm guessing it would need to take a similar approach.

[csears123]

I also agree with this request, to allow multiple workspaces to be opened in the same window. I am constantly switching between projects, and at times work on multiple projects simultaneously. Re-adding a previous folder to a workspace loses the 'name' property I assigned that folder in the workspace settings before removing it. Assigning custom names to my projects is needed for organizing similar named folders across separate projects. Using a workspace to organize all my projects would be a better structure, if allowed to be open in the same window.

I also see added benefits with customizing workspace settings separately for each project for deployment configurations, instead of having to customize every folder individually for deployment.

[mittalyashu]

@shane-smith

it is already possible to set custom settings for a folder and to have multiple folders open inside a workspace. I'm guessing it would need to take a similar approach.

Yes, having multiple folders in a single workspace is easy, and vs code can easily apply the workspace or folder settings.

Just image, how vs code will manage multiple workspaces and it's settings, that means:

Each time we open the file from a different workspace, settings of that specific workspace will apply and this will make the VS Code slower if we open files from different workspaces.

[ClintOxx]

I totally thought this was already a feature until I just tried to use it lol, i definitely support this. I would like to be able to switch between having two different workspaces in the same window

[slaith]

+1 Sublime text does this very well (in full-screen mode on mac). If you open a new workspace or a new folder, it gets added as a tab to the current window. That's the only feature VS Code lacks over sublime right now.

[qzdl]

+1, Agree massively with this; Current UI would lead the user to believe that such functionality exists - coming from Atom this was quite a shock haha

[QuentinDanjou]

I'm dealing with multiple projects as a lot of developers, and having multiple workplace open in the same window as described would be a really nice improvement.

[shane-smith]

I've restructured my workspaces, and have started using folders more actively in my workspaces, in such a way that this is no longer high on my own priority list.

Makes me wonder if, with a bit of experimentation, most of the people requesting this feature might be able to get away with using several folders in a single workspace, instead?

[develleoper]

Anecdotal, but I would still very much prefer to have a separate workspace per git repository, such as a for a project with two separate repos for client and server side code, with different vscode extensions and workspace settings for each.

[ClintOxx]

@shane-smith yea that is a work around that I have tried but I'm in pretty much the same boat as @develleoper with wanting the different settings and extensions per workspace

[Puerco-Potter]

I really want this feature.
I commonly have another project open whenever I am working on a new one, that way I can check or reuse code on the go. I have to add those projects's folders to my workspace, knowing they are just referencial and it always feels like I am doing something wrong or working dirty, also I have to look for the other project with not clear distinction on the UI. When I get a glance at the workspace functionality I inmediatly think it will have this feature, I am surprised to see it doesn't.

[jcarioti]

This would be a killer feature IMO.

[ccalabro]

+1 to this.. It would be really useful.

[BabbleBot]

Definitly a feature worth working on IMO. As mentionned before this idea is very intuitive given the UI.

[jstein-ftdi]

This would be very helpful when switching active branches. Thanks in advance for adding this feature!

[brennenberkley]

+1

[Nurgiel]

+1

[D3FCR3W]

So much useless space in the left panel... +1 for this feature, 15/8 would agree

[jstgermain]

This is a great idea. I don't want to add another root to my workspace, I want a second workspace. The folder thing is great in certain scenarios, but not what I am looking for. I hope to see this as a feature soon.

[Charlewic]

Totally agreed.
By the way thanks for the wonderful job already done !

[Asitis]

Came here expecting this behavior as well! +1

[banister]

Not having this feature is making it hard to migrate from emacs! Definitely need the ability to have multiple workspaces open at once. I was shocked that we couldn't actually!

[RayMcCl]

Agreed that this would be incredibly useful, +1!

[makisp]

A really useful and essential feature I would say, +1.

[OmkarPathak]

+1

[evolbug]

+1

[anthonykevins]

+1

[MikeYermolayev]

Any updates? Is there any work planned already?

[tmas]

Recently started using VS Code for one of my new projects after using Atom for a while, and this is one of the first things I tried to do (after the UI implied it was possible). This would be an absolute killer feature and would pretty much guarantee I'd move my other projects over to VS Code as well.

[v4ngelo]

+1. I also thought this was possible...

[bosatsu]

+1

EDIT:
I found that ctrl + r allows you to type in folders that you previously opened. Works for now, but still would be nice to have this feature.

[ole-lukoe]

+1

[LebCit]

+1
I thought it was possible 😞
This feature would be GREAT !
My actual solution, as everyone else I suppose, was to create another workspace and switch from one to the other, not great at all especially when we need to see files from different workspaces at the same time !

