Visual Studio Code — Free Source-Code Editor & IDE | Download for Windows

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) — Free Source-Code Editor & Lightweight IDE

Visual Studio Code (aka VS Code, Visual Code) is Microsoft’s free, cross-platform code editor with a huge extension ecosystem. Whether you searched for visual studio code download, visual code, vsc code, visual studio code python, visual studio code java, this page covers downloads, platform notes (Windows), extensions, and quick install tips for developers.

Why Choose Visual Studio Code?

• Cross-platform: Native apps for Windows, macOS and Linux.
• Extensible: Thousands of extensions (Python, C/C++, Java, Pylance, ESLint, Prettier, Docker, Live Share, Remote-SSH, GitLens).
• Lightweight but powerful: Fast startup, IntelliSense (autocomplete), debugging, integrated terminal and Git support.
• Customizable: Themes, keybindings, user/workspace settings and tasks.
• Variants: Stable release, Insiders (daily build), and open-source forks like VSCodium.

Official Download Options

• Windows: System installer (User/System), ZIP (portable) and Windows Store. Search: visual studio code download, visual studio code windows.
• macOS: Universal .dmg for Intel/M1+, available via direct download or Homebrew Cask. Search: visual studio code for mac, visual studio code mac download.
• Linux: DEB/RPM packages, Snap, and tar.gz for manual install (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch). Search: visual studio code linux, visual studio code ubuntu.
• Web: VS Code for the Web — run in browser for quick edits. Search: visual studio code web, code.visualstudio.com.

Installer size approx. 109 MB. Latest stable: Windows.

Quick Install Commands (copyable)

# Windows (choco) choco install vscode # macOS (Homebrew) brew install --cask visual-studio-code # Ubuntu / Debian (deb) sudo apt install ./code_Windows_amd64.deb # Fedora / RHEL (rpm) sudo dnf install ./code-Windows.rpm # Snap (Linux) sudo snap install code --classic

Top Features Developers Love

• IntelliSense (smart code completion)
• Built-in Debugger for Node.js, Python, C# and more (via extensions)
• Integrated Git & source control UI
• Extensions: Python, Pylance, C/C++ (Microsoft), Java Pack, Live Share, Docker, Remote-SSH
• Tasks, snippets, multi-root workspaces and powerful search/replace (regex)
• Settings Sync across machines (Microsoft or GitHub account)

Recommended Extensions (starter list)

• Python — Microsoft (Linting, Debugging, Jupyter)
• Pylance — fast type analysis for Python
• C/C++ — Microsoft (IntelliSense, debugging)
• Java Extension Pack — Language support & debugging
• ESLint / Prettier — JS/TS linting & formatting
• Live Share — real-time collaboration
• Remote - SSH & Remote - Containers — develop on remote machines or containers
• GitLens — Git superpowers

Tips & Troubleshooting

• VS Code slow: Disable heavy extensions, enable telemetry only if needed, or try the Insiders build.
• Extensions not installing: Check firewall/proxy, or install offline VSIX packages.
• Debugging problems: Verify launch.json configuration and installed debug extensions.
• 32 vs 64 bit: Use matching extension binaries; most modern systems use 64-bit installers.

FAQ

Q: Is VS Code free? A: Yes — Visual Studio Code is free. The official Microsoft build includes some branding and telemetry; VSCodium is a telemetry-free, open-source build. Q: What’s the difference between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code? A: Visual Studio is a full IDE (Windows/macOS) focused on .NET, C++ and enterprise development. VS Code is a lightweight, extensible code editor focused on speed and cross-platform development. Q: Can I use VS Code for large projects? A: Yes — with proper workspace settings, extensions, and language servers (LSP) VS Code handles large codebases well.

Conclusion

Download Visual Studio Code for Windows to get a fast, extensible editor for every language and workflow. Whether you’re using Python, Java, C++, web stacks, or remote containers — VS Code scales from quick edits to full development environments (Version: Windows).