VSCode do not understand Unity, and when you try to follow something into the package, it ask the C# project file and found that it is a dll, and so it dig into the dll (generated from asmdef) instead of an actual package source code that is also available somewhere else. This has been bugging me for years. I finally sat down and settled things by staring Unity and vscode deep in its eyes. Also giving them blue eyes.
Our docs contain a Common questions section as needed for specific topics. We've captured items here that don't fit in the other topics.
If you don't see an answer to your question here, check our previously reported issues on GitHub and our release notes.
What is the difference between Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio IDE?
Visual Studio Code is a streamlined code editor with support for development operations like debugging, task running, and version control. It aims to provide just the tools a developer needs for a quick code-build-debug cycle and leaves more complex workflows to fuller featured IDEs, such as Visual Studio IDE.
Which OSs are supported?
VS Code runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. See the Requirements documentation for the supported versions. You can find more platform specific details in the Setup overview.
Is VS Code free?
Yes, VS Code is free for private or commercial use. See the product license for details.
How to disable telemetry reporting
Vscode Unity Hidden Meta Files
VS Code collects usage data and sends it to Microsoft to help improve our products and services. Read our privacy statement and telemetry documentation to learn more.
If you don't wish to send usage data to Microsoft, you can set the telemetry.enableTelemetry
user setting to false
.
From File > Preferences > Settings (macOS: Code > Preferences > Settings), search for telemetry
, and uncheck the Telemetry: Enable Telemetry setting. This will silence all telemetry events from VS Code going forward.
Important Notice: VS Code gives you the option to install Microsoft and third party extensions. These extensions may be collecting their own usage data and are not controlled by the telemetry.enableTelemetry
setting. Consult the specific extension's documentation to learn about its telemetry reporting.
How to disable experiments
VS Code uses experiments to try out new features or progressively roll them out. Our experimentation framework calls out to a Microsoft-owned service and is therefore disabled when telemetry is disabled. However, if you wish to disable experiments regardless of your telemetry preferences, you may set the workbench.enableExperiments
user setting to false
.
From File > Preferences > Settings (macOS: Code > Preferences > Settings), search for experiments
, and uncheck the Workbench: Enable Experiments setting. This will prevent VS Code from calling out to the service and opt out of any ongoing experiments.
How to disable crash reporting
VS Code collects data about any crashes that occur and sends it to Microsoft to help improve our products and services. Read our privacy statement and telemetry documentation to learn more.
If you don't wish to send crash data to Microsoft, you can change the enable-crash-reporter
runtime argument to false
- Open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)).
- Run the Preferences: Configure Runtime Arguments command.
- This command will open a
argv.json
file to configure runtime arguments. - Edit
'enable-crash-reporter': false
. - Restart VS Code.
GDPR and VS Code
Now that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is in effect, we want to take this opportunity to reiterate that we take privacy very seriously. That's both for Microsoft as a company and specifically within the VS Code team.
To support GDPR:
- The VS Code product notifies all users that they can opt out of telemetry collection.
- The team actively reviews and classifies all telemetry sent (documented in our OSS codebase).
- There are valid data retention policies in place for any data collected, for example crash dumps.
You can learn more about VS Code's GDPR compliance in the telemetry documentation.
What online services does VS Code use?
Beyond crash reporting and telemetry, VS Code uses online services for various other purposes such as downloading product updates, finding, installing, and updating extensions, or providing Natural Language Search within the Settings editor. You can learn more in Managing online services.
You can choose to turn on/off features that use these services. From File > Preferences > Settings (macOS: Code > Preferences > Settings), and type the tag @tag:usesOnlineServices
. This will display all settings that control the usage of online services and you can individually switch them on or off.
How do I opt out of VS Code auto-updates?
By default, VS Code is set up to auto-update for macOS and Windows users when we release new updates. If you do not want to get automatic updates, you can set the Update: Mode setting from default
to none
.
To modify the update mode, go to File > Preferences > Settings (macOS: Code > Preferences > Settings), search for update mode
and change the setting to none
.
If you use the JSON editor for your settings, add the following line:
You can install a previous release of VS Code by uninstalling your current version and then installing the download provided at the top of a specific release notes page.
Note: On Linux: If the VS Code repository was installed correctly then your system package manager should handle auto-updating in the same way as other packages on the system. See Installing VS Code on Linux.
Opt out of extension updates
By default, VS Code will also auto-update extensions as new versions become available. If you do not want extensions to automatically update, you can clear the Extensions: Auto Update check box in the Settings editor (⌘, (Windows, Linux Ctrl+,)).