[wkoutre]

If you're on macOS:

1. Open Preferences and enable the Window: Native Tabs option
2. Restart
3. Cmd + Shift + N for a new window will open this "new window" in a macOS-styled tab
4. Open Workspace 2
5. Complete

Edited: Changed to suggest to enable the Window: Native Tabs option, (originally wrote Window: Native Full Screen)

[Helcaraxan]

@wkoutre good catch :heart: , although you'll also need to enable the Window: Native tabs option as well.

[wkoutre]

@Helcaraxan In my experience, that's not the case. VS Code v1.29.1 (could be something to do with it? though I don't see anything related in the release notes).

[shane-smith]

@wkoutre - you suggested enabling 'Native Full Screen', but in your screenshot you have 'Native Tabs' enabled and 'Native Full Screen' is actually disabled. So I think there's a mix-up somewhere there :)

[iphysresearch]

@wkoutre A nice alternative solution! (1.29.1)
It just switch from "multiple workspaces in the same window" to "one workspace in the multiple windows".

[wkoutre]

@shane-smith Good catch! My mistake -- updated the post. Thanks!

[jaywhy13]

Huge desire for this feature. I also with multiple projects and I love the context that VS Code provides for a workspace. The terminal for instance. It's painful to switch workspaces and loose what I've been doing in the terminal. I also have my VS Code window full screen with my Docs beside it. I hate having to switch desktops to get to different projects.

[monsieurnebo]

That would be a great feature to switch, for instance, between clients.

[WilliamLeeks]

+1 Would definitely use this feature. @wkoutre’s suggestion is useful but would be nice to have it baked into the editor!

[Asgoret]

Aaaand....it doesn't work...you publish an article in 2017 and still it doesn't work
https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2017/11/10/vs-code-1-18.aspx

EDIT:
In version (November 2018 (version 1.30)) i can't open more then one workspace, but can add to this workspace more than one folder...

[TomLewis]

Why is this not a thing yet? This is ridiculous

[shane-smith]

Aaaand....it doesn't work...you publish an article in 2017 and still it doesn't work
https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2017/11/10/vs-code-1-18.aspx

EDIT:
In version (November 2018 (version 1.30)) i can't open more then one workspace, but can add to this workspace more than one folder...

Your edit is what that article is referring to: multi-root / multi-folder workspaces (still one workspace in the editor at a time). So what Visual Studio Magazine published works as described.

It looks like Visual Studio Magazine isn't affiliated with VS Code or Microsoft, by the way.

---

While it likely has absolutely no impact, I've withdrawn my own upvote for this as I no longer see the benefit for the feature. I've been able to achieve everything I want to achieve using existing functionality, and I can't see a single compelling reason above.

• Just open multiple workspaces and switch between them using Cmd+Tab or Window menu (macOS) / Alt+Tab or Taskbar (Windows). It takes a second and would actually be faster than trying to collapse the tree in the side-panel just to find the relevant workspace node.
• Would you really prefer this over every other feature or bug fix that the team could be working on instead? If so, why not submit a pull request?

^ Just an opinion on the Internet. If you disagree, I'm happy to hear why.

EDIT: This request is currently rated 36 when sorting by most thumbs-up reactions, so I'd say that indicates the majority think 35 other features are more important than this one, which lowers the likelihood of the VS Code team considering this any time soon.

[Asgoret]

Aaaand....it doesn't work...you publish an article in 2017 and still it doesn't work
https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2017/11/10/vs-code-1-18.aspx
EDIT:
In version (November 2018 (version 1.30)) i can't open more then one workspace, but can add to this workspace more than one folder...

Your edit is what that article is referring to: multi-root / multi-folder workspaces (still one workspace in the editor at a time). So what Visual Studio Magazine published works as described.

It looks like Visual Studio Magazine isn't affiliated with VS Code or Microsoft, by the way.

While it likely has absolutely no impact, I've withdrawn my own upvote for this as I no longer see the benefit for the feature. I've been able to achieve everything I want to achieve using existing functionality, and I can't see a single compelling reason above.

• Just open multiple workspaces and switch between them using Cmd+Tab or Window menu (macOS) / Alt+Tab or Taskbar (Windows). It takes a second and would actually be faster than trying to collapse the tree in the side-panel just to find the relevant workspace node.
• Would you _really_ prefer this over every other feature or bug fix that the team could be working on instead? If so, why not submit a pull request?

^ Just an opinion on the Internet. If you disagree, I'm happy to hear why.

