Installing Visual Studio Code on Linux

1. Download the .deb package.

2. Install the package with the graphical software center, or install it from the command line:

   sudo apt install ./<file>.deb
   
   # On older Linux distributions, run these commands instead:
   # sudo dpkg -i <file>.deb
   # sudo apt-get install -f # Install dependencies
   

   Note

   Other binaries are available on the VS Code download page.

The .deb package prompts to install the apt repository and signing key, which enables auto-update through the system package manager.

For non-interactive installation, run this command before installing the .deb package to automatically install the apt repository and signing key:

echo "code code/add-microsoft-repo boolean true" | sudo debconf-set-selections

To manually install the apt repository:

1. Install the signing key:

   sudo apt install wget gpg &&
   wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/microsoft.gpg
   

2. Create a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.sources file with these contents:

   Types: deb
   URIs: https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code
   Suites: stable
   Components: main
   Architectures: amd64,arm64,armhf
   Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/microsoft.gpg
   

3. Update the package cache and install the package:

   sudo apt update &&
   sudo apt install code # or code-insiders
   

Microsoft provides the stable 64-bit VS Code package for RHEL, Fedora, and CentOS-based distributions in a yum repository.

1. Install the key and yum repository:

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

2. Update the package cache and install the package with dnf on Fedora 22 and later:

   dnf check-update &&
   sudo dnf install code # or code-insiders
   

   On older versions, use yum:

   yum check-update &&
   sudo yum install code # or code-insiders
   

VS Code is officially distributed as a Snap package in the Snap Store.

Install the Snap package with this command:

sudo snap install --classic code # or code-insiders

Once installed, the Snap daemon automatically updates VS Code in the background. VS Code shows an in-product update notification whenever a new update is available.

Learn more about snaps from the official Snap documentation.

The yum repository from the RHEL, Fedora, and CentOS panel also works for openSUSE and SLE-based systems.

1. Install the key and yum repository:

   sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc &&
   echo -e "[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\nautorefresh=1\ntype=rpm-md\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" | sudo tee /etc/zypp/repos.d/vscode.repo > /dev/null
   

2. Update the package cache and install the package:

   sudo zypper install code
   

The Arch User Repository package for VS Code is community maintained.

For installation details, see the Arch Linux wiki article about installing AUR packages.

The VS Code Nix package in the nixpkgs repository is community maintained.

To install VS Code by using Nix:

1. Set the allowUnfree option to true in your config.nix.

2. Run this command:

   nix-env -i vscode
   

Download and install the VS Code .rpm package manually when repository installation is not available. Auto-update does not work unless the repository is installed.

Install the downloaded .rpm package with your package manager, for example with dnf:

sudo dnf install <file>.rpm

This error can appear during installation when the package manager's lists are out of date. Update the package manager and install again:

# For .deb
sudo apt-get update

# For .rpm on Fedora 21 and earlier
sudo yum check-update

# For .rpm on Fedora 22 and later
sudo dnf check-update

Some distributions, such as Pop!_OS, provide their own code package. To ensure that the official VS Code repository is used, create a file named /etc/apt/preferences.d/code with this content:

Package: code
Pin: origin "packages.microsoft.com"
Pin-Priority: 9999

If deleting files from the VS Code Explorer fails on Debian, the trash implementation used by VS Code might be missing.

Run this command to install the missing packages:

sudo apt-get install gvfs libglib2.0-bin

This notification indicates that the VS Code file watcher is running out of file handles. This often happens when opening a workspace that contains many files. Before adjusting platform limits, add large folders, such as Python .venv, to the files.watcherExclude Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting. Other running applications might also consume file handles, so closing other applications might help.

View the current limit by running:

cat /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

Increase the limit to the maximum by editing /etc/sysctl.conf and adding this line to the end of the file. Arch Linux and Ubuntu 24.10 and later use files in /etc/sysctl.d/*.conf.

fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288

Load the new value:

sudo sysctl --system

Each file watch takes up 1,080 bytes. If all 524,288 watches are consumed, the upper bound is around 540 MiB. In memory-constrained environments, choose a lower value.

Another option is to exclude specific workspace directories from the VS Code file watcher with the files.watcherExclude Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting. The default files.watcherExclude Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders value excludes node_modules and some folders under .git. Add other directories that VS Code should not track.

"files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/.git/objects/**": true,
    "**/.git/subtree-cache/**": true,
    "**/node_modules/*/**": true
}

Open the application menu, then choose File > Preferences > Settings. In the Text Editor > Font section, set Font Family to Droid Sans Mono, Droid Sans Fallback.

To edit the settings.json file directly, set editor.fontFamily Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders :

"editor.fontFamily": "Droid Sans Mono, Droid Sans Fallback"

Running code . on Ubuntu when VS Code is already open in the current directory does not bring VS Code into the foreground. This is an operating system behavior that can be changed with ccsm.

# Install
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

# Run
ccsm

Under General > General Options > Focus & Raise Behavior, set Focus Prevention Level to Off. This operating system setting applies to all applications, not only VS Code.

This error can occur when sources.list.d doesn't exist or the current user doesn't have access to create the file. Create the folder and an empty vscode.list file:

sudo mkdir /etc/apt/sources.list.d
sudo touch /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list

If using X forwarding to use VS Code remotely, use the native title bar to manipulate the window. Set window.titleBarStyle Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to native.

If an error similar to the following appears:

E: Repository '...' changed its 'Origin' value from '...' to '...'
N: This must be accepted explicitly before updates for this repository can be applied. See apt-secure(8) manpage for details.

Use apt instead of apt-get and accept the origin change when prompted:

sudo apt update