Stop VSCode from opening the same multiple time when navigating through the code when tabs/columns used

[sdzialowski-godaddy]

Why doesn't VSCode focus on an already open file in a separate tab instead of opening it a second time?

I find this really annoying when navigating large codebases with many functions and classes spread across multiple files.

During navigation, when trying to leverage tabs, users often end up with the same file opened twice in separate columns.

This makes it difficult to deduplicate them and prevents taking full advantage of the tab feature in VSCode.

---

So the request is simply:
To make VSCode to just focus on already opened file if it is opened in separate tab/column instead of opening second instance of the same file in the current tab/column

---

---

I don't understand why it's behaving this way.

I used NetBeans and WebStorm for years, and both would simply shift focus to an already-open file instead of opening it a second time.

If this is not a bug but an intended feature, perhaps it could be addressed by providing users with an option to choose the behavior.

[bpasero]

See setting workbench.editor.revealIfOpen

[vs-code-engineering]

We closed this issue because it is a question about using VS Code rather than an issue or feature request. Please search for help on StackOverflow, where the community has already answered thousands of similar questions. You may find their guide on asking a new question helpful if your question has not already been asked. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!