Keep your workspace clutter-free: only one sidebar at a time.

Install from Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX Registry.

• Keeps your editor neat: only one sidebar visible at a time.
• Optional: also hides the panel when switching.
• Almost zero config: you only control whether you want to hide the bottom panel.

Working on a laptop means every pixel counts. I wanted to maximize my coding area while keeping sidebars accessible when needed:

• Limited screen real estate: Laptop displays don't have room for multiple sidebars competing for space.
• Focus on what matters: Keep the code editor front and center, with sidebars appearing only when actively used.
• Distraction-free workflow: Automatically hide unused UI elements to maintain focus on your work.

The result is a cleaner, more focused development environment that adapts to your workflow rather than cluttering your screen.

You can run these commands from the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on a Mac, or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows).

To use this extension, you need to remap your sidebar toggle keys in VS Code.

1. Open Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Type "Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)"
3. Add these keybindings:

[
  {
    "key": "cmd+b",
    "command": "tidySpace.toggleSidebarVisibility"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+`",
    "command": "tidySpace.toggleAuxiliaryBar"
  }
]

NOTE: Feel free to use any key bindings you're used to.

Windows users: Replace cmd with ctrl.

Now when you press Cmd+B or Cmd+`, only one sidebar will be open at a time.

You can change the following options in the Visual Studio Code settings.

The changelog can be found in CHANGELOG.md.

Check out my other Visual Studio Code extensions:

• Reveal on GitHub — open the current project or file on GitHub
• Notelets — add sticky notes to any file in your workspace

This project is maintained in my spare time. If this has been helpful to you, consider supporting its continued development and maintenance.

Bug fixes are welcome, but not new features. Read our contributing guidelines to learn more.

Open an issue on GitHub and submit a pull request.

Nick Plekhanov and contributors.

Icon by Creative Squad.

MIT License.