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}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code.

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

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 setup versus system setup:

VS Code provides both Windows user and system level setups.

The user setup does not require Administrator privileges to run as the location will be under your user Local AppData ( LOCALAPPDATA ) folder. Since it requires no elevation, the user setup is able to provide a smoother background update experience. This is the preferred way to install VS Code on Windows.

Note: When running VS Code as Administrator in a user setup installation, updates will be disabled.

The system setup requires elevation to Administrator privileges to run and will place the installation under the system's Program Files. The in-product update flow will also require elevation, making it less streamlined than the user setup. On the other hand, installing VS Code using the system setup means that it will be available to all users in the system.

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

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.

Common questions:

1.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.

2.I'm having trouble with the installer

Try using the zip file instead of the installer. To use this, unzip VS Code in your AppData\Local\Programs folder.

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

3.Icons are missing

I installed Visual Studio Code on my Windows 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:

Using the Command Prompt:

1. Open an Administrator Command Prompt.
2. Type REG ADD HKCR\.svg /f /v "Content Type" /t REG_SZ /d image/svg+xml.

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.