_EDIT: This request is currently rated 36 when sorting by most thumbs-up reactions, so I'd say that indicates the majority think 35 other features are more important than this one, which lowers the likelihood of the VS Code team considering this any time soon._

Close workspace and open another 2 mouse clicks.
Use Alt-Tab to switch between multiple VScode instance about 5-10 moves and you must press 3 buttons. It's ridiculous.
Ok, let's do some calculation.
I have 5 workspaces and 15 open programs. I switch between them all the time. At this moment i open 5 VScode workspaces and work in workspace#1, then i switch to program#1->3->10 and then i need go back to VScode i press Alt-Tab and see 1 icon VScode, but when i push her all my instances open at the same time and i need to hide them, because i don't need them at this moment....When i need to work in workspace#2 what i must do? Open all windows and search needed workspace? It's ridiculous and not usability way.

[wkoutre]

@Asgoret You (as are most of us here) are a power user of software.

As such, get some system-wide utility softwares (like Alfred, TotalSpaces, etc) and set up absolutely everything about each keystroke you make to your heart's content.

Everything you've written above, I can personally do on my keyboard in under 3 keystrokes - no mouse involved. Happy to share my setup, but what you're describing in your most recent comment goes far beyond the scope of this GH issue.

[Asgoret]

@Asgoret You (as are most of us here) are a power user of software.

As such, get some system-wide utility softwares (like Alfred, TotalSpaces, etc) and set up absolutely everything about each keystroke you make to your heart's content.

Everything you've written above, I can personally do on my keyboard in under 3 keystrokes - no mouse involved. Happy to share my setup, but what you're describing in your most recent comment goes far beyond the scope of this GH issue.

Eah.... I can use 3rd party software to solve this problem, but why this feature isn't ready? It's not something complicate. Just open another workspace

[wkoutre]

It doesn't seem, by your comment, that you've enabled the Window: Native Tabs feature (macOS). One window. Multiple workspaces designated by tabs at the top (same as your browser, Finder, etc.).

Also seems like you're on Windows, which explains that 😄.

If not complicated, I'll play devil's advocate and ask: Why not whip up a solution yourself and share?

Just food for thought... I, myself, haven't worked extensively with Electron and, therefore, don't know the extent to which this feature is/is not complicated.

[jstein-ftdi]

I want to be able to open the same project in more than one window. This feature is necessary when context switching between branches of the same repo. If I need to jump from a feature branch to a bugfix or hotfix, I don't want to mingle the open files. I want to save (or persist) the open files state of the first branch, go to the *fix branch, do some work, finish it up and pick back up where I left off with the feature branch.

[shane-smith]

@jstein-ftdi - that won't work, because VS Code is directly modifying the files on the filesystem by checking out the new Git branch. So if you check it out in one place, that same branch will be checked out in all other VS Code instances. You can see this if you add the same folder to multiple workspaces.

To achieve what you want to do, you will need to have two distinct folders on the filesystem:

• project-main : checked out to "feature-xyz"
• project-secondary : checked out to "hotfix-xyz"

Then open those two folders as separate workspaces in VS Code (or just as two separate folders, as it sounds like you aren't actually using workspaces).

[wkoutre]

@jstein-ftdi Since it doens't seem like you're working on multiple branches simultaneously, why not just use... git branching? Or even git stash?

[jstein-ftdi]

@shane-smith & @wkoutre when i check out a new branch, files that exist in the first branch, yet do not exist in the second branch remain open, in memory. the act of checking out a new branch may modify the file contents, but it preserves the open state in the window. my current work-around is to make a new local clone of the project, but that requires double the work to make sure my clone is in sync with the remote. git stash will not keep my open files organized. this is why i want to be able to open a new window of the same project with a different grouping of files open (preserved state remaining in memory).

[shane-smith]

@jstein-ftdi - just create two workspaces for the same folder, then. Store the actual workspace files outside of the project root.

[jstein-ftdi]

@shane-smith that works. thanks!

[Rykarix]

After reading the comments, allow me to provide a clear example as to why I support this idea, maybe offering my perspective will allow people to see the point.

I'm working on a project that has the same folder names in different locations across multiple drives but let's take a very simple example that applies to every single personalisable application in windows. You have a 'program files' folder, this contains the program and all its dependencies, localisations and so on, and an 'App Data' folder, which contains settings, downloaded extensions or addons, logs and so on.

