Visual Studio Code
FreeMicrosoft
- Category
- Development
- Version
- 1.142.0
- Manifest checked
- 2026-10-23
- Size
- ~240 MB
- Licence terms
- Free for personal and business use
- Supported OS
- Windows 11 · 10
- Install method
- Automatic install supported
- Developer
- Microsoft
- Downloads via this site
This links to Microsoft’s own download source. AfterFormat neither stores nor modifies installer files.
What it is
A code editor from Microsoft. It is consistently the most used editor in developer surveys, and extensions add support for practically every programming language. Free for personal and business use.
When to pick this
For writing code or editing across many files. If you want AI to make the edits directly, Cursor is built on this same editor.
Details
Extensions
Language support, debuggers, Git integration and remote development all arrive as extensions — including localisation packs.
Built-in terminal and Git
Open a terminal and review or commit Git changes inside the editor, without switching windows.
Settings sync
Sign in with a GitHub account and your extensions, theme, keybindings and settings are stored against it. After a reformat, signing in restores the environment you had.
After a reformat
Turn on Settings Sync
If Settings Sync was on with a GitHub or Microsoft account, extensions, settings, keybindings and snippets return with one sign-in. If it was not on before the reformat, at least note the extension list.
What does not come back
Workspace folders are files and need their own backup; the default terminal shell and Git credentials are set again. Language runtimes (Node.js, Python and so on) are separate installs.
Distribution
- winget ID
- Microsoft.VisualStudioCode
- Redistribution policy
- Official source link only
- Manifest checked
- 2026-10-23
- Official site
- https://code.visualstudio.com/
The date the version and installer URL were checked in winget. This is separate from a usage-terms review or an installation test.
Original winget manifest