DEV Community

Cover image for How to Install Visual Studio Code
MailingDelgadoMedina
MailingDelgadoMedina

Posted on

How to Install Visual Studio Code

Photo by Gabriel Heinzer on Unsplash

What is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code, often abbreviated as VS Code, is a popular open-source code editor developed by Microsoft. It's widely used for coding and programming tasks across various programming languages. In this article, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of installing Visual Studio Code on your computer.

Prerequisites

Before you begin the installation process, make sure you have the following:

  • A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux.
  • An internet connection to download the installation files.
  • Administrator or superuser privileges on your computer if required for installation.

Step 1: Download VS Code

To get started, open your web browser and navigate to the official Visual Studio Code website:

Visual Studio Code Official Website

Once you're on the website, you'll see a prominent "Download for [your OS]" button. Click on it to initiate the download process. The website will automatically detect your operating system and provide the appropriate download link.

Step 2: Install VS Code on Windows

For Windows users, follow these steps:

  1. Locate the downloaded VS Code installer executable file (usually named something like VSCodeSetup-x64.exe) in your Downloads folder or wherever you specified to save it.

  2. Double-click the installer file to run it. You may see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt asking for permission to make changes to your system. Click "Yes" to proceed.

  3. The VS Code Setup Wizard will open. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Visual Studio Code. You can choose your installation settings during this process, such as the installation location and creating shortcuts.

  4. Once the installation is complete, you'll see a "Completing the Visual Studio Code Setup Wizard" screen. Ensure the "Launch Visual Studio Code" option is checked, and then click "Finish."

Visual Studio Code will open, and you're ready to start coding!

Step 3: Install VS Code on macOS

For macOS users, follow these steps:

  1. Locate the downloaded VS Code disk image file (usually named something like VSCode-darwin-stable.zip) in your Downloads folder or wherever you specified to save it.

  2. Double-click the disk image file to open it. You will see the Visual Studio Code application icon.

  3. Drag and drop the Visual Studio Code icon into the "Applications" folder to install it.

  4. Once the copying process is complete, navigate to your "Applications" folder, find Visual Studio Code, and double-click it to launch the application.

Visual Studio Code will open, and you're ready to start coding!

Step 4: Install VS Code on Linux

For Linux users, follow these steps:

  1. Open your terminal emulator.

  2. Download the VS Code package for your Linux distribution. Microsoft provides installation instructions for various Linux distributions on their website. You can find the instructions here: Visual Studio Code - Linux Installation

  3. Follow the instructions for your specific distribution to install Visual Studio Code using your package manager (e.g., apt for Debian/Ubuntu-based systems or dnf for Fedora-based systems).

  4. Once the installation is complete, you can start Visual Studio Code by running the code command in your terminal.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully installed Visual Studio Code on your computer. This versatile code editor provides a wide range of extensions and features to enhance your coding experience, making it a favorite among developers worldwide. You can now start customizing VS Code to suit your development needs and begin writing code in your favorite programming languages. Happy coding!

Follow me on:

LinkedIn
GitHub

Top comments (0)