Extension Marketplace

Extensions add languages, debuggers, and tools to Visual Studio Code to support your development workflow. Learn how to find, install, and manage extensions from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Browse for extensions

You can browse and install extensions from within VS Code. Open the Extensions view by selecting the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar, or by running the View: Extensions command (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)).

The Extensions view shows a list of the most popular VS Code extensions on the VS Code Marketplace.

Each extension in the list includes a brief description, the publisher, the download count, and a five star rating. Select an extension item to display its details page, where you can learn more.

Search for an extension

Clear the Search box at the top of the Extensions view and type the name of the extension, tool, or programming language you're looking for.

For example, typing 'python' brings up a list of Python language extensions:

If you know the exact identifier for an extension you're looking for, you can use the @id: prefix, for example @id:vue.volar. You can also narrow or order the results with the filter and sort commands.

Extension details

On the extension details page, you can read the extension's README and review the extension's:

• Feature Contributions - The extension's additions to VS Code such as settings, commands and keyboard shortcuts, language grammars, and debuggers.
• Changelog - The extension repository CHANGELOG if available.
• Dependencies - Lists if the extension depends on any other extensions.

If an extension is an Extension Pack, the Extension Pack section displays which extensions are installed when you install the pack. Extension Packs bundle separate extensions together so they can be easily installed at one time.

Install an extension

To install an extension, select the Install button. After the installation completes, the Install button changes to the Manage gear button.

If you want to install a specific version of an extension, right-click the extension and select Install Another Version. You can then select a version from the available list.

When Settings Sync is enabled, you can share your VS Code configurations, such as extensions, across your machines. To install an extension and not sync it across your machines, right-click the extension and select Install (Do not Sync).

Find and install an extension

For example, install the popular TODO Highlight extension. This extension highlights text like 'TODO:' and 'FIXME:' in your source code so you can quickly find undone sections.

In the Extensions view (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)), type 'todo' in the search box to filter the Marketplace offerings to extensions with 'todo' in the title or metadata. The TODO Highlight extension appears in the list.

An extension is uniquely identified by its publisher and extension IDs. Selecting the TODO Highlight extension opens the Extension details page, where you can find the extension ID, in this case, wayou.vscode-todo-highlight. Knowing the extension ID can be helpful if there are several similarly named extensions.

Select the Install button, and VS Code downloads and installs the extension from the Marketplace. After the installation completes, the Install button is replaced with a Manage gear button.

To see the TODO Highlight extension in action, open any source code file and add the text 'TODO:'. The editor highlights the text.

The TODO Highlight extension contributes the commands, TODO-Highlight: List highlighted annotations and TODO-Highlight: Toggle highlight, that you can find in the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)). The TODO-Highlight: Toggle highlight command lets you quickly disable or enable highlighting.

The extension also provides settings for tuning its behavior, which you can find in the Settings editor (⌘, (Windows, Linux Ctrl+,)). For example, you might want the text search to be case insensitive and you can uncheck the Todohighlight: Is Case Sensitive setting.

If an extension doesn't provide the functionality you want, you can always Uninstall the extension from the Manage button context menu.

This walkthrough shows one example of how to install and use an extension. The VS Code Marketplace has thousands of extensions supporting hundreds of programming languages and tasks. Options range from full featured language support for Java, Python, Go, and C++, to simple extensions that create GUIDs, change the color theme, or add virtual pets to the editor.

Install a pre-release extension version

An extension publisher might provide a pre-release version of an extension. To install a pre-release version, select the dropdown on the Install button and select Install Pre-Release Version.

Install from a VSIX

You can manually install a VS Code extension packaged in a .vsix file. Select Install from VSIX in the Extensions view command dropdown, or run Extensions: Install from VSIX in the Command Palette, and choose the .vsix file.

You can also install using the VS Code --install-extension command-line switch providing the path to the .vsix file.

code --install-extension myextension.vsix

You can provide --install-extension multiple times on the command line to install multiple extensions at once.