In my case I have much more than just 2 across multiple different drives so it's important to keep track of which directory, (Workspace), I'm in. It would be much cleaner to contain multiple workspaces in a single window,(Project), because they can be renamed and organised based on a need for good 'book keeping' if it's required. They are all a part of the same project as such I believe a feature that supports a tidy workflow, like representing each project as a window and each workspace as a directory, should be supported by the default application. Forcing users to alt-tab between different workspaces is quite disruptive and clunky. @wkoutre Yes, you can use tools and shortcuts to make alt tabbing easier, but wouldn't you rather use those same shortcuts to simply expand or collapse a targetted workspace within your project,(window), rather than having to set up tools outside of your IDE to manage your IDE? Does that not strike you as a bit cumbersome?

Another, similar suggestion, could be to impliment a folder 'nickname' feature. In this example then, using the previous scenario, I could 'nickname' each folder with tags, for example like [P] for 'program' and [S] for 'settings' Like this:

[P] ProgramName
[S] ProgramName

As you can see, it is now explicitly clear which folder is which. However! Doing things this way is potentially very dangerous and more confusing than simply alt tabbing for obvious reasons. So that brings us back to the OP's suggestion of allowing for multiple workspaces in a single window which can be given custom names without the danger of confusing 'Nicknames' with actual folder names.

I 100% agree that supporting the addition of multiple workspaces would be highly beneficial.

Final note for developers:
To avoid confusion, introduce 'Projects' as a concept such that the structure of each instance of VSCode is:
A Project is represented as a VSCode window.
A Workspace is represented as a customisable, renamable link to a directory .
A Directory is represented as a branch view with itself as the root

@shane-smith Does this explanation offer a decent enough example as to why this is useful? Also, with respect, I'm not sure it's fair to criticise an idea by saying "create an extension yourself" or "I'd rather the devs focus on bug fixing". Especially with that bug comment lol. That's a criticism aimed at developer priority not the idea. You can take that criticism and copy paste it into every single feature request on every single feedback & suggestions section on the internet.

Side note (mini-rant about comment etiquette):
This is a quality of life feature request. The correct implementaion of this feature would not affect or disrupt anyone who wouldn't use it. As such, making an arguement against a good idea for a quality of life feature seems quite disrespectful to the OP and those that support it especially if you're going to make flippant and dismissive remarks about using a microsoft application on windows. Non-participation in support of an idea is a statement in and of itself thus does not require an addendum. One should consider if their criticisms are valid and relevant before commenting. For instance, criticisms like: "I think this is a monumental waste of time", "I don't see the point" or "I'd rather devs spend time fixing bugs" are all valid but completely irrelevant criticisms.

Food for thought

[evolbug]

There is an extension which somewhat fulfills my needs currently, and might sate people until official multi-workspace is implemented: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=alefragnani.project-manager

While it's not exactly seamless and requires manual management (adding and removing projects is done by config), it allows quick switching between projects and keeps their state.

[wkoutre]

@rykarix I hear you, and don't necessarily disagree.

Personally, though, my desired computing experience is so custom that I can't reasonably expect every piece of software i use to accommodate my every expectation and desire. So, I use a few pieces of system tooling add-ons and customize away. Shortcuts for other shortcuts, that kind of thing. Every keystroke matters, and that's really (IMO) the only way I'll every reach my desired experience (which changes weekly, if not daily).

[shane-smith]

@Rykarix - it sounds like a workspace already fits the definition of what you've termed a project, because we can open multiple folders from all over the operating system that are related in some way.

However, it sounds like you'd still have the pain where each of those folders seems to be named identically (just with different path to get to it), making them indistinguishable from each other in the tree view - other than their contents being different, perhaps.

Not agreeing or disagreeing, just adding to your well-thought-out reply.

[raylapse]

I would like to push this request also.
The Workspace - should be a set of projects/folders plus with SETTINGS and even different extensions loaded. From this perspective the multi-root workspace does not solve all problems. Developers still need a way to quickly switch workspaces!
And even more, I wish the workspace file *.code-workspace and be directly opened by double-click.

[viridia]

This is the one reason why I still use Atom sometimes instead of VSCode.

At work, I typically have seven or eight projects open at once. Some of them are different branches of the same git repo, others are different repos. Putting all eight projects in the same VSCode workspace is way too cumbersome, especially when opening a file by name, since each time I do this I would have to choose between multiple files with the same name (because of different branches).

On Linux, the situation isn't too terrible because I can open a bunch of separate VSCode windows, and as long as I use a window manager such as Cinnamon which allows each window to have a separate tab in the desktop task bar, I can quickly select the window and project I want using muscle memory.

