diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 27d7039..b83b8fc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) and this p
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- Adds a prompt to enable the view to the _Show \* View_ commands when the specified view is disabled — closes [#710](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/710) & [#711](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/711)
+
 ### Removed
 
 - Removes `-m` flag from `git log` when following renames (using `--follow`), because it ends up returning all merge commits (regardless if the file in question was changed or not)
diff --git a/src/commands/common.ts b/src/commands/common.ts
index 13ebbe0..b31bbd5 100644
--- a/src/commands/common.ts
+++ b/src/commands/common.ts
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ export enum Commands {
 }
 
 interface CommandConstructor {
-    new (): any;
+    new (): Command;
 }
 
 const registrableCommands: CommandConstructor[] = [];
diff --git a/src/container.ts b/src/container.ts
index 9c32608..2f87572 100644
--- a/src/container.ts
+++ b/src/container.ts
@@ -226,7 +226,11 @@ export class Container {
 
     private static _repositoriesView: RepositoriesView | undefined;
     static get repositoriesView(): RepositoriesView {
-        return this._repositoriesView!;
+        if (this._repositoriesView === undefined) {
+            this._context.subscriptions.push((this._repositoriesView = new RepositoriesView()));
+        }
+
+        return this._repositoriesView;
     }
 
     private static _searchView: SearchView | undefined;
diff --git a/src/views/compareView.ts b/src/views/compareView.ts
index dbbe02c..36753e8 100644
--- a/src/views/compareView.ts
+++ b/src/views/compareView.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import { ViewBase } from './viewBase';
 
 export class CompareView extends ViewBase<CompareNode> {
     constructor() {
-        super('gitlens.views.compare');
+        super('gitlens.views.compare', 'Compare');
 
         setCommandContext(CommandContext.ViewsCompareKeepResults, this.keepResults);
     }
diff --git a/src/views/fileHistoryView.ts b/src/views/fileHistoryView.ts
index 04226c6..743468f 100644
--- a/src/views/fileHistoryView.ts
+++ b/src/views/fileHistoryView.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { ViewBase } from './viewBase';
 
 export class FileHistoryView extends ViewBase<FileHistoryTrackerNode> {
     constructor() {
-        super('gitlens.views.fileHistory');
+        super('gitlens.views.fileHistory', 'File History');
     }
 
     getRoot() {
diff --git a/src/views/lineHistoryView.ts b/src/views/lineHistoryView.ts
index 765700f..4a7aa3b 100644
--- a/src/views/lineHistoryView.ts
+++ b/src/views/lineHistoryView.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { ViewBase } from './viewBase';
 
 export class LineHistoryView extends ViewBase<LineHistoryTrackerNode> {
     constructor() {
-        super('gitlens.views.lineHistory');
+        super('gitlens.views.lineHistory', 'Line History');
     }
 
     getRoot() {
diff --git a/src/views/repositoriesView.ts b/src/views/repositoriesView.ts
index 65db0c5..b71591d 100644
--- a/src/views/repositoriesView.ts
+++ b/src/views/repositoriesView.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { ViewBase } from './viewBase';
 
 export class RepositoriesView extends ViewBase<RepositoriesNode> {
     constructor() {
-        super('gitlens.views.repositories');
+        super('gitlens.views.repositories', 'Repositories');
     }
 
     private _onDidChangeAutoRefresh = new EventEmitter<void>();
diff --git a/src/views/searchView.ts b/src/views/searchView.ts
index 8e70c52..e8b9c6b 100644
--- a/src/views/searchView.ts
+++ b/src/views/searchView.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ interface SearchQueryResult {
 
 export class SearchView extends ViewBase<SearchNode> {
     constructor() {
-        super('gitlens.views.search');
+        super('gitlens.views.search', 'Search Commits');
 
         setCommandContext(CommandContext.ViewsSearchKeepResults, this.keepResults);
     }
diff --git a/src/views/viewBase.ts b/src/views/viewBase.ts
index f112c1d..da5d6ad 100644
--- a/src/views/viewBase.ts
+++ b/src/views/viewBase.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 import {
     commands,
     ConfigurationChangeEvent,
+    ConfigurationTarget,
     Disposable,
     Event,
     EventEmitter,
+    MessageItem,
     TreeDataProvider,
     TreeItem,
     TreeItemCollapsibleState,
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ import {
 import { configuration } from '../configuration';
 import { Container } from '../container';
 import { Logger } from '../logger';
-import { debug, Functions, log } from '../system';
+import { debug, Functions, log, Strings } from '../system';
 import { CompareView } from './compareView';
 import { FileHistoryView } from './fileHistoryView';
 import { LineHistoryView } from './lineHistoryView';
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ export abstract class ViewBase<TRoot extends ViewNode<View>> implements TreeData
     protected _root: TRoot | undefined;
     protected _tree: TreeView<ViewNode> | undefined;
 
-    constructor(public readonly id: string) {
+    constructor(public readonly id: string, public readonly name: string) {
         this.registerCommands();
 
         Container.context.subscriptions.push(configuration.onDidChange(this.onConfigurationChanged, this));
@@ -194,12 +196,30 @@ export abstract class ViewBase<TRoot extends ViewNode<View>> implements TreeData
 
     @log()
     async show() {
+        const location = this.location;
+
         try {
-            const location = this.location;
             return await commands.executeCommand(`${this.id}${location ? `:${location}` : ''}.focus`);
         }
         catch (ex) {
             Logger.error(ex);
+
+            const setting = `${Strings.splitSingle(this.id, '.')[1]}.enabled`;
+            if (!configuration.get(setting)) {
+                const actions: MessageItem[] = [{ title: 'Enable' }, { title: 'Cancel', isCloseAffordance: true }];
+
+                const result = await window.showErrorMessage(
+                    `Unable to show the ${this.name} view since it's currently disabled. Would you like to enable it?`,
+                    ...actions
+                );
+
+                if (result === actions[0]) {
+                    await configuration.update(setting, true, ConfigurationTarget.Global);
+
+                    return commands.executeCommand(`${this.id}${location ? `:${location}` : ''}.focus`);
+                }
+            }
+
             return undefined;
         }
     }