Deleting a file jumps to another random file in the file pane

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

Deleting a file jumps to another random file in the file pane.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. delete a file
  2. it jumps

I DO want the file pane to show the currently selected file, but it should ONLY change when I actiively select a different file in the main code window, not by any other event.
This happens also due to other events, but this one is the easiest to reproduce.

Bottom line: the only thing that should make the filie pane jump is active user selection of a different file in the main window. nothing else.

Expected Behavior

  1. delete a file
  2. file pane should not be affected because I did not select another file.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Version Information

Version: 2.3.41 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 2ca326e0d1ce10956aea33d54c0e2d8c13c58a30
Date: 2026-01-16T19:14:00.150Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

Hey @Gulzar, this looks related to your previous report from last month, where Colin suggested the explorer.autoReveal setting.

Have you tried turning it on? If not:

  1. Open the Command Palette Ctrl + Shift + PPreferences: Open Settings (JSON)
  2. Add: "explorer.autoReveal": false

I know you mentioned you want the file panel to follow the selected file, but sadly there isn’t a middle option that follows only manual selection while ignoring other events like deletion. It’s either auto reveal for everything, or nothing.

The jump on delete is inherited VS Code behavior. When a file gets deleted, the explorer moves focus to the nearest remaining item in the tree, and that causes the scroll.

If you’ve already tried autoReveal: false and it still happens, let me know and I’ll dig deeper.

Thanks
The reason I didn’t want the previous solution is it’s all or nothing. I am not sure which is worse.
So the correct way is to open a VSCODE issue?
I am not using vscode, I’m using Cursor. so I assume that would be yet another problem.

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