If you'd like to learn more about packaging and publishing extensions, see our Publishing Extensions article in the Extension API.

Manage extensions

VS Code makes it easy to manage your extensions. You can install, disable, update, and uninstall extensions through the Extensions view, the Command Palette (commands have the Extensions: prefix) or command-line switches.

List installed extensions

By default, the Extensions view shows the extensions you currently have installed, and all extensions that are recommended for you. You can use the Extensions: Focus on Installed View command, available in the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)) or in the More Actions (...) dropdown menu > Views > Installed, to clear any text in the search box and show the list of all installed extensions, which includes those that have been disabled.

Uninstall an extension

To uninstall an extension, select the Manage gear button at the right of an extension entry and then choose Uninstall from the dropdown menu. This uninstalls the extension and prompts you to restart the extension host (Restart Extensions).

Disable an extension

If you don't want to permanently remove an extension, you can instead temporarily disable the extension by selecting the gear button at the right of an extension entry. You can disable an extension globally or only for your current Workspace. You're prompted to restart the extension host (Restart Extensions) after you disable an extension.

If you want to quickly disable all installed extensions, there is a Disable All Installed Extensions command in the Command Palette and More Actions (...) dropdown menu.

Extensions remain disabled for all VS Code sessions until you re-enable them.

Enable an extension

If you have disabled an extension, it's in the Disabled section of the list and marked Disabled. You can re-enable it with the Enable or Enable (Workspace) commands in the dropdown menu.

There is also an Enable All Extensions command in the More Actions (...) dropdown menu.

Extension auto-update

VS Code checks for extension updates and installs them automatically. After an update, you are prompted to restart the extension host (Restart Extensions).

If you'd rather update your extensions manually, you can disable auto-update with the Disable Auto Update for Extensions command or the corresponding action in the Extensions view. You can also configure the extensions.autoUpdate Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting. Use the Enable Auto Update for Extensions command to re-enable auto update.

When auto-update is enabled, VS Code updates only enabled extensions. Disabled extensions are not updated automatically and update the next time you enable them.

You can also configure auto update for individual extensions by right-clicking on an extension and toggling the Auto Update item.

By default, VS Code waits a short time after an update is published before it installs the update automatically. Use the extensions.autoUpdateDelay Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting to configure the delay, in hours. The default value is 12 hours. Set the value to 0 to install updates as soon as they are published. This delay only applies when auto-update is on. To update an extension immediately, select the Update button for the extension, which bypasses the delay.

If you don't want VS Code to even check for updates, you can set the extensions.autoCheckUpdates Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting to false.

Update an extension manually

If you have extensions auto-update disabled, you can quickly look for extension updates by using the Show Extension Updates command, which uses the @updates filter. This displays any available updates for your currently installed extensions.

Select the Update button for the outdated extension. The update installs, and you're prompted to restart the extension host (Restart Extensions). You can also update all your outdated extensions at one time with the Update All Extensions command.

If you also have automatic checking for updates disabled, you can use the Check for Extension Updates command to check which of your extensions can be updated.

Extensions view filters

The Extensions view search box supports filters to help you find and manage extensions. You might have seen filters such as @installed and @recommended if you used the Show Installed Extensions and Show Recommended Extensions commands. Filters also let you sort by popularity or rating, and search by category (for example 'Linters') and tag (for example 'node'). Type @ in the extensions search box and follow the suggestions to see a complete listing of all filters and sort commands.

You can also open the filter list from the Filter Extensions context menu.

