Visual Studio Code on macOS Installation. Download Visual Studio Code for macOS.; Double-click on the downloaded archive to expand the contents. Drag Visual Studio Code.app to the Applications folder, making it available in the Launchpad. You can also do this straight from Visual Studio Code by hitting ⇧⌘P and typing dnx run. A new Terminal instance should open and run the application for you. Congratulations, you have just built your first.NET command line application on a Mac and the setup was much easier than it would have been on Windows.
Installation
- Download Visual Studio Code for macOS.
- Double-click on the downloaded archive to expand the contents.
- Drag
Visual Studio Code.appto theApplicationsfolder, making it available in theLaunchpad. - Add VS Code to your Dock by right-clicking on the icon to bring up the context menu and choosing Options, Keep in Dock.
Launching from the command line
You can also run VS Code from the terminal by typing 'code' after adding it to the path:
- Launch VS Code.
- Open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)) and type 'shell command' to find the Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.
- Restart the terminal for the new
$PATHvalue to take effect. You'll be able to type 'code .' in any folder to start editing files in that folder.
Note: If you still have the old code alias in your .bash_profile (or equivalent) from an early VS Code version, remove it and replace it by executing the Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.
To manually add VS Code to your path, you can run the following commands:
Start a new terminal to pick up your .bash_profile changes.
Note: The leading slash is required to prevent $PATH from expanding during the concatenation. Remove the leading slash if you want to run the export command directly in a terminal.
Touch Bar support
Out of the box VS Code adds actions to navigate in editor history as well as the full Debug tool bar to control the debugger on your Touch Bar:
Mojave privacy protections
After upgrading to macOS Mojave version, you may see dialogs saying 'Visual Studio Code would like to access your {calendar/contacts/photos}.' This is due to the new privacy protections in Mojave and is not specific to VS Code. The same dialogs may be displayed when running other applications as well. The dialog is shown once for each type of personal data and it is fine to choose Don't Allow since VS Code does not need access to those folders. You can read a more detailed explanation in this blog post.
Updates
VS Code ships monthly releases and supports auto-update when a new release is available. If you're prompted by VS Code, accept the newest update and it will get installed (you won't need to do anything else to get the latest bits).
Note: You can disable auto-update if you prefer to update VS Code on your own schedule.
Preferences menu
You can configure VS Code through settings, color themes, and custom keybindings and you will often see mention of the File > Preferences menu group. On a macOS, the Preferences menu group is under Code, not File.
Next steps
Once you have installed VS Code, these topics will help you learn more about VS Code:
- Additional Components - Learn how to install Git, Node.js, TypeScript, and tools like Yeoman.
- User Interface - A quick orientation around VS Code.
- User/Workspace Settings - Learn how to configure VS Code to your preferences settings.
Common questions
Why do I see 'Visual Studio Code would like access to your calendar.'
If you are running macOS Mojave version, you may see dialogs saying 'Visual Studio Code would like to access your {calendar/contacts/photos}.' This is due to the new privacy protections in Mojave discussed above. It is fine to choose Don't Allow since VS Code does not need access to those folders.
Microsoft has officially released Visual Studio for Mac following an extended preview period for developers. The release corresponds with the kick off of Microsoft’s Build 2017 developer conference this week.
We are happy to announce the release of Visual Studio 2017 for Mac. Visual Studio for Mac is a new member of the Visual Studio family, enabling developers on macOS to build apps for mobile, web, and cloud with Xamarin and .NET Core, as well as games with Unity.
How To Install Visual Studio For Mac Offline
Microsoft says developers can use Visual Studio for Mac to create “Android, macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, web, and cloud” apps.
Code fast, debug, and diagnose with ease, test often, and release with confidence. Use version control, be agile, and collaborate efficiently with this new release!
Microsoft released the initial preview version of Visual Studio for macOS last November. Microsoft also supports Visual Studio Code for Mac as well.
Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE, or integrated development environment, is available to download for free on Mac from visualstudio.com.
You can read the full release notes for the latest version (and first non-preview version) here.
Visual Studio For Mac Review
While Microsoft is officially rolling out its IDE to the Mac today, earlier this month the company introduced a new MacBook competitor called the Surface Laptop that runs Windows 10 S. Microsoft has also been working on a Wunderlist replacement called To-Do, and improvements to Outlook for Mac for Gmail users are in preview now.