But on OS X (or window manager such as Unity), it's a pain because all windows of the same application are lumped together under a single launcher icon. Trying to bring the window for a specific project to front requires a complex gesture no matter how you do it. And clicking on the windows themselves is tricky when you have eight overlapping windows that all have to fit in one half of the screen (because the other half is taken up by the output of my app).

Right now my OS X desktop has both Atom and VSCode editors open. I have three projects open in VSCode, because three windows is about the maximum I can tolerate in VSCode. The other 5 projects I have open in a single Atom window, and using their project tab-bar I can quickly select the project I want. (Deciding which projects to open in Atom and which to open in VSCode is an interesting optimization problem that depends on a lot of factors which I won't bore you with at this time.)

As far as having different prefs or venvs for different windows, I don't much care either way; I presume that the behavior of each window would be relative to whatever is in the project root directory.

[mxmihai]

It is obvious this feature is very important. Any other decent IDE has this feature.
This is the only reason why I haven't moved 100% on VSCode yet.
I upvote this.

[wasimxe]

I did that for Atom see :)

[Somebi]

Bump

[Mansour-J]

Do it

[TomLewis]

How the fuck is this still not part of VSCode? can somebody tag some of the developers. This was posted on Feb 8, 2018.

[shane-smith]

@mxmihai

It is obvious this feature is very important. Any other decent IDE has this feature.

PHPStorm doesn't support this either, as far as I understand, and I'd consider it to also be a decent IDE. Each project (i.e. workspace) opens in a separate window.

I think the same applies to other JetBrains products, but not as confident with those as I haven't personally used most of the others.

[DimNS]

@shane-smith

PHPStorm doesn't support this either, as far as I understand, and I'd consider it to also be a decent IDE. Each project (i.e. workspace) opens in a separate window.

The fact that this is not in PHPStorm is not an indicator, it is a really necessary feature, when the project consists of modules and jump on modules or open all modules in separate windows... Um, thank you, but no.

[eine]

In #76904, hierarchical multi-root support is suggested. I believe that such an approach, along with #76902, might fit the needs of many users, without requiring VSC to handle multiple workspaces.

[jstein-ftdi]

The solution to this issue that I have been using successfully for several months now, is to save a new workspace for each branch/issue/feature I work on. It seemed like a burdensome way to work at first, but I quickly got used to it and quite like it as a way of keeping my work organized. Cheers!

[TonyGravagno]

I'm trying to standardize on VSCode, removing Eclipse, NetBeans, NotePad++, maybe even Sublime. I have a few challenges that brought me to this popular ticket. ( "Only" number 36 of over 5000? Yeah, that's popular. )

I'm not Always in one workspace. I jump around, and I don't want to have to manually close one workspace to open a new one.

For WordPress I want to apply a different set of linting/formatting rules when I'm looking at Core code, from when I'm looking at plugins. Core is formatted according to WordPress Coding Standards. Plugins don't need to follow those rules - and most plugin developers don't follow any rules at all. Some use a subset of WPCS or a standard like PSR2. In this case, if multi-root supports different workspace configs it would be OK, but I don't think it does.

Here's the biggie : While I have a workspace open, like a WordPress project, I frequently have need to open other files : INI, .htaccess, Java, Python, logs, XML sent from a client, etc. None of these are a part of the WordPress project or its workspace settings. I don't want extensions, loaded to support a single file, to remain in memory when I dismiss that file.

I'm using the SFTP extension which can be set to auto-sync files when changes are made. This is just one example of many extensions that do something like this. But without the ability to open files into a different workspace, I'm concerned that this extension will try to sync files that don't belong in a remote environment. This just reinforces the idea that different extensions apply to different workspaces.

Now, we can open multiple instances of VSCode to support these use cases. This is what I do now. But that changes usage patterns. If I want to open a random INI file, I need to drag/drop it into the VSCode instance that has no specific workspace settings. I can't just click to open it because I don't know which instance it will open in. In this scenario I'd like the ability to drag/drop into a generic workspace within a single VSCode instance, and direct any files not defined for other workspaces to load into that generic workspace whenever clicking on them in Explorer.

Finally, if using a single instance and a single workspace, any files opened in that instance are saved in the workspace configuration, and re-opened if the instance is closed and re-opened. This is always convenient when we want to preserve our workspace settings, the edit windows, etc. But when we open random files, these become a part of the workspace editor configuration. The next time I open this workspace, I don't want to see those files, so I need to close them. But I may want to see them again if I open a generic workspace, to see the most recent random files that I've needed to open.