Here are some of the Extensions view filters:

• @builtin - Show extensions that come with VS Code. Grouped by type (Programming Languages, Themes, and so on).
• @deprecated - Show deprecated extensions.
• @disabled - Show disabled installed extensions.
• @enabled - Show enabled installed extensions. Extensions can be individually enabled or disabled.
• @featured - Show featured extensions.
• @installed - Show installed extensions.
• @popular - Show popular extensions.
• @recentlyPublished - Show extensions that were recently published in the Marketplace.
• @recommended - Show recommended extensions. Grouped as Workspace specific or general use.
• @updates - Show outdated installed extensions. A newer version is available on the Marketplace.
• @workspaceUnsupported - Show extensions that are not supported for this workspace.
• @category - Show extensions belonging to a specified category. For a complete list, type @category and follow the options in the suggestion list. A few supported categories:
  • @category:themes
  • @category:formatters
  • @category:linters
  • @category:snippets

You can combine filters. For example, use @installed @category:themes to view all installed themes.

If no filter is provided, the Extensions view displays the currently installed and recommended extensions.

You can run additional Extensions view commands via the ... View and More Actions button.

Through this menu, you can control extension updates, enable or disable all extensions, and use the Extension Bisect utility to isolate problematic extension behavior.

Sorting

You can sort extensions with the @sort filter, which can take the following values:

• installs - Sort by Marketplace installation count, in descending order.
• name - Sort alphabetically by extension name.
• publishedDate - Sort by extension published date.
• rating - Sort by Marketplace rating (1-5 stars), in descending order.
• updateDate - Sort by extension last update date.

Categories and tags

Extensions can set Categories and Tags that describe their features.

You can filter on category and tag by using category: and tag:.

Supported categories are: [AI, Azure, Chat, Data Science, Debuggers, Extension Packs, Education, Formatters, Keymaps, Language Packs, Linters, Machine Learning, Notebooks, Programming Languages, SCM Providers, Snippets, Testing, Themes, Visualization, Other]. IntelliSense in the extensions search box provides these categories.

Surround the category name in quotes if it's more than one word, for example category:"SCM Providers".

Tags can contain any string and aren't provided by IntelliSense, so review the Marketplace to find helpful tags.

Recommended extensions

You can see a list of recommended extensions using Show Recommended Extensions, which sets the @recommended filter. Extension recommendations can either be:

• Workspace Recommendations - Recommended by other users of your current workspace.
• Other Recommendations - Recommended based on recently opened files.

See Workspace recommended extensions to learn how to contribute recommendations for other users in your project.

Ignoring recommendations

To dismiss a recommendation, select the extension item to open the Details page and then select the Manage gear button to display the context menu. Select the Ignore Recommendation menu item. Ignored recommendations are no longer recommended to you.

Workspace recommended extensions

A good set of extensions can make working with a particular workspace or programming language more productive, and you might want to share this list with your team or colleagues. You can create a recommended list of extensions for a workspace with the Extensions: Configure Recommended Extensions (Workspace Folder) command.

In a single folder workspace, the command creates an extensions.json file located in the workspace .vscode folder where you can add a list of extension identifiers in the form publisher.extension.

In a multi-root workspace, the command opens your .code-workspace file where you can list extensions under extensions.recommendations. You can still add extension recommendations to individual folders in a multi-root workspace by using the Extensions: Configure Recommended Extensions (Workspace Folder) command.

For example, an extensions.json file can contain:

{
  "recommendations": ["dbaeumer.vscode-eslint", "esbenp.prettier-vscode"]
}

This example recommends a linter extension and a code formatter extension.

An extension is identified using its publisher identifier and extension identifier publisher.extension. You can see the name on the extension's detail page. VS Code provides auto-completion for installed extensions inside these files.

VS Code prompts a user to install the recommended extensions when a workspace is opened for the first time. The user can also review the list with the Extensions: Show Recommended Extensions command.

Configuring extensions

VS Code extensions might have very different configurations and requirements. Some extensions contribute settings to VS Code, which can be modified in the Settings editor. Other extensions might have their own configuration files. Extensions might also require installation and setup of additional components like compilers, debuggers, and command-line tools. Consult the extension's README (visible in the Extensions view details page) or go to the extension page on the VS Code Marketplace by selecting the extension name in the details page. Many extensions are open source and have a link to their repository on their Marketplace page.

