The Problem

Over the years I’ve often needed to search for specific files by their name in Visual Studio Code, but never figured out how to do it. I had always assumed that a Command F would reveal the file to me, but nope, that always only searched within files.

So I’ve had to always resort to using complicated bash commands from search engine results (searching a new method each time I needed to do this), or literally trying my luck poking at folders in a random search.

Solution

The answer was right under my nose all this time – VS Code’s Quick Open feature. So

  • Step 1: open Quick Open
  • Step 2: just type the file name in.

Yes, it’s as simple as that. I can’t believe it took me years of using VS Code to figure this out. smh.

Steps for different Operating Systems

Steps in Mac OSX

  1. Command + P to open the Quick Open search bar.
  2. Type the file name in.
  3. Enter.

Steps in Linux

  1. Ctrl + P to open the Quick Open search bar.
  2. Type the file name in.
  3. Enter.

Steps in Windows

  1. Ctrl + P to open the Quick Open search bar.
  2. Type the file name in.
  3. Enter.

Conclusion

Legit, its as straightforward as that. I hope search engines put this in the hint at the top of their search engine results, and save everyone else the trouble.