Thanks for your indulgence.

[t-hofmann]

I second the multi-workspace idea.

[viridia]

In the months since I posted my comment above, I have switched over to using the Project Manager extension for VSCode. This extension allows me to add a bookmark for each project, and quickly switch between them, restoring all of the editor state (including open tabs).

While I still occasionally need to access multiple projects at once, I find that with this extension I need it much less often. On those occasions where I need to cut and paste code from one project to another, I open multiple VSCode windows; but the vast majority of cases I find that just having the ability to quickly switch is good enough.

[bmudda]

+1 This is still relevant at this time and it will be helpful to have a feature to be able to open multiple workspaces in the same window.

[C-HGP]

+1 I would love this feature

[thais-alexandra]

+1. We gotta be able to use multiple workspaces in the same window.

[karlolopez]

This cannot be done yet right?

[thais-alexandra]

@karlolopez > This cannot be done yet right?

Not yet, different workspaces still open in different VSC windows. I'm using a folders-based structure though. So my workspace config file (_MyWorkspaceForTwoProjects.code-workspace_) code for two different projects/folders would look like below.

_{
"folders": [
{
"path": "path to the project folder 1 here"
},
{
"path": "path to the project folder 2 here"
}
]
}_

[derWebdesigner]

+1 This would be a great feature and would help quite a lot with separating projects.

My current issue is, that extensions like Intelephense (PHP code completion) suggests classes from any folder within one workspace, which does make sense somehow. If you have opened up all customer projects though, all using the same Framework, you get so many suggestions for the incorrect classes to include. Being able to separate projects into different Workspaces that I could give a name (and maybe a language tag or icon or whatever) would help a lot. Thank you very much in advance!

[gugadev]

@bpasero Could this be possible technically?

[mikehaart]

+1 would be highly useful for my workflow

[j-a-lewis]

I agree that to be able to have two entirely separate workspaces open would be very useful, especially for newbies like me. I am trying to learn RL coding by studying examples from the web. For example, with the OpenAI Gym gridworld, the examples often have similar supporting files, etc., and its good to keep my code and the example code entirely separate from each other in writing and executing. Perhaps the ability to work with code in two entirely separate workspaces could be an extension to Visual Studio Code so the the everyday version of Code is still as lite as possible for most people. In the best of all possible worlds, though, for people like me, who would be great to be able to debug both the working example code, often in a somewhat different coding structure, with different variable names, etc., and my own code at the same time and see separate variable lists for each workspace, etc. To see what the example code has done up to a certain breakpoint vs. what my feeble efforts to duplicate algorithms according to my own coding structure requirements have achieved by comparison, etc.

[paulvanj]

+1 . this would really help me with my workflow as well! Any news or feedback on this being considered?

[JanErikFoss]

+1, I'm really hoping for this feature

[ent3r]

+1; Make this happen please!

[kulttuuri]

+1

[pascalep]

+1000, Are there any technical problems why this is not already implemented?

[lxe]

I was looking for exactly this. Currently I just have multiple vscode windows open, which technically works OK, but would be nice to be able to organize/colorcode each workspace in the same window... kind of like slack or discord, or shift for gmail.

So +1

[csears123]

+1

[Nourios]

+1

[iamsarthakjoshi]

+1 Desperately waiting for this feature. I have multiple services directories which need to be open in multiple windows of the same or the different instance of vs code. This would take some time or manage or arrange.

[slimterry]

+1 Desperately waiting for this feature too.

[mmege]

+1

[marqusG]

+1 I also would appreciate that files belonging to different workspaces be opened in tabs placed on different rows (like it happens in Netbeans IDE) and possibly with different background colors. Waiting hopefully for this feature :)

[cloudziu]

+1

[saulporras]

+1

[silvavitor]

+1

[eine]

I'm honestly really sorry to write this message, because I'm afraid that it is not possible to lock comments to an issue without locking reactions. Moreover, refs from other issues are not shown. Nonetheless, it seems that so many uneducated users are passing over most fundamental nettiquette. For this reason, I believe that https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/10121#issuecomment-443602572 applies here.

[j-a-lewis]

@eine I don't see the harm in individuals expressing their approval or disapproval for a requested feature especially when, AFAIK, the ability to have more than one workspace open at the same time has not been promised and there is no target date for any such feature availability. Microsoft in the Windows Feedback Hub is pretty liberal about accepting comments on even on already existing features even after they say they've take note of someone's original post, Microsoft still accepts additional supporting posts - sometimes people even have additional insightful thoughts on a matter and their usage situation that none of the previous posters have considered before. If anyone were trolling, that would be a different matter but it's all pretty innocent +1, I'm for that, too! types of comments.

