Below is the summary by Copilot after a day's troubleshooting the VS Insiders layout.
Title
Editor collapses or disappears when Terminal or other tool windows gain focus — VS 2026 Insiders window‑layout regression
Environment
Visual Studio 2026 Insiders (latest build as of May 2026)
Windows 11
Reproducible across multiple sessions and solutions
No custom extensions involved
Summary
In the 2026 Insiders build, the editor is incorrectly treated as a floating document. When the Terminal or certain tool windows gain focus, the editor collapses or disappears, even when fully docked. This behavior persists even after disabling Preview Tabs, Auto‑Hide, and all docking/preview features.
This appears to be a regression in the new window‑layout engine / immersive focus system.
Reproduction Steps
Open any solution in Visual Studio 2026 Insiders.
Ensure the editor, Terminal, and Solution Explorer are docked.
Disable all Preview Tab options.
Click inside the Terminal window.
Switch between apps (e.g., browser → Visual Studio).
Return to Visual Studio.
Actual Behavior
Editor collapses or disappears when Terminal gains focus.
Editor collapses when switching apps.
Docking rules are ignored.
Preview Tab settings are ignored.
Right‑click sometimes unavailable on the editor.
Editor behaves as if it is a floating document, even though it is docked.
Focus Mode is removed from UI, but its behavior still triggers internally.
Full Screen mode appears stuck internally even when the UI shows it as off.
Expected Behavior
Editor should remain visible and docked.
Clicking Terminal should not collapse the editor.
Switching apps should not alter layout.
Docking and Preview Tab settings should be respected.
Editor should not enter floating mode unless explicitly undocked.
Workaround
The only reliable workaround is:
Press Shift + Alt + Enter
This exits a hidden immersive/full‑screen state that is not reflected in the UI.
After doing this, the layout stabilizes until Visual Studio is restarted or the bug is retriggered.
Impact
This issue severely disrupts workflow:
Editor disappears unpredictably
Layout becomes unstable
Docking cannot be trusted
Terminal use becomes frustrating
Users lose context repeatedly
This has been reproducible for over a month in the Insiders build.
Title
Editor collapses or disappears when Terminal or other tool windows gain focus — VS 2026 Insiders window‑layout regression
Environment
Visual Studio 2026 Insiders (latest build as of May 2026)
Windows 11
Reproducible across multiple sessions and solutions
No custom extensions involved
Summary
In the 2026 Insiders build, the editor is incorrectly treated as a floating document. When the Terminal or certain tool windows gain focus, the editor collapses or disappears, even when fully docked. This behavior persists even after disabling Preview Tabs, Auto‑Hide, and all docking/preview features.
This appears to be a regression in the new window‑layout engine / immersive focus system.
Reproduction Steps
Open any solution in Visual Studio 2026 Insiders.
Ensure the editor, Terminal, and Solution Explorer are docked.
Disable all Preview Tab options.
Click inside the Terminal window.
Switch between apps (e.g., browser → Visual Studio).
Return to Visual Studio.
Actual Behavior
Editor collapses or disappears when Terminal gains focus.
Editor collapses when switching apps.
Docking rules are ignored.
Preview Tab settings are ignored.
Right‑click sometimes unavailable on the editor.
Editor behaves as if it is a floating document, even though it is docked.
Focus Mode is removed from UI, but its behavior still triggers internally.
Full Screen mode appears stuck internally even when the UI shows it as off.
Expected Behavior
Editor should remain visible and docked.
Clicking Terminal should not collapse the editor.
Switching apps should not alter layout.
Docking and Preview Tab settings should be respected.
Editor should not enter floating mode unless explicitly undocked.
Workaround
The only reliable workaround is:
Press Shift + Alt + Enter
This exits a hidden immersive/full‑screen state that is not reflected in the UI.
After doing this, the layout stabilizes until Visual Studio is restarted or the bug is retriggered.
Impact
This issue severely disrupts workflow:
Editor disappears unpredictably
Layout becomes unstable
Docking cannot be trusted
Terminal use becomes frustrating
Users lose context repeatedly
This has been reproducible for over a month in the Insiders build.
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