How to Uninstall VS Code Completely on Windows, macOS, and Linux

The standard uninstall removes the application. A clean uninstall also removes your settings, extensions, and cached data. This returns VS Code to the same state as before you ever installed it.

Your project files are never affected by uninstalling VS Code. The editor only removes its own application files and user data.

Before you start

If you plan to reinstall VS Code later and want to keep your settings, do one of the following first:

• Enable Settings Sync. Sign in with a GitHub account, and your settings, keybindings, profiles, and snippets sync to the cloud. After reinstalling, sign in again to restore everything.

Copy your settings files manually. The settings.json and keybindings.json files are in your user data folder. Save them somewhere safe before deleting the folder.

If you are switching to a different editor and do not need your VS Code settings, skip the backup.

Windows

The uninstall method depends on how you installed VS Code.

User or System installer

Use the Windows Apps settings to uninstall:

• Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
• Search for "Visual Studio Code".
• Click the three dots on the right and select Uninstall.
• Follow the prompts.

You can also use the Control Panel. Go to Programs > Uninstall a program, find Visual Studio Code, right-click, and choose Uninstall.

ZIP archive installation

If you installed by extracting a ZIP file, delete the folder where you extracted the contents. There is no uninstaller. The application is gone as soon as you delete the folder.

Clean uninstall on Windows

After uninstalling the application, delete these folders to remove all user data:

• %APPDATA%\Code holds your settings, keybindings, snippets, workspace storage, and cached data.
• %USERPROFILE%\.vscode holds your installed extensions.

Open File Explorer and paste each path into the address bar, then delete the folder.

macOS

Standard uninstall

Open Finder and go to Applications. Drag Visual Studio Code to the Trash, or right-click and choose Move to Trash. Empty the Trash to complete the removal.

Clean uninstall on macOS

After moving the app to Trash, delete these folders to remove all user data:

• ~/Library/Application Support/Code holds your settings, keybindings, snippets, workspace storage, and cached data.
• ~/.vscode holds your installed extensions.

