Run Visual Studio Code

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VS Code provides both Windows user and system level setups. Installing the user setupdoes not require Administrator privileges as the location will be under your user Local AppData (LOCALAPPDATA) folder. User setup also provides a smoother background update experience. The system setuprequires elevation to Administrator privileges and will place the installation under Program Files. See the Download Vis. Visit the VS Code install page and select the 32 or 64 bit installer. Install Visual Studio Code on Windows (not in your WSL file system). When prompted to Select Additional Tasks during installation, be sure to check the Add to PATH option so you can easily open a folder in WSL using the code command. Use Django in Visual Studio Code; Use Flask in Visual Studio Code; There is then much more to explore with Python in Visual Studio Code: Editing code - Learn about autocomplete, IntelliSense, formatting, and refactoring for Python. Linting - Enable, configure, and apply a variety of Python linters. Debugging - Learn to debug Python both locally. Visual Studio Code is a code editor redefined and optimized for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications. Visual Studio Code is free and available on your favorite platform. Oracle Developer Tools for VS Code enables Visual Studio Code developers to connect to Oracle Database and Oracle Autonomous Database, edit SQL and PL/SQL with autocomplete, Intellisense, breadcrumbs, and syntax coloring, execute SQL and PL/SQL and view and save the results in formats such as.CSV and JSON.

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What you need to do to run a program depends on what you're starting from, what type of program, app, or service it is, and whether you want to run it under the debugger or not. In the simplest case, when you have a project open in Visual Studio, build and run it by pressing Ctrl+F5 (Start without debugging) or F5 (Start with debugging), or press the green arrow (Start Button) on the main Visual Studio toolbar.

Starting from a project

If you have a C# project (.csproj file), then you can run it, if it is a runnable program. If a project contains a C# file with a Main method, and its output is an executable (EXE), then most likely it will run if it builds successfully.

If you already have the code for your program in a project in Visual Studio, open the project. To open the project, double-click or tap on the .csproj from the Windows File Explorer, or from Visual Studio, choose Open a project, browse to find the project (.csproj) file, and choose the project file.

After the projects loads in Visual Studio, press Ctrl+F5 (Start without debugging) or use the green Start button on the Visual Studio toolbar to run the program. If there are multiple projects, the one with the Main method must be set as the startup project. To set the startup project, right-click on a project node, and choose Set as startup project.

Visual Studio attempts to build and run your project. If there are build errors, you see the build output in the Output window and the errors in the Error List window.

If the build succeeds, the app runs in a way that's appropriate for the type of project. Console apps run in a terminal window, Windows desktop apps start in a new window, web apps start in the browser (hosted by IIS Express), and so on.

Starting from code

If you're starting from a code listing, code file, or a small number of files, first make sure the code you want to run is from a trusted source and is a runnable program. If it has a Main method, it is likely intended as a runnable program that you can use the Console App template to create a project to work with it in Visual Studio.

Code listing for a single file

Start Visual Studio, open an empty C# console project, select all the code in the .cs file that's in the project already, and delete it. Then, paste the contents of your code into the .cs file. When you paste the code, overwrite or delete the code that was there before. Rename the file to match the original code.

Code listings for a few files

Start Visual Studio, open an empty C# console project, select all the code in the .cs file that's in the project already, and delete it. Then, paste the contents of the first code file into the .cs file. Rename the file to match the original code.

For a second file, right-click on the project node in Solution Explorer to open the shortcut menu for the project, and choose Add > Existing Item (or use the key combination Shift+Alt+A), and select the code files.

Multiple files on disk

  1. Create a new project of the appropriate type (use C# Console App if you're not sure).

  2. Right-click on the project node, se Add > Existing Item to select the files and import them into your project.

Starting from a folder

When you're working with a folder of many files, first see if there's a project or solution. If the program was created with Visual Studio, you should find a project file or a solution file. Look for files with the .csproj extension or .sln extension and in the Windows File Explorer, double-click on one of them to open them in Visual Studio. See Starting from a Visual Studio solution or project.

If you don't have a project file, such as if the code was developed in another development environment, then open the top-level folder by using the Open folder method in Visual Studio. See Develop code without projects or solutions.

Starting from a GitHub or Azure DevOps repo

If the code you want to run is in GitHub or in an Azure DevOps repo, you can use Visual Studio to open the project directly from the repo. See Open a project from a repo.

Run the program

To start the program, press the green arrow (Start button) on the main Visual Studio toolbar, or press F5 or Ctrl+F5 to run the program. When you use the Start button, it runs under the debugger. Visual Studio attempts to build the code in your project and run it. If that succeeds, great! But if not, continue reading for some ideas on how to get it to build successfully.

Troubleshooting

Your code might have errors, but if the code is correct, but just depends on some other assemblies or NuGet packages, or was written to target a different version of .NET, you might be able to easily fix it.

Add references

To build properly, the code must be correct and have the right references set up to libraries or other dependencies. You can look at the red squiggly lines and at the Error List to see if the program has any errors, even before you compile and run it. If you're seeing errors related to unresolved names, you probably need to add a reference or a using directive, or both. If the code references any assemblies or NuGet packages, you need to add those references in the project.

Visual Studio tries to help you identify missing references. When a name is unresolved, a light bulb icon appears in the editor. If you click the light bulb, you can see some suggestions on how to fix the issue. Fixes might be to:

  • add a using directive
  • add a reference to an assembly, or
  • install a NuGet package.

