How to Install VS Code on Linux: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and Arch

VS Code is available on Linux through official repositories, a Snap package, and community-maintained packages for Arch. This guide walks through the install steps for each major distribution. Choose the method that matches yours, verify the install, and you will have the editor ready in a few minutes.

Pick your install method

All methods make the shell command available and receive updates through your package manager.

Debian and Ubuntu-based distributions

Add the Microsoft repository, then install with apt. First, download and install the Microsoft signing key:

bash

sudo apt install wget gpg
wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/microsoft.gpg

This command fetches the public key that verifies package authenticity and saves it directly in the system keyring directory.

With the signing key installed, create the repository file so apt knows where to find the package:

bash

echo -e "Types: deb\nURIs: https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code\nSuites: stable\nComponents: main\nArchitectures: amd64,arm64,armhf\nSigned-By: /usr/share/keyrings/microsoft.gpg" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.sources > /dev/null

This creates the current deb822-format source file that apt reads for the VS Code repository.

Now install the package with apt:

bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt install code

The shell command is available immediately. Test it with code --version.

Fedora, RHEL, and CentOS-based distributions

Import the Microsoft signing key and add the repository configuration:

bash

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
echo -e '[code]\nname=Visual Studio Code\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/vscode\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc' | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/vscode.repo > /dev/null

This imports the GPG key and writes the repository to a file recognized by dnf. Once the repository is configured, install with:

bash

sudo dnf check-update
sudo dnf install code

For older RHEL or CentOS systems, use yum instead of dnf.

Replace dnf with yum in both commands above. This completes the repository-based install for RPM distributions.

Arch Linux

VS Code is available in the Arch User Repository. Install with an AUR helper:

bash

yay -S visual-studio-code-bin

This installs the official binary build from Microsoft. The package name pulls the prebuilt binary rather than building from source. Update it with yay -Syu like any other AUR package.

Snap package (any distribution)

If your distribution supports Snap, install from the Snap Store:

bash

sudo snap install code --classic

The --classic flag is required. The editor needs classic confinement to access installed tools, shells, and the filesystem outside the Snap sandbox.

Snap updates the editor automatically in the background. No manual update step is needed.

Verify the installation

After installing through any method, confirm that the editor is ready.

• Open a terminal.
• Type code --version and press Enter.
• You should see the version number, commit ID, and platform string.

To open a project from the terminal, create a test folder and open it:

bash

mkdir ~/vscode-test && cd ~/vscode-test && code .

The editor opens with the test folder loaded. Create a file, edit it, and save it to confirm everything works. Delete the test folder when done.

Troubleshooting

Command not found after install

If the shell command is not recognized after installing the .deb or .rpm package, close and reopen the terminal. The shell caches the old PATH and needs to reload.

For Snap installs, make sure /snap/bin is in your PATH. Add this line to your shell configuration file:

bash

export PATH="$PATH:/snap/bin"

ENOSPC error on large projects

If you see "Visual Studio Code is unable to watch for file changes in this large workspace", Linux has a low default limit on file watchers. Increase it:

bash

echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf && sudo sysctl -p

Conflicts with old repositories

If you previously used a third-party repository and see conflicting package errors, remove the old source file from the apt sources directory before adding the official Microsoft repository.

Next steps

The editor is running on Linux. Open a folder, install language extensions, and set up essential settings. Start with the beginner setup guide to configure Auto Save, pick a theme, enable Copilot, and create your first project.

If you also use macOS or Windows, see the macOS install guide.