Install Visual Studio Code on Linux, macOS and Windows

Which option to pick

Visual Studio Code is free and available as a native package for every desktop OS from code.visualstudio.com. On Linux prefer the .deb or .rpm package or Microsoft’s repository, which keep VS Code updated through your normal package manager; the Snap and Flatpak builds work but can lag and run in a sandbox that complicates using local toolchains. On macOS and Windows the download or the package manager command are equivalent. VS Code auto-updates itself on macOS and Windows. Note that the Marketplace VSCodium is a separate, telemetry-free build with its own extension gallery; the steps below are for VS Code itself.

Step: Linux

Debian and Ubuntu: download the .deb from the website, then install it with apt, which also registers Microsoft’s repository for future updates:

sudo apt install ./code_*.deb

Fedora and RHEL: add Microsoft’s repository and install:

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
printf '[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc\n' | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo > /dev/null
sudo dnf check-update
sudo dnf install code

Snap, on any distribution that has it: sudo snap install --classic code. Arch Linux users can install the code package (the OSS build) or the visual-studio-code-bin package from the AUR for the Microsoft build.

Step: macOS

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Or download the .zip, unzip it and drag Visual Studio Code.app into Applications. Then open VS Code, press Cmd+Shift+P, type Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH and run it, so code . works in the terminal. The Homebrew cask does this for you.

Step: Windows

winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode

Or run the User Installer from the website, which installs without administrator rights. Keep Add to PATH ticked; the options to add Open with Code to the Explorer context menu are convenient. Open a new terminal window afterwards.

Check it works

code --version
code .

The first command prints the version, commit and architecture; the second opens the current folder. Install extensions from the terminal too, for example:

code --install-extension ms-python.python
code --install-extension ms-azuretools.vscode-containers
code --list-extensions

Common problems

• macOS: code: command not found: run the Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH action from the command palette.
• Linux: VS Code warns about too few file watchers (ENOSPC) in big projects: raise the limit with echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288 | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/60-vscode.conf followed by sudo sysctl --system.
• Linux Snap or Flatpak: the integrated terminal cannot find tools installed on the host, or Git prompts fail. Switch to the .deb/.rpm package, or configure the Flatpak to use the host shell.
• Windows: the integrated terminal opens PowerShell but python or node are not found even though they are installed: VS Code inherited an old PATH. Close all VS Code windows and start it again from a new terminal.

Official documentation

• VS Code on Linux
• VS Code on macOS
• VS Code on Windows