Command line extension management

To make it easier to automate and configure VS Code, it is possible to list, install, and uninstall extensions from the command line. When identifying an extension, provide the full name of the form publisher.extension, for example ms-python.python.

For example, use these commands:

• code --list-extensions: List installed extensions.
• code --list-extensions --show-versions: Include the version of each installed extension.
• code --install-extension ms-python.python: Install an extension by its ID.
• code --uninstall-extension ms-python.python: Uninstall an extension by its ID.
• code --extensions-dir <directory>: Set the root path for extensions.

You can see the extension ID on the extension details page under the Marketplace Info.

Common questions

Where are extensions installed?

Extensions are installed in a per user extensions folder. Depending on your platform, the location is in the following folder:

• Windows %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions
• macOS ~/.vscode/extensions
• Linux ~/.vscode/extensions

You can change the location by launching VS Code with the --extensions-dir <dir> command-line option.

Alternatively, you can set the VSCODE_EXTENSIONS environment variable to a location where you want to install extensions. This is useful in an enterprise environment where you want to centrally manage where extensions are installed on user machines.

Whenever I try to install any extension, I get a connect ETIMEDOUT error

You might see this error if your machine is going through a proxy server to access the Internet. See the Proxy server support section in the setup topic for details.

Can I download an extension directly from the Marketplace?

Some users prefer to download an extension once from the Marketplace and then install it to multiple VS Code instances from a local share. This is useful when there are connectivity concerns or if your development team wants to use a fixed set of extensions.

To download an extension, search for it in the Extensions view, right-click an extension from the results, and select Download VSIX or Download Specific Version VSIX.

Can I stop VS Code from providing extension recommendations?

To hide the Recommended view, open the Extensions view More Actions (...) menu and turn off Recommended under Views. To stop recommendation notifications, set extensions.ignoreRecommendations Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to true.

You can still use the Show Recommended Extensions command to see recommendations.

Can I trust extensions from the Marketplace?

The {% data variables.product.prodname_vs_marketplace} employs several measures to protect you from malicious extensions and you can also perform various steps to determine if an extension is reliable before installing it. See Extension runtime security to learn how VS Code confirms that you trust an extension's publisher before installing it and how to protect yourself from malicious extensions.

Can I host extensions internally for my organization?

Yes, see the Private Marketplace for Extensions.

The extension signature cannot be verified by VS Code

The Visual Studio Marketplace signs all extensions when they are published. VS Code verifies this signature when you install an extension to check the integrity and the source of the extension package.

Package integrity issues

For package integrity issues, contact the Visual Studio Marketplace team to report the issue. Make sure to include the extension ID. The following list provides error codes related to package integrity issues:

PackageIntegrityCheckFailed
SignatureIsInvalid
SignatureManifestIsInvalid
SignatureIntegrityCheckFailed
EntryIsMissing
EntryIsTampered
Untrusted
CertificateRevoked
SignatureIsNotValid
SignatureArchiveHasTooManyEntries
NotSigned

Other issues

For other issues like an unsupported environment or unknown reasons, report an issue with VS Code by providing all necessary information and including the shared log: ⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P) > Open View... > Shared.

My extensions don't synchronize when connected to a remote window

Settings Sync lets you share your Visual Studio Code configurations such as settings, keyboard shortcuts, and installed extensions across your machines so you are always working with your favorite setup.

VS Code does not synchronize your extensions to or from a remote window, such as when you're connected to SSH, a development container (devcontainer), or WSL.

Can I allow or block specific extensions in my organization?

You can control which extensions can be installed in your organization by configuring the extensions.allowed application setting. If the setting is not configured, all extensions are allowed. If the setting is configured, all extensions not listed are blocked from installing.

Get more details about configuring allowed extensions.

Next steps

• VS Code profiles: use different sets of extensions for different projects or workflows.
• Extension runtime security: learn how to assess an extension before installing it.
• Your first extension: create an extension if the Marketplace doesn't have what you need.