Installation

System Requirements

VS Code is a small download (< 100 MB) and has a minimal disk footprint (< 500 MB). It runs well on these platforms:

Windows

Windows 10 or later (64-bit)Recommended:

1.6 GHz or faster processor
1 GB RAM

macOS

macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or laterSupports:

Intel and Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
Universal binary

Linux

64-bit Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, Fedora, SUSERequires:

GLIBCXX 3.4.25 or later
GLIBC 2.28 or later

VS Code ships monthly with new features and bug fixes. You can download the latest stable release from code.visualstudio.com.

Installation by Platform

Windows
macOS
Linux

Windows Installation

Download the Installer

Visit code.visualstudio.com/Download and download the Windows installer.Options:

User Installer (recommended) - Installs for current user only, no admin rights required
System Installer - Installs for all users, requires admin rights
ZIP Archive - Portable installation

Run the Installer

Double-click the downloaded .exe file
Accept the license agreement
Choose installation location
Select additional tasks (recommended options checked by default)

Additional Tasks

During installation, you can enable these options:

Add “Open with Code” action to Windows Explorer file context menu
Add “Open with Code” action to Windows Explorer directory context menu
Register Code as an editor for supported file types
Add to PATH (allows running code from command line)

We recommend enabling all options for the best experience.

Launch VS Code

After installation completes, you can launch VS Code from:

Start menu
Desktop shortcut (if created)
Command Prompt or PowerShell with code

Windows Package Managers

You can also install VS Code using package managers:

# Using Windows Package Manager (winget)
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

To use VS Code with WSL:

Install VS Code on Windows
Install the Remote - WSL extension
Open a WSL terminal and run: code .

VS Code will automatically connect to your WSL distribution.

macOS Installation

Download VS Code

Visit code.visualstudio.com/Download and download the macOS .zip file.

The download is a universal binary that works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Install the Application

Open the downloaded .zip file (Safari does this automatically)
Drag Visual Studio Code.app to the Applications folder
This makes VS Code available in Launchpad

Launch VS Code

You can launch VS Code from:

Launchpad
Spotlight (press Cmd+Space and type “Visual Studio Code”)
Applications folder

Add to PATH (Optional)

To run code from the terminal:

Open VS Code
Press Cmd+Shift+P to open Command Palette
Type “shell command” and select Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH
Restart your terminal

Now you can open files and folders with:

code /path/to/project
code file.txt

macOS Package Managers

# Using Homebrew
brew install --cask visual-studio-code

macOS Security

If you see a message that VS Code “cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified”:

Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy
Click Open Anyway in the General tab
Confirm you want to open the application

This only happens on the first launch. macOS remembers your choice.

Linux Installation

VS Code supports Debian/Ubuntu, Red Hat/Fedora/SUSE, and other Linux distributions.

Debian/Ubuntu
Red Hat/Fedora/SUSE
Snap
Flatpak

Install via APT Repository

This method ensures automatic updates:

# Update package index and install dependencies
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wget gpg

# Download and install Microsoft GPG key
wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -D -o root -g root -m 644 packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg

# Add VS Code repository
echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list > /dev/null

# Update package cache and install VS Code
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install code

Install via .deb Package

Alternatively, download and install the .deb package:

# Download the .deb package
wget https://code.visualstudio.com/sha/download?build=stable&os=linux-deb-x64 -O vscode.deb

# Install the package
sudo apt install ./vscode.deb

Install via YUM Repository

For Red Hat and Fedora:

# Import Microsoft GPG key
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

# Add repository
echo -e "[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo > /dev/null

# Update cache and install
dnf check-update
sudo dnf install code

Install via Zypper (SUSE/openSUSE)

For SUSE and openSUSE:

# Import Microsoft GPG key
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

# Add repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode vscode

# Install
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install code

Install via .rpm Package

Or download and install the .rpm package:

# Download and install
sudo rpm -ivh https://code.visualstudio.com/sha/download?build=stable&os=linux-rpm-x64

Install via Snap (works on most distributions):

sudo snap install --classic code

The Snap package updates automatically in the background.

Install via Flatpak:

flatpak install flathub com.visualstudio.code

Run with:

flatpak run com.visualstudio.code

Launch VS Code on Linux

After installation, you can launch VS Code:

# From terminal
code

# Open a specific folder
code /path/to/project

# Open a file
code file.txt

Or launch from your application menu.

