Manage updates in enterprise environments

VS Code releases monthly updates with new features, bug fixes, and security patches. Organizations can centrally manage how VS Code updates are handled across their development teams.

This article covers how IT admins can configure automatic updates through enterprise policies.

Update policy

VS Code provides the UpdateMode policy for controlling automatic updates. This policy controls the update.modeORG setting in VS Code.

Learn how to deploy policies to your organization's devices.

Update mode options

The UpdateMode policy accepts the following values:

Disable automatic updates

To prevent VS Code from automatically checking for or installing updates, set the UpdateMode policy to none:

Policy value:

none

When updates are disabled, users cannot update VS Code through the application. You can then control VS Code versions through your software deployment tools.

Enable manual updates only

To allow users to check for updates manually while disabling automatic background checks, set the UpdateMode policy to manual:

Policy value:

manual

Users can check for updates by selecting Help > Check for Updates.

Check for updates at startup only

To check for updates only when VS Code starts, without background checking, set the UpdateMode policy to start:

Policy value:

start

Network requirements

VS Code downloads updates from Microsoft servers. If your network has restricted access, ensure the following hostname is allowed:

• update.code.visualstudio.com - VS Code download and update server

See the network documentation for a complete list of hostnames.

Related resources

• Enterprise policies reference - Complete list of enterprise policies
• Network connections - Proxy and firewall configuration