[eine]

@j-a-lewis, while I understand your point of view, that is precisely the purpose of reactions. Just for the sake of discussion, let me bring a couple of points:

I don't see the harm in individuals expressing their approval or disapproval

GitHub allows to sort issues by reactions or by comments. This issue is currently at pos 15 by comments and at pos 23 by reactions.

We can expect at least 30 other people to write useless +1 comments that will be delivered to 86 people at least, and even so, this issue would not advance more than 3 pos (would not be in the top 10 yet). That's ~2600 useless emails.

Should those 30 people use the reactions instead, this issue would move into the top 20, without generating any useless traffic at all. If those users are really eager to having this feature, they can use multiple reactions, which will significantly increase the count when all positive reactions are considered.

the ability to have more than one workspace open at the same time has not been promised and there is no target date for any such feature availability

This is either Microsoft's policy or how VSCode as a product is managed. There is nothing special in this regard compared to the many other similar issues that are open but have been locked. It seems unfair that users interested on other similar features are locked from even reacting possitively, and yet we have to deal with selfish comments here. Furthermore, it is kind of annoying that so many users are misusing the alternatives they have, implicitly looking down on others' possibility to do so.

---

Microsoft still accepts additional supporting posts - sometimes people even have additional insightful thoughts on a matter and their usage situation that none of the previous posters have considered before.

I'm perfectly ok with any comment (as yours) which adds any kind of information to the context. Knowing how you expect to use this feature can be useful for others, even if one's use case is a niche. I wish other users cared about the community and spent more than 5sec to write a comment. I'm sure all of yours took more than that! It would be a pleassure to see a notification of this issue and expect something useful instead of noise!

If anyone were trolling, that would be a different matter but it's all pretty innocent +1, I'm for that, too! types of comments.

When it is harder to find actual info than those "innocent +1", the adjective does not fit any more. When a thread contains more useless comments than relevant content and yet multiple people decide to make it worse by adding even more useless content, I'd call them "selfish +1". Those are harmful for the community (other users that want to know the status) and all the info they contain is a nickname. If they want to get notified, there is a suscribe button which, btw, is another metric that maintainers can use to prioritise the issues.

Did you, as an exercise, try to find the technical explanation of why this is not available or planned yet? Is it explained in any of the (hidden) comments in this issue? Is it explained in any other issue linked from here? I did, and it is not a pleasant experience... Maybe there should be separate issues for "clients demanding features to Microsoft" from "developers at GitHub that want to contribute to VSCode". Is there a VScode Feedback Hub?

[j-a-lewis]

I think many of the concerns that you cite could be addressed by more powerful forum software with the ability to filter - for example, just filter out comments shorter than a certain length, e.g. two characters - still follow a thread but not be notified when posts shorter than a certain length are made, etc. Hopefully, forum moderators have such power available to them to digest our posts even if they can't share such forum analysis software features with users. Lots of Microsoft software uses uservoice and only allows each user a certain number of feature votes. So I think if what's going on in this thread with people just doing "+1" is a great concern to important folks working on VS Code, they could in part address it through changes to the forum software. It's also possible to have AI that nags posters according to the type of content allowed, etc. For example, you mention "Did you, as an exercise, try to find the technical explanation of why...." A forum, either through diligent moderation or through AI could supply that info to a poster, say, inf a link to a bulletin board of feature request status, rather than require a user to go find something .... One moderator or AI bot could supply a lot of users with answers and direction vs. many different users having to wander around, each individually lost, etc. There are lots more important things in the world, probably lots more important features of VS Code to work on. We're talking about a feature that might be nice, might not be possible, nice to see how many people like it, and it would be great if we all just chill out about it. Our discussion itself is taking the thread off topic and might provide a basis for locking this thread.

[ent3r]

What is the hardest part of implementing this? I feel like this would not be that hard to make, but i am not familiar with the code, so i don't know

[talonrenaud]

In my opinion the best alternative to this issue so far is this extension. I use it religiously, it doesn't replace the request in this thread but it alleviate some of the pain of not being able to open multiple workspace at a time.
Extension Name: Workspace Explorer
https://gitlab.com/tomsaunders-tools/vscode-workspace-explorer

[eine]

In #76904, hierarchical multi-root support is suggested. I believe that such an approach (...) might fit the needs of many users, without requiring VSC to handle multiple workspaces.

