User Guide

🚀 Quick Start

To start using the extension and keep your workspace clean:

1. Exclude items from the Explorer

You can hide any file or folder directly by right-clicking it from the native VS Code Explorer.

1. Right-click on a file or directory you want to hide.

2. Select the option 🗃️ Exclude with Exclude Manager Pro… (or 🗃️ Excluir con Exclude Manager Pro… if you have the editor in Spanish).

   

3. A QuickPick window will open, suggesting smart variations of the exclusion pattern (e.g., the exact file, all files with that extension, or the complete parent folder). Select one or more variations and press Enter.

4. The selected patterns will be automatically saved and hidden from your workspace.

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⚙️ Features and Management

2. Interactive Checkboxes

In the Exclude Manager Pro sidebar, each pattern has a checkbox to its left:

• Enabled (Checked): The pattern is written to your settings.json file as true, hiding it from the explorer.
• Disabled (Unchecked): The pattern is changed to false in your settings.json, making it visible immediately, but remaining saved in the list so you can hide it again whenever you want.

• Multi-selection (Shift + Click): You can select multiple patterns simultaneously by clicking on a pattern and then pressing Shift while clicking another. This will select the intermediate range and display a quick action panel at the bottom (with options like Toggle, Pin, Move, and Delete) indicating the number of selected items.

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3. Virtual Groups (Folders)

You can group multiple patterns under custom virtual folders to organize your space and bulk enable or disable sets of exclusions.

1. Click the folder icon with a plus sign (Create Group / Crear grupo) at the top of the sidebar.

2. Enter the name of your new group.

   

3. Right-click on any exclusion pattern in your list, select Move to Group… (or Mover a grupo…), and then select the destination group.

   

4. You can collapse or expand the group folder, as well as check the entire group’s checkbox to enable or disable all its members at once.

   

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4. Pinning Patterns (Pin)

If you have frequently used patterns, you can right-click them and select Pin / Unpin (or Fijar / Desfijar). This will move the pattern to the top section of the tree view (outside of any group), marking it with an orange pin icon to keep it always handy.

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5. Filtering with the Search Bar

You can quickly search and filter your patterns:

1. Click the magnifying glass button (Search) in the Sidebar title bar.

2. Type your query to filter the visual pattern tree in real time.

3. To the right of the Search button in the header, a close button (x) will be enabled. Clicking it will instantly clear the search query and display the complete list again.

   

Sorting Patterns

In addition to searching, you can sort your patterns by clicking the sorting button to the right of the search bar. You will have options to sort them by the order they were added (Default (Added)), alphabetically from A to Z (Alphabetical (A-Z)), or from Z to A (Alphabetical (Z-A)).

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6. Scope Toggling (Global and Workspace)

In the top right of the view’s title bar (next to refresh), you will see the Workspace Scope (folder) and Global Scope (house) icons:

• Clicking the Global Scope (house) icon will only display and modify global exclusions from your VS Code user settings (Global Settings).
• Clicking the Workspace Scope (folder) icon will filter and manage only the local exclusions of the current project (.vscode/settings.json).