Change:
} private showOrHideViewContainer(viewContainer: ViewContainer): void { <del> let contextKey = this.enabledViewContainersContextKeys.get(viewContainer.id); if (!contextKey) { contextKey = this.contextKeyService.createKey(getEnabledViewContainerContextKey(viewContainer.id), false); this.enabledViewContainersContextKeys.set(viewContainer.id, contextKey); } </del> if (this.shouldBeHidden(viewContainer)) { <del> contextKey.set(false); </del> this.hideComposite(viewContainer.id); } else { <del> contextKey.set(true); </del> this.addComposite(viewContainer); } }

Discussion:
Type: <bBug</bSteps to Repro: Open VS Code and hide activity bar Open Explorer Reload window Open Search view using keyboard Cannot open Explorer view using keyboard In previous versions of VS code the shift + CMD + E would always open the Explorer tab. With this version it no longer works if the Activity Bar is hidden. Looks like the system shortcut has either or changed the when condition to . If i do show the bar this shortcut works again. I've just removed the condition but curious as to why it was to begin with? May not be a bug Opened this as "Standard View shortcuts" because it seems this has also been for , , & VS Code version: Code 1.84.0 (Universal) (, 2023-11-01T11:30:19.406Z) OS version: Darwin arm64 22.6.0 Modes: <details<summarySystem Info</summary </details<details<summaryExtensions (8)</summaryExtensionVersion ------ circleci1.23.0 vscode-simpler-icons1.6.5 go0.39.1 terraform2.28.2 vetur0.37.3 vscode-commons0.0.6 vscode-xml0.26.1 vscode-yaml1.14.0 (1 theme extensions excluded) </details<!-- generated by issue reporter --
Turned on the shortcut debugging and put the when clause back in place and that is indeed the issue. Searching the code base for the when clause doesn't yield any results except in issues so I'm unsure of where / why this changed or even if it has with this version
Same issue on 1.84 Mac OS 14.1 Removing the when condition fixed it for me as well: ! Delete everything =press enter
This issue is also affecting extensions (Command + Shift + X) - same fix works there But it's not affecting some others, like source control (Command + Shift + G), or search (Command + Shift + F)
Confirmed this on my PC. It doesn't work when the icon buttons (activity bar) are hidden. In my case (Ubuntu), stopped working. It used to show the Explorer. I can show the search bar with but cannot go back to the Explorer with . Removing this line from worked: This shows the buttons again, and makes the shortcut work again.

Thoes two shortcuts default condition confused me, I always work without activityBar, instead I use shortcuts to reach anywhere.
Exactly same issue, shortcuts should work no matter what you have inside setting.
I experience same issue. Can not use keyboard sshortcuts to open and focus on explorer. I use JAWS screen reader and Windows. The line mentioned by fixed my issue. On Windows, easyest way is to open command palette (ctrl-shift-p), search for and press enter. In the JSON file search the mentioned line, delete it and press CTRL+s, CTRL+f4. Keyboard shorcuts works again. Thanks for this idea:)
<img width="476" alt="image" src=""my Activity Bar was hidden before, today I found that the 'Show Explorer' shortcut keys didn’t work. <img width="675" alt="image" src=""try to change the Activity Bar to 'side' or 'top' and then change it back to 'hidden', worked for me.
To add more clarity on this issue which I didn't see mentioned here: In the control panel, after you select , there is no option to show it again. There should be a setting for .If the Activity Bar is hidden and you select the UI space for the Activity Bar will be revealed, but the Activity Bar content/icons will still be hidden. This setting should either show the Activity Bar again in full or the setting should not be shown when the Actiivity Bar is hidden.
Your issue is completely different from this issue. Please follow up with this for your issue.
Verified that this has been fixed in the latest insiders. Closing this issue.