Visual Studio Code Cheat Sheet

Table of contents

  1. Install Visual Studio Code
  2. Install Visual Studio Code on macOS using Homebrew
    1. Ensure Homebrew is Installed
    2. Install Visual Studio Code
    3. Verify Installation
    4. (Optional) Add code Command to PATH
    5. (Optional) Install Useful Extensions via Homebrew
  3. Enable Profiles for Different Programming Languages
    1. Steps to Create a Profile
    2. Switching Between Profiles
  4. Install and Configure Extensions Per Profile
    1. Example: Recommended Extensions Per Language
  5. Store VS Code Configurations in the Cloud
    1. Enable Settings Sync
    2. Using GitHub to Store Configuration
  6. Configure Language-Specific Settings
    1. Example: Different Formatting Per Language
  7. Configure Workspaces for Specific Projects
  8. Using Dev Containers for Full Isolation
    1. Steps:
  9. Automate Setup on a New Machine
  10. Uninstall VS Code
    1. Uninstall using Homebrew
    2. Delete Configuration Files and Cache
    3. Delete VS Code User Data
    4. Delete VS Code Extensions
    5. Delete Cache Files
    6. Remove Logs
    7. Remove Saved Application State
    8. Verify VS Code is Fully Removed
    9. Remove Homebrew Cask Data (Optional)
    10. Restart Your Mac (Recommended)

Install Visual Studio Code

Download and install VS Code from the official website:
👉 https://code.visualstudio.com/

Install Visual Studio Code on macOS using Homebrew

Ensure Homebrew is Installed

Open Terminal (Cmd + Space → Type Terminal → Press Enter) and run:

brew --version

If Homebrew is not installed, install it with:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Then, restart your terminal.

Install Visual Studio Code

Run:

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Verify Installation

Check if VS Code is installed:

code --version

If VS Code doesn’t open, restart your terminal and try again.

(Optional) Add code Command to PATH

If the code command doesn’t work, add it manually:

ln -s "/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/code" /usr/local/bin/code

Now, you can open VS Code from the terminal using:

code .

(Optional) Install Useful Extensions via Homebrew

You can install VS Code extensions directly from Homebrew:

code --install-extension ms-python.python
code --install-extension esbenp.prettier-vscode
code --install-extension dbaeumer.vscode-eslint

Enable Profiles for Different Programming Languages

VS Code introduced Profiles, which allow you to customize extensions, settings, and UI layout per profile.

Steps to Create a Profile

  1. Open VS Code.
  2. Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on macOS) to open the command palette.
  3. Type and select “Profiles: Create a Profile”.
  4. Name your profile based on the programming language (e.g., Python Dev, Web Dev, Java Dev).
  5. Choose what to include in the profile:
    • Settings (Language-specific settings)
    • Extensions (Only relevant plugins)
    • Keybindings
    • UI State (Theme, layout, etc.)

Switching Between Profiles

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on macOS) then type “Profiles: Switch Profile”.
  2. Select your desired profile.

Install and Configure Extensions Per Profile

Each profile can have its own set of extensions.

  • Python Profile
    • Python (ms-python.python)
    • Pylance (ms-python.vscode-pylance)
    • Jupyter (ms-toolsai.jupyter)
    • Black Formatter (ms-python.black-formatter)
  • Web Development Profile
    • Live Server (ritwickdey.LiveServer)
    • Prettier (esbenp.prettier-vscode)
    • ESLint (dbaeumer.vscode-eslint)
    • Tailwind CSS IntelliSense (bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss)
  • Java Profile
    • Java Extension Pack (vscjava.vscode-java-pack)
    • Maven (vscjava.vscode-maven)
    • Debugger for Java (vscjava.vscode-java-debug)

To install extensions per profile:

  1. Switch to the desired profile.
  2. Open Extensions (Ctrl + Shift + X).
  3. Search and install relevant extensions.

Store VS Code Configurations in the Cloud

To sync your settings, themes, keybindings, and extensions:

Enable Settings Sync

  1. Open VS Code.
  2. Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on macOS), then search for “Settings Sync: Turn On”.
  3. Sign in with:
    • GitHub
    • Microsoft Account
  4. Choose what to sync:
    • Settings
    • Extensions
    • Keybindings
    • UI State
    • Snippets

Note: Settings are stored in the cloud and can be restored on any new device.

Using GitHub to Store Configuration

If you want more control:

  1. Go to C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Code\User (Windows) or ~/.config/Code/User (Linux/macOS).
  2. Backup settings.json, keybindings.json, snippets, and extensions.json to a private GitHub repository.

Example Git commands:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Backup VS Code Config"
git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/vscode-config.git
git push -u origin main

Configure Language-Specific Settings

VS Code allows per-language settings. To do this:

  1. Open settings.json (Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on macOS) → “Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)”).
  2. Add settings specific to a language.

Example: Different Formatting Per Language

{
  "[python]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "ms-python.black-formatter",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  },
  "[javascript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  }
}

Configure Workspaces for Specific Projects

For team projects or specific settings per folder:

  1. Open a project folder in VS Code.
  2. Create a .vscode folder inside the project directory.
  3. Add a settings.json file inside .vscode.

Example:

{
  "editor.tabSize": 4,
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "python.analysis.typeCheckingMode": "basic"
}

Now, these settings only apply inside this project.

Using Dev Containers for Full Isolation

If you want completely separate environments per language, use Dev Containers.

Steps:

  1. Install Dev Containers extension (ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers).
  2. Create a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file in your project.
  3. Define the container with the language dependencies.

Example for Python:

{
  "name": "Python Dev",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:3.10",
  "extensions": ["ms-python.python", "ms-toolsai.jupyter"]
}

Now, when you open the project, it runs inside a containerized environment.

Automate Setup on a New Machine

To restore everything quickly on a new machine:

  1. Install VS Code.
  2. Enable Settings Sync.
  3. Clone your GitHub settings backup (if applicable).
  4. Install all necessary profiles and extensions.

Uninstall VS Code

Uninstall using Homebrew

If you installed VS Code using Homebrew, run:

brew uninstall --cask visual-studio-code

To confirm it’s gone, check:

brew list --cask | grep visual-studio-code

If it’s still listed, force remove it:

brew uninstall --cask --force visual-studio-code

Delete Configuration Files and Cache

Even after uninstalling, VS Code leaves behind settings, extensions, and cache. Remove them manually:

Delete VS Code User Data

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code

Delete VS Code Extensions

rm -rf ~/.vscode

Delete Cache Files

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.VSCode
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.VSCode.ShipIt

Remove Logs

rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/Code

Remove Saved Application State

rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.microsoft.VSCode.savedState

Verify VS Code is Fully Removed

Run:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/ | grep Code
ls ~/.vscode

If nothing appears, VS Code is completely removed.

Remove Homebrew Cask Data (Optional)

To ensure all traces are removed from Homebrew:

brew cleanup

This ensures no background processes are running from VS Code.