Missing using directive

For example, in the following screen, you can choose to add using System; to the start of the code file to resolve the unresolved name Console:

Missing assembly reference

.NET references can be in the form of assemblies or NuGet packages. Usually, if you find source code, the publisher or author will explain what assemblies are required and what packages the code depends on. To add a reference to a project manually, right-click on the References node in the Solution Explorer, choose Add Reference, and locate the required assembly.

You can find assemblies and add references by following the instructions in Add or remove references by using the reference manager.

Missing NuGet package

If Visual Studio detects a missing NuGet package, a light bulb appears and gives you the option to install it:

If that doesn't solve the issue and Visual Studio can't locate the package, try searching for it online. See Install and use a NuGet package in Visual Studio.

Use the right version of .NET

Because different versions of the .NET Framework have some degree of backward compatibility, a newer framework might run code written for an older framework without any modifications. But, sometimes you need to target a specific framework. You might need to install a specific version of the .NET Framework or .NET Core, if it's not already installed. See Modify Visual Studio.

To change the target framework, see Change the target framework. For more information, see Troubleshooting .NET Framework targeting errors.

Next steps

Explore the Visual Studio development environment by reading Welcome to the Visual Studio IDE.

See also

Installation

  1. Download the Visual Studio Code installer for Windows.
  2. Once it is downloaded, run the installer (VSCodeUserSetup-{version}.exe). This will only take a minute.
  3. By default, VS Code is installed under C:users{username}AppDataLocalProgramsMicrosoft VS Code.

Alternatively, you can also download a Zip archive, extract it and run Code from there.

Note: .NET Framework 4.5.2 or higher is required for VS Code. If you are using Windows 7, make sure you have at least .NET Framework 4.5.2 installed. You can check your version of .NET Framework using this command, reg query 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftNET Framework SetupNDPv4full' /v version from a command prompt.

Tip: Setup will add Visual Studio Code to your %PATH%, so from the console you can type 'code .' to open VS Code on that folder. You will need to restart your console after the installation for the change to the %PATH% environmental variable to take effect.

User versus system setup

VS Code provides both Windows user and system level setups. Installing the user setup does not require Administrator privileges as the location will be under your user Local AppData (LOCALAPPDATA) folder. User setup also provides a smoother background update experience.

The system setup requires elevation to Administrator privileges and will place the installation under Program Files.

See the Download Visual Studio Code page for a complete list of available installation options. Fashion sketches pencil.

32-bit versions

If you need to run a 32-bit version of VS Code, both a 32-bit Installer and Zip archive are available.

Updates

VS Code ships monthly releases and supports auto-update when a new release is available. If you're prompted by VS Code, accept the newest update and it will be installed (you won't need to do anything else to get the latest bits).

Note: You can disable auto-update if you prefer to update VS Code on your own schedule.

Windows Subsystem for Linux

Windows is a popular operating system and it can be a great cross-platform development environment. This section describes cross-platform features such as the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and the new Windows Terminal.

Recent Windows build

Make sure you are on a recent Windows 10 build. Follow me on tumblr. Check Settings > Windows Update to see if you are up-to-date.

Run Visual Studio Code As Root

Windows as a developer machine

With WSL, you can install and run Linux distributions on Windows. This enables you to develop and test your source code on Linux while still working locally on your Windows machine.

Run Visual Studio Code Online

When coupled with the Remote - WSL extension, you get full VS Code editing and debugging support while running in the context of WSL.

See the Developing in WSL documentation to learn more or try the Working in WSL introductory tutorial.

New Windows Terminal

Available from the Microsoft Store, the Windows Terminal (Preview) lets you easily open PowerShell, Command Prompt, and WSL terminals in a multiple tab shell.

Next steps

Run Visual Studio Code

Once you have installed VS Code, these topics will help you learn more about VS Code:

  • Additional Components - Learn how to install Git, Node.js, TypeScript, and tools like Yeoman.
  • User Interface - A quick orientation to VS Code.
  • User/Workspace Settings - Learn how to configure VS Code to your preferences through settings.
  • Tips and Tricks - Lets you jump right in and learn how to be productive with VS Code.

Common questions

What command-line arguments are supported by the Windows Setup?

VS Code uses Inno Setup to create its setup package for Windows. Thus, all the Inno Setup command-line switches are available for use.

Additionally, you can prevent the Setup from launching VS Code after completion with /mergetasks=!runcode.

Scrolling is laggy and not smooth

Run Visual Studio Code Remotely

On certain devices, editor scrolling is not smooth but laggy for an unpleasant experience. If you notice this issue, make sure you install the Windows 10 October 2018 update where this issue is fixed.

I'm having trouble with the installer

Try using the zip file instead of the installer. To use this, unzip VS Code in your AppDataLocalPrograms folder.

Note: When VS Code is installed via a Zip file, you will need to manually update it for each release.

Icons are missing

I installed Visual Studio Code on my Windows 7 or 8 machine. Why are some icons not appearing in the workbench and editor?

VS Code uses SVG icons and we have found instances where the .SVG file extension is associated with something other than image/svg+xml. We're considering options to fix it, but for now here's a workaround:

Run Visual Studio Code On Chromebook

Using the Command Prompt:

Run Visual Studio Code Python

  1. Open an Administrator Command Prompt.
  2. Type REG ADD HKCR.svg /f /v 'Content Type' /t REG_SZ /d image/svg+xml.

Run Visual Studio Code

Using the Registry Editor (regedit):

  1. Start regedit.
  2. Open the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key.
  3. Find the .svg key.
  4. Set its Content Type Data value to image/svg+xml.
  5. Exit regedit.