Getting started with Visual Studio Code

In this tutorial, we walk you through setting up Visual Studio Code and give an overview of the basic features.

Here's the next video we recommend: Code Editing in Visual Studio Code

Pick another video from the list: Introductory Videos

Video outline

• Download and install VS Code.
  • From https://code.visualstudio.com/download
• Open a folder
  • File > Open Folder (Ctrl+K Ctrl+O)
• File Explorer
  • View > Explorer (⇧⌘E (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+E))
• Search view
  • View > Search (⇧⌘F (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+F))
• Source Control
  • View > Source Control (SCM) (⌃⇧G (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+G))
• Run and Debug
  • View > Run (⇧⌘D (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+D))
• Extensions view
  • View > Extensions (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X))
• Open the Command Palette.
  • View > Command Palette... (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P))
• Output panel
  • View > Output (⇧⌘U (Windows Ctrl+Shift+U, Linux Ctrl+K Ctrl+H))
• Debug Console
  • View > Debug Console (⇧⌘Y (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+Y))
• Problems panel
  • View > Problems (⇧⌘M (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+M))
• Integrated Terminal
  • View > Terminal (⌃` (Windows, Linux Ctrl+`))
• Create a new file
  • File > New File (⌘N (Windows, Linux Ctrl+N))
• Save a file
  • File > Save (⌘S (Windows, Linux Ctrl+S))
• Auto Save
  • File > Auto Save
• Run
  • Run > Start Debugging (F5)
• Programming language extensions
  • Python - IntelliSense, linting, debugging, code formatting, refactoring, and more.
  • Live Preview - Hosts a local server to preview your webpages.
• Zoom
  • Zoom out (⌘- (Windows, Linux Ctrl+-))
  • Zoom in (⌘= (Windows, Linux Ctrl+=))
• Customize your editor with color themes.
  • File > Preferences > Theme > Color Theme (⌘K ⌘T (Windows, Linux Ctrl+K Ctrl+T))

Next video

• Code Editing in Visual Studio Code - Learn about the advanced code editing features in VS Code.
• Introductory Videos - Review the entire list of videos.

Related resources

• User Interface - View the documentation for VS Code.
• Setup Overview - Documentation for getting up and running with VS Code, including platform specific setup.
• IntelliSense -VS Code brings smart code completions as you type.