New VS Code update anti-highlights active tab

Type: Bug

At a glance, which tab is the one that is currently selected?

You would think it is OneOffsSeptember2026.cs because that is the one that visually flows into the rest of the page, but no, it is actually Program.cs.

This visual disparity is not how it looked in the previous version. The previous version correctly had the non-selected tabs darker and visually separated, with the selected tab flowing directly into the code below.

The old way makes sense because it is a skeumorphic design based on tabs in file folders: the tab for the folder you are currently looking inside of would be visibly connected to the rest of the folder, while the tabs for other folders would be occluded by the folder that is open.

As it is now, the selected tab is essentially "anti-highlighted" -- made less visually distinct than tabs that are not selected. This is particularly confusing when there are exactly two tabs, as in the example, but still looks bad when there are more tabs.

VS Code version: Code 1.137.0 (645f29cc3176500b4b5762ba887cf2a7f0ffdf2c, 2026-09-08T13:43:59-07:00)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045
Modes:

System Info

|Item|Value|
|---|---|
|CPUs|13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-13500 (20 x 2496)|
|GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled
GPU0: VENDOR= 0x8086, DEVICE=0x4680 [Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770], DRIVER_VENDOR=Intel, DRIVER_VERSION=31.0.101.3302 *ACTIVE*
GPU1: VENDOR= 0x1414, DEVICE=0x008c [Microsoft Basic Render Driver], DRIVER_VERSION=10.0.19041.5794
Machine model name:
Machine model version:
direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
opengl: enabled_on
rasterization: enabled
raw_draw: disabled_off_ok
skia_graphite: disabled_off
trees_in_viz: disabled_off
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
webgl: enabled
webgpu: enabled
webnn: disabled_off|
|Load (avg)|undefined|
|Memory (System)|15.70GB (1.18GB free)|
|Process Argv|C:\\Users\\beskildsen\\source\\repos\\IT_EmployeeDatabase --crash-reporter-id 2b394ff4-0773-4cdb-8243-f65b9046bcf2|
|Screen Reader|no|
|VM|0%|
Extensions (13)

Name|Identifier|Author|Version
---|---|---|---
Elm|elmtooling.elm-ls-vscode|elmTooling|2.8.0
Go|golang.go|golang|0.56.1
Test Explorer UI|hbenl.vscode-test-explorer|hbenl|2.22.1
Rainbow CSV|mechatroner.rainbow-csv|mechatroner|3.24.1
C# Dev Kit|ms-dotnettools.csdevkit|ms-dotnettools|3.20.199
C#|ms-dotnettools.csharp|ms-dotnettools|2.140.8
.NET MAUI|ms-dotnettools.dotnet-maui|ms-dotnettools|1.17.260
.NET Install Tool|ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime|ms-dotnettools|3.1.0
IntelliCode for C# Dev Kit|ms-dotnettools.vscodeintellicode-csharp|ms-dotnettools|2.2.3
Test Adapter Converter|ms-vscode.test-adapter-converter|ms-vscode|0.2.1
Java|oracle.oracle-java|Oracle|26.0.2
Lua|sumneko.lua|sumneko|3.19.1
Local Lua Debugger|tomblind.local-lua-debugger-vscode|tomblind|0.3.3

A/B Experiments

```
vsliv368cf:30146710
binariesv615:30325510
nativeloc1:31344060
dwcopilot:31170013
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythonrdcb7:31342333
6518g693:31463988
aj953862:31281341
82j33506:31327384
envsactivate1:31551504
cloudbuttont:31379625
3efgi100_wstrepl:31403338
ec5jj548:31422691
cp_cls_t_966_ss:31526232
4je02754:31466945
8hhj4413:31478653
cp_cls_t_1081:31454832
conptydll_true:31498968
e9c30283:31461165
c9b86496:31447327
ei9d7968:31496641
chat:31457767
ec1eg703:31520046
ddid_t:31478206
hmra_i5g22:31518061
7df3h592:31512476
cp_cls_t_1082:31535311
logging_enabled_new:31498466
db5d2638:31499441
jb_cp_cls_t_632:31543129
56dj4588:31512888
32d76977:31512328
ha629193:31508444
a1ije391_t:31540920
jbcp_cls_pctr_t:31531130
cp_intellij_t_nes:31548657
jf4hg949:31526829
ahp-both-windows:31556933
ihg5j128:31534457
9gg7f176:31542112
enable_editor_pane_layout:31569726
allow-none:31555437
ac562147:31564510
c7c27ce7:31554789
1h923230:31564177
0dg73464:31554319
treatment-23-1:31555779
unuse_dynamic_mcp:31555281
0d8dfbc3:31570291
nemo-v2:31565334
0c1h4866:31566224
session-archive:31558132
5b8j3302:31564601
mangle-name-control:31572633
intellij_nes_preview_t:31580086
39a5d156:31574986
2bfb8b39:31576696
unread:31581112
permission_prompt_control:1332567
ccr_pr_nudge_control:1319470
vsc_wsm_t:1340632
eh853263:1370294
14b85561:1348997
1g5a5742:1379227
3aced641:1389836

```