76904 is now a candidate for Backlog. I'd like to please ask users interested on this feature to consider upvoting #76904.

[Pmoshbr]

+1

[bckelley]

This is 2 years old now, is going to become a feature or not?

[omarefg]

Why is this isn't a thing yet? :sob:

[corydorning]

Just switched to VSCode and this is my only complaint so far. :)

[thombee]

This would be very useful!

[ubugnu]

Hurry up ;-)

[aJamDonut]

++plz :)

[vmanolasBeat]

+1 please. Thank you!

[rgfpy]

This would be very useful! Or short key code to changes betweens Windows Workspaces

[LucaGabi]

can you please read this feature request here: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/95182 and upvote ? in my opinion it is similar request with less clutter, thanks!

[j-a-lewis]

In my case I want multiple workspaces open at the same time and I want to be able to switch between them. I don't want to have one workspace replaced by another even if it's very easy to switch back and forth. I want to be able to compare code side-by-side for example. Something I am working on vs. known working code examples with all the dependencies. Sometimes what's "clutter" makes it easier for dumb coding newbies like me to find and work with things. As an ignoramus that would be one of my complaints about Code. It has a lot of powerful features but alot of these are skillfully hidden away from the beginning user. But since I am just a hobbyist, not a professional coder and I'm a very old geezer (74), I'm happy to live with whatever Microsoft and the majority of users finds works best for them

[UAQureshi]

the feature would be really helpful indeed

[jaramillo-carlos]

+1 please. Thank you!

[pauloch8]

Would be nice if it had workspaces in folders like gitkraken has.

[uocxp]

+1

[iamshreeram]

Is this still in the backlog? Is there any plans for this feature?

[oronyaniv]

i am a beginner at scripting etc. the VSCODE is great, as all written before me, the only lack is multiple workspaces at the same window.

[ichiemo]

+1

[NamVr]

Hi, is this feature going to come soon?
Or it's just like cancelled? I see it's a year old issue.

[Pmoshbr]

Just waiting for this feature!! It's a long time almost 2 years from the first request....

[NamVr]

Hm, I am new to VSC. So, It is 1 day for me xD

[shobhitgupta1986]

Its been a long time since this request thread was started, almost 2 years and the feature hasn't been integrated yet. It would be really useful to have this feature especially when we have to work on multiple small projects and switch between them quickly to debug little issues.

[NamVr]

Exactly...

[jstein-ftdi]

my solution is to save many workspaces for the same project/repo that are specific to bug tickets or feature tickets. they each preserve the open folder and file states of my progress on jobs. i can have as many app windows open at one time as i want. works very well!

[NamVr]

That can be boring to do so ;)

[bobmacks]

+1

[GZidar]

Just wondering if maybe this feature covers the use cases you have described in this thread: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/multi-root-workspaces

Based on feedback, apparently it does not. Thanks for the clarification @eine

[eine]

@GZidar, see https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/43188#issuecomment-382507478, https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/43188#issuecomment-449667481, https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/43188#issuecomment-454727004...

[NamVr]

updates?

[spanishgum]

I've recently started using the Remote Development extension pack. Having multiple workspaces within one window would be amazing, especially if I could control extensions tied to each workspace.

For example, I am working on a project with separate repositories for various system components, each using different languages and tools (C++, react, rust, python, etc).

Each component has a devcontainer.json so I can launch an environment with preset toolchains and vscode extensions.
If I'm working on 1 component, everything is great. But sometimes I need to test out multiple / all components. Having 4-5 windows open becomes cumbersome, especially when running over X or RDP, etc.

I imagine this is a challenging undertaking, but it would be an awesome capability.

[karandocs]

One big reason for not using VSCODE

[m-adilshaikh]

@bpasero @joaomoreno @jrieken @isidorn @alexdima @Tyriar @aeschli @roblourens @rebornix. Do any maintainers have a clue to pitch in which backlog this is in as of this lite apocalypse year...? political one or "beyond 5000 more important issues" one?

[QuentinDanjou]

@bpasero @joaomoreno @jrieken @isidorn @alexdima @Tyriar @aeschli @roblourens @rebornix. Do any maintainers have a clue to pitch in which backlog this is in as of this lite apocalypse year...? political one or "beyond 5000 more important issues" one?

Come on... Why was this marked as spam?
This thread have >500 reactions, open >2years ago, I think we deserve a bit of feedback right?

[Tyriar]

@QuentinDanjou please don't ping all these people.

[m-adilshaikh]

@QuentinDanjou Please don't ping all these people, ping the rest of them.

[simon-well]

+1