Linux Troubleshooting

GPG Key Issues

If you get GPG errors during installation:

# Clear cached keys and reinstall
sudo apt-key del BC528686B50D79E339D3721CEB3E94ADBE1229CF
wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > packages.microsoft.gpg
sudo install -D -o root -g root -m 644 packages.microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg

Missing Dependencies

If VS Code fails to launch due to missing libraries:

# Install required dependencies
sudo apt-get install libxss1 libgconf-2-4 libnss3 libx11-xcb1

Alternative Installations

VS Code Insiders

Get daily builds with the latest features and bug fixes. Runs side-by-side with stable.

Portable Mode

Run VS Code from a USB drive. Download the ZIP/TAR.GZ and create a data folder next to the executable.

VS Code Server

Run VS Code on a remote server and connect from any browser with VS Code for the Web.

GitHub Codespaces

Use VS Code in the cloud with a complete development environment.

Post-Installation Setup

Verify Installation

Open a terminal and run:

code --version

You should see the version number, commit, and architecture.

Install Extensions

Enhance VS Code with extensions for your programming languages:

Open VS Code
Press Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X to open Extensions view
Search and install extensions for your languages:
- Python for Python development
- ESLint for JavaScript/TypeScript linting
- C/C++ for C/C++ development
- Java Extension Pack for Java development

Configure Settings

Customize VS Code to your preferences:

Press Ctrl+, / Cmd+, to open Settings
Search for settings to customize:
- Font size and family
- Color theme
- Auto save
- Format on save

Set Up Sync

Sync your settings, extensions, and keybindings across devices:

Click the account icon in the lower left
Select Turn on Settings Sync
Sign in with Microsoft or GitHub
Choose what to sync

Update VS Code

VS Code will notify you when an update is available:

Windows
macOS
Linux

VS Code will download and prompt you to restart to apply the update.Manual Update:

Download the latest installer from code.visualstudio.com
Run the installer (it will update your existing installation)

If you installed via repository, updates come through your package manager:

# APT (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade code

# DNF (Fedora)
sudo dnf upgrade code

# Snap (updates automatically)
sudo snap refresh code

VS Code typically releases updates monthly. Enable automatic updates in File > Preferences > Settings > Update: Mode.

Uninstalling VS Code

Windows Uninstall

Open Settings > Apps > Apps & features
Search for “Visual Studio Code”
Click the three dots and select Uninstall
Follow the uninstall wizard

To remove user data:

rmdir /s "%APPDATA%\Code"
rmdir /s "%USERPROFILE%\.vscode"

macOS Uninstall

Quit VS Code
Open the Applications folder
Drag Visual Studio Code to the Trash
Empty the Trash

To remove user data:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code
rm -rf ~/.vscode

Linux Uninstall

# APT (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get remove code

# DNF (Fedora)
sudo dnf remove code

# Snap
sudo snap remove code

To remove user data:

rm -rf ~/.config/Code
rm -rf ~/.vscode

Next Steps

Now that you have VS Code installed:

Quick Start Guide

Learn the essential features in under 5 minutes

User Interface

Understand the VS Code interface and layout

Extensions

Explore the vast ecosystem of extensions

Settings

Customize VS Code to match your workflow

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Development

Architecture

Extensions

Workbench

Contributing

System Requirements

Windows

macOS

Linux

Installation by Platform

Windows Installation

Windows Package Managers

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

macOS Installation

macOS Package Managers

macOS Security

Linux Installation

Launch VS Code on Linux

Linux Troubleshooting

Alternative Installations

VS Code Insiders

Portable Mode

VS Code Server

GitHub Codespaces

Post-Installation Setup

Update VS Code

Uninstalling VS Code

Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

User Interface

Extensions

Settings

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Development

Architecture

Extensions

Workbench

Contributing

​System Requirements

Windows

macOS

Linux

​Installation by Platform

​Windows Installation

​Windows Package Managers

​Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

​macOS Installation

​macOS Package Managers

​macOS Security

​Linux Installation

​Launch VS Code on Linux

​Linux Troubleshooting

​Alternative Installations

VS Code Insiders

Portable Mode

VS Code Server

GitHub Codespaces

​Post-Installation Setup

​Update VS Code

​Uninstalling VS Code

​Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

User Interface

Extensions

Settings

System Requirements

Installation by Platform

Windows Installation

Windows Package Managers

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

macOS Installation

macOS Package Managers

macOS Security

Linux Installation

Launch VS Code on Linux

Linux Troubleshooting

Alternative Installations

Post-Installation Setup

Update VS Code

Uninstalling VS Code

Next Steps