Installation¶

Installing and setting up VS Code.

System Requirements¶

Storage: 500 MB minimum
Memory: 1 GB RAM minimum
OS: Windows 10+, macOS 10.15+, Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, etc.)

Installation¶

macOS (Homebrew)¶

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

macOS (Direct Download)¶

Download from code.visualstudio.com
Open the .dmg file
Drag VS Code to Applications

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)¶

# Via snap
sudo snap install --classic code

# Via apt
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
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'
sudo apt update
sudo apt install code

Linux (Fedora/RHEL)¶

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
sudo sh -c '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" > /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo'
sudo dnf install code

Shell Integration¶

macOS¶

Add code command to PATH:

Open VS Code
Cmd+Shift+P > "Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH"

Or manually:

export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin"

Verify Installation¶

code --version

First Launch¶

On first launch:

Choose color theme
Sign in (optional, for settings sync)
Install recommended extensions

Configuration Locations¶

Settings Files¶

Platform	User Settings
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json`
Linux	`~/.config/Code/User/settings.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json`

Alternative Paths¶

Dotfiles commonly store VS Code settings:

~/.dotfiles/config/vscode/settings.json

Symlink to actual location:

ln -s ~/.dotfiles/config/vscode/settings.json ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/settings.json

Keybindings¶

Platform	Location
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/keybindings.json`
Linux	`~/.config/Code/User/keybindings.json`

Initial Setup¶

Open Settings¶

Cmd+, (GUI)
Cmd+Shift+P > "Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)"

Minimal Configuration¶

{
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.fontFamily": "JetBrains Mono, Menlo, monospace",
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Dracula",
  "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off"
}

Font Installation¶

Install a programming font:

# JetBrains Mono
brew install --cask font-jetbrains-mono

# Fira Code
brew install --cask font-fira-code

# With ligatures
brew install --cask font-fira-code-nerd-font

Configure in settings:

{
  "editor.fontFamily": "JetBrains Mono",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true
}

Settings Sync¶

Sync settings across machines:

Sign in with GitHub or Microsoft account
Cmd+Shift+P > "Settings Sync: Turn On"
Choose what to sync:
Settings
Keybindings
Extensions
UI State
Snippets

Disable Settings Sync¶

{
  "settingsSync.ignoredSettings": [
    "editor.fontSize",
    "window.zoomLevel"
  ]
}

Profiles¶

Create different configurations for different projects:

Cmd+Shift+P > "Profiles: Create Profile"
Name the profile
Customize settings/extensions
Switch: Cmd+Shift+P > "Profiles: Switch Profile"

Extensions Installation¶

Via Command Palette¶

Cmd+Shift+X to open Extensions
Search for extension
Click "Install"

Via CLI¶

# Install extension
code --install-extension ms-python.python

# List installed extensions
code --list-extensions

# Uninstall extension
code --uninstall-extension extension-id

Workspace Settings¶

Create project-specific settings in .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": ".venv/bin/python"
}

Portable Mode¶

For USB installations:

Create data folder next to VS Code executable
Settings stored in data/user-data
Extensions in data/extensions

Updating¶

macOS (Homebrew)¶

brew upgrade --cask visual-studio-code

Built-in Updater¶

VS Code auto-updates by default. Disable:

{
  "update.mode": "none"
}

Uninstalling¶

macOS¶

# Remove application
rm -rf /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app

# Remove settings and extensions
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code
rm -rf ~/.vscode

Homebrew¶

brew uninstall --cask visual-studio-code

Troubleshooting¶

VS Code Won't Start¶

Reset settings:

mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code.backup

Start in safe mode:
```
code --disable-extensions
```

Extensions Not Loading¶

Check extensions folder permissions
Reload window: Cmd+Shift+P > "Developer: Reload Window"
Check Output panel for errors

High Memory Usage¶

Disable unused extensions

Exclude large folders from search:

{
  "files.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true
  }
}