Vs Code Unity
If you use the JSON editor to modify your settings, add the following line:
Licensing
Location
You can find the VS Code licenses, third party notices and Chromium Open Source credit list under your VS Code installation location resourcesapp
folder. VS Code's ThirdPartyNotices.txt
, Chromium's Credits_*.html
, and VS Code's English language LICENSE.txt
are available under resourcesapp
. Localized versions of LICENSE.txt
by Language ID are under resourcesapplicenses
.
Why does Visual Studio Code have a different license than the vscode GitHub repository?
To learn why Visual Studio Code, the product, has a different license than the open-source vscode GitHub repository, see issue #60 for a detailed explanation.
What is the difference between the vscode
repository and the Microsoft Visual Studio Code distribution?
The github.com/microsoft/vscode repository (Code - OSS
) is where we develop the Visual Studio Code product. Not only do we write code and work on issues there, we also publish our roadmap and monthly iteration and endgame plans. The source code is available to everyone under a standard MIT license.
Visual Studio Code is a distribution of the Code - OSS
repository with Microsoft specific customizations (including source code), released under a traditional Microsoft product license.
See the Visual Studio Code and 'Code - OSS' Differences article for more details.
What does 'Built on Open Source' mean?
Microsoft Visual Studio Code is a Microsoft licensed distribution of 'Code - OSS' that includes Microsoft proprietary assets (such as icons) and features (Visual Studio Marketplace integration, small aspects of enabling Remote Development). While these additions make up a very small percentage of the overall distribution code base, it is more accurate to say that Visual Studio Code is 'built' on open source, rather than 'is' open source, because of these differences. More information on what each distribution includes can be found in the Visual Studio Code and 'Code - OSS' Differences article.
How do I find the license for an extension?
Most extensions link to their license on their Marketplace page or in the overview section, when you select an extension in the Extensions view.
For example:
If you don't find a link to the license, you may find a license in the extension's repository if it is public, or you can contact the extension author through the Q & A section of the Marketplace.
Are all VS Code extensions open source?
Extension authors are free to choose a license that fits their business needs. While many extension authors have opted to release their source code under an open-source license, some extensions like Wallaby.js, Google Cloud Code, and the VS Code Remote Development extensions use proprietary licenses.
At Microsoft, we open source our extensions whenever possible. However, reliance on existing proprietary source code or libraries, source code that crosses into Microsoft licensed tools or services (for example Visual Studio), and business model differences across the entirety of Microsoft will result in some extensions using a proprietary license. You can find a list of Microsoft contributed Visual Studio Code extensions and their licenses in the Microsoft Extension Licenses article.
How do I find the version?
You can find the VS Code version information in the About dialog box.
On macOS, go to Code > About Visual Studio Code.
On Windows and Linux, go to Help > About.
The VS Code version is the first Version number listed and has the version format 'major.minor.release', for example '1.27.0'.
Previous release versions
You can find links to some release downloads at the top of a version's release notes:
If you need a type of installation not listed there, you can manually download via the following URLs:
Download type | URL |
---|---|
Windows 64 bit System installer | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64/stable |
Windows 64 bit User installer | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64-user/stable |
Windows 64 bit zip | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64-archive/stable |
Windows 64 bit ARM System installer | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-arm64/stable |
Windows 64 bit ARM User installer | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-arm64-user/stable |
Windows 64 bit ARM zip | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-arm64-archive/stable |
Windows 32 bit System installer | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32/stable |
Windows 32 bit User installer | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-user/stable |
Windows 32 bit zip | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-archive/stable |
macOS | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/darwin/stable |
Linux 64 bit | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-x64/stable |
Linux 64 bit debian | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-deb-x64/stable |
Linux 64 bit rpm | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-rpm-x64/stable |
Linux 64 bit snap | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-snap-x64/stable |
Linux ARM | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-armhf/stable |
Linux ARM debian | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-deb-armhf/stable |
Linux ARM rpm | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-rpm-armhf/stable |
Linux 64 bit ARM | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-arm64/stable |
Linux 64 bit ARM debian | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-deb-arm64/stable |
Linux 64 bit ARM rpm | https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-rpm-arm64/stable |
Substitute the specific release you want in the {version}
placeholder. For example, to download the Linux ARM debian version for 1.50.1, you would use
You can use the version string latest
, if you'd like to always download the latest VS Code stable version.
Prerelease versions
Want an early peek at new VS Code features? You can try prerelease versions of VS Code by installing the 'Insiders' build. The Insiders build installs side by side to your stable VS Code install and has isolated settings, configurations, and extensions. The Insiders build is updated nightly so you'll get the latest bug fixes and feature updates from the day before.
To install the Insiders build, go to the Insiders download page.
What is a VS Code 'workspace'?
A VS Code 'workspace' is usually just your project root folder. VS Code uses the 'workspace' concept in order to scope project configurations such as project-specific settings as well as config files for debugging and tasks. Workspace files are stored at the project root in a .vscode
folder. You can also have more than one root folder in a VS Code workspace through a feature called Multi-root workspaces.
You can learn more in the What is a VS Code 'workspace'? article.
Can I run a portable version of VS Code?
Yes, VS Code has a Portable Mode that lets you keep settings and data in the same location as your installation, for example, on a USB drive.
Report an issue with a VS Code extension
For bugs, feature requests or to contact an extension author, you should use the links available in the Visual Studio Code Marketplace or use Help: Report Issue from the Command Palette. However, if there is an issue where an extension does not follow our code of conduct, for example it includes profanity, pornography or presents a risk to the user, then we have an email alias to report the issue. Once the mail is received, our Marketplace team will look into an appropriate course of action, up to and including unpublishing the extension.
VS Code gets unresponsive right after opening a folder
When you open a folder, VS Code will search for typical project files to offer you additional tooling (for example, the solution picker in the Status bar to open a solution). If you open a folder with lots of files, the search can take a large amount of time and CPU resources during which VS Code might be slow to respond. We plan to improve this in the future but for now you can exclude folders from the explorer via the files.exclude
setting and they will not be searched for project files:
Vscode Unity Setup
VS Code is blank?
The Electron shell used by Visual Studio Code has trouble with some GPU (graphics processing unit) hardware acceleration. If VS Code is displaying a blank (empty) main window, you can try disabling GPU acceleration when launching VS Code by adding the Electron --disable-gpu
command-line switch.
Installation appears to be corrupt [Unsupported]
VS Code does a background check to detect if the installation has been changed on disk and if so, you will see the text [Unsupported] in the title bar. This is done since some extensions directly modify (patch) the VS Code product in such a way that is semi-permanent (until the next update) and this can cause hard to reproduce issues. We are not trying to block VS Code patching, but we want to raise awareness that patching VS Code means you are running an unsupported version. Reinstalling VS Code will replace the modified files and silence the warning.
You may also see the [Unsupported] message if VS Code files have been mistakenly quarantined or removed by anti-virus software (see issue #94858 for an example). Check your anti-virus software settings and reinstall VS Code to repair the missing files.
Resolving Shell Environment is Slow (Error, Warning)
This section applies to macOS and Linux environments only.
When VS Code is launched from a terminal (for example, via code .
), it has access to environment settings defined in your .bashrc
or .zshrc
files. This means features like tasks or debug targets also have access to those settings.
However, when launching from your platform's user interface (for example, the VS Code icon in the macOS dock), you normally are not running in the context of a shell and you don't have access to those environment settings. This means that depending on how you launch VS Code, you may not have the same environment.
To work around this, when launched via a UI gesture, VS Code will start a small process to run (or 'resolve') the shell environment defined in your .bashrc
or .zshrc
files. If your startup file takes a long time to process (more than 3 seconds), you will see the following warning:
If, after 10 seconds, the shell environment has still not been resolved, VS Code will abort the 'resolve' process, launch without your shell's environment settings, and you will see the following error:
The easiest way to investigate delays in your startup file is to:
- Open your shell's startup file (for example, in VS Code by typing
~/.bashrc
or~/.zshrc
in quick open). - Selectively comment out potentially long running operations.
- Save and fully restart VS Code until the warning or error disappears.
Technical Support
You can ask questions and search for answers on Stack Overflow and enter issues and feature requests directly in our GitHub repository.
If you'd like to contact a professional support engineer, you can open a ticket with the Microsoft assisted support team.
[1.0.7] - 2019-05-15
Fix various OSX specific issues.Generate project on load if they are not generated.Fix path recognition.
[1.0.6] - 2019-04-30
Ensure asset database is refreshed when generating csproj and solution files.
[1.0.5] - 2019-04-27
Add support for generating all csproj files.
[1.0.4] - 2019-04-18
Fix relative package paths.Fix opening editor on mac.Add %LOCALAPPDATA%/Programs to the path of install paths.
[1.0.3] - 2019-01-01
This is the first release of Unity Package vscode_editor.
Vs Code For Unity
Using the newly created api to integrate Visual Studio Code with Unity.