How do I back up my VS Code settings and list of installed extensions?

Question

I've just been through the VS Code installation process twice. The initial install is quick and painless (as is the editor itself), but I have had to remember the list of extensions I installed and am installing new ones a great rate.

With Sublime Text, I'd just copy a settings file to another PC and could auto-install any workflow dependencies that way, but what is the approach with VS Code?

Can I just back up a JSON 'settings' file or similar so that I can easily re-create my working environment (complete with extensions)?

Just like other cross-platform editors, simply copy the `.vscode` directory to the new user environment's home directory. — JW0914, Feb 07 '20 at 13:17
You may be able to use the new preview feature [Settings Sync](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/settings-sync) to accomplish what you are trying to do. It will let you use a GitHub account or Microsoft account to store your VS Code settings (including preferences, extensions, etc) across machines. — Joel Glovier, Jun 04 '21 at 18:42

score 95 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 10 '19 at 12:36

95

I've submitted an answer for this on the main StackOverflow site - pasted below for context

I've need to do this myself a few times - especially when installing on another machine.

Depending on your platform VS Code looks for your extensions folder (.vscode/extensions) on one of the following paths:

Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions
Mac: ~/.vscode/extensions
Linux: ~/.vscode/extensions

That should show you a list of the extensions

I've also had success using Visual Studio Code Settings Sync Extension to sync settings to GitHub gist

EDIT: In the lastest release of VSCode (May 2016) it is now possible to list the installed extension in the command line

code --list-extensions

edited Dec 10 '19 at 12:36

Amit Yadav

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answered Jun 01 '16 at 06:53

MarkP

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`Settings Sync` extension worked like charm, just exported my settings from OS X to Linux Mint. – vikas027 Aug 09 '17 at 11:20
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I don't want to Sync! I want to backup! You did not properly answer the original question. – JesseNewman19 Dec 08 '17 at 01:51
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Note that `Settings Sync` does not seem to backup WSL remote extensions if using remote connection – Mr Fox Jul 13 '20 at 12:13

score 46 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 24 '19 at 05:06

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So as treehead's edit or MarkP's answer showed you can now list all extensions installed so the way to install that list of extensions would be to:

code --list-extensions >> vs_code_extensions_list.txt

Transfer the newly created file to the machine that you want to install those extensions to. On that machine you would:

cat vs_code_extensions_list.txt | xargs -n 1 code --install-extension

Which will then go through each extension in that file and install the extension.

If you want a clean install (AKA remove all existing extensions on that machine) you could run this before you install the new extensions (otherwise you will remove those new extensions too). BE CAREFUL as this will remove all extensions in VS Code:

code --list-extensions | xargs -n 1 code --uninstall-extension

answered Jun 24 '19 at 05:06

NickTheSick

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Tried, got this error message: "xargs : The term 'xargs' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program." ? – Nicholas Petersen Jul 15 '19 at 18:44
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@NicholasPetersen That's for Linux. On windows: `get-content c:\exportedlist.txt | % { code --install-extension $_ }` – Jason Clement Oct 18 '19 at 21:06
Here is how to uninstall only exts missing from the file: `code --list-extensions | diff - vs_code_extensions_list.txt | grep '^<' | sed 's/' | sed 's/>/code --install-extension' | eval`. – DUzun Mar 20 '21 at 23:12

Andrew · Answer 3 · 2021-02-08T22:30:15.247

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Here's the location of the VSCode settings (see below + comments):

Windows %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json
macOS $HOME/Library/ApplicationSupport/Code/User/settings.json
Linux $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json

It appears to only be storing modified settings, which is really nice (so you don't clobber up or screw with future versions).

You may also want /snippets/, in the same folder as settings.json.

And, of course, you can run code --list-extensions, as the other answers already mention.

Edit: I just discovered a neat little trick! Hit Ctrl+Shift+P to open up the command palette, and then type/select Preferences: Open Settings (JSON). This will open up your settings.json file. Then, you can right click on the settings.json tab, and click Open Containing Folder. This will take you to the folder mentioned above!

edited Feb 08 '21 at 22:30

answered Sep 12 '19 at 14:17

Andrew

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Your answer is the only one to cover backing up (not syncing) both extensions and settings. Thank you for an accurate answer. – Jimmy Jan 25 '20 at 15:20
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Note there are other files in the same directory as settings.json that you probably want to backup as well – Francesc Rosas May 21 '20 at 10:07
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Seems like it's now `ApplicationSupport` (no space). – TrueWill Feb 08 '21 at 18:11
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Mine is still `Application Support` with the space, on macOS Monterey. I guess it varies somehow. – Dave Ceddia Oct 28 '21 at 16:46

score 15 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 12 '19 at 13:26

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The Settings Sync extension should do the trick, though the UX is so-so.

It syncs your settings to a GitHub Gist in JSON format. You’ll have to create a GitHub token. I suggest saving the token code in the token file name, as when you need to download your settings again later, it’s unlikely you’ll have the code handy (at least, that was my case).

edited Sep 12 '19 at 13:26

Rory O'Kane

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answered Aug 13 '16 at 00:22

Brandon

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If you know you will need your GitHub token for the Settings Sync extension, you can get it from the `token` key in the `syncLocalSettings.json` that is in your Code profile, in the same folder as `settings.json`. – Rory O'Kane Sep 12 '19 at 08:47

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 29 '20 at 09:41

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I just install Google Backup and Sync apps and then add user folder C:\Users\<user>\.vscode into the list of folders to be backed up.

answered Nov 29 '20 at 09:41

Rosdi

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this doesn't backup the settings but just the installed extensions which can easily be reinstalled if you get the list like mentioned in other comments – Patrick Wolf Nov 15 '21 at 04:29

How do I back up my VS Code settings and list of installed extensions?

5 Answers5