How to Open and Use the Integrated Terminal in VS Code

The integrated terminal in VS Code runs a full shell inside the editor window. You do not need to switch to a separate terminal application to run commands. It opens at the root of your workspace and supports PowerShell, Command Prompt, Git Bash, zsh, bash, fish, and any other shell installed on your machine.

Once you are comfortable with the basics, learn how to /vscode/how-to-change-the-default-terminal-in-vs-code and /vscode/how-to-split-terminals-and-run-multiple-terminals-in-vs-code.

Open the terminal

There are four ways to open the integrated terminal:

The terminal opens as a panel at the bottom of the window. If no workspace folder is open, it starts in your home directory.

Create and manage terminal instances

You can run multiple terminal sessions at the same time. Each session appears as a tab on the right side of the terminal panel.

Terminal tabs can be reordered by dragging them. You can also drag a tab into the editor area to turn it into a terminal editor that sits alongside your code files.

Run commands and see output

Type any shell command and press Enter. The terminal runs it just like a standalone terminal application. Some things to know:

• The working directory starts at your workspace root. Change it with cd like normal.
• Output scrolls up into the scrollback buffer. The buffer keeps 1000 lines by default, controlled by the terminal.integrated.scrollback setting. Scroll with your mouse wheel, trackpad, or the scroll bar.

To run a file or selection from the editor without copying it manually: select text in an editor, open the Command Palette, and run Terminal: Run Selected Text in Active Terminal. If nothing is selected, the entire line where your cursor sits is sent to the terminal.

Use the terminal find tool

Press Ctrl+F (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+F (macOS) while the terminal is focused to open the find widget. Type your search term and matches are highlighted inline in the terminal buffer. Use Enter and Shift+Enter to jump between matches, just like find in the editor.

Copy, paste, and select text

Copy and paste shortcuts follow your platform conventions:

You can also enable copy on selection: open Settings, search for terminal.integrated.copyOnSelection, and check the box. Any text you highlight in the terminal will be copied automatically.

To select all text in the terminal, use Cmd+A on macOS or run the Terminal: Select All command on Windows and Linux.

Navigate the terminal buffer

Clickable links and file paths

The terminal detects URLs, file paths, and folder paths automatically. Hover over any link to see an underline, then hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Cmd (macOS) and click it. URLs open in your browser. File paths like src/app.ts:10:5 open the file at the specified line and column.

You can also drag a file from the Explorer into the terminal to paste its escaped path at the cursor.

Maximize the terminal temporarily

When you need to focus entirely on terminal output, click the Maximize Panel Size chevron button in the top-right of the terminal panel, or run View: Toggle Maximized Panel from the Command Palette. This hides the editor area and expands the terminal to fill the window. Click the button again to restore the editor.

Use Copilot in the terminal

If you have GitHub Copilot, you can get AI help directly in the terminal without leaving the command line.

Press Ctrl+I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+I (macOS) while the terminal is focused to open Terminal Inline Chat. Type a natural-language request and Copilot suggests a command.

Select Run to execute it immediately or Insert to add it to the terminal for editing before running.

You can also use the @terminal chat participant in the Chat view to ask about shell commands and scripting. Learn more about setting up GitHub Copilot Free.

What to do if the terminal does not work

If the terminal fails to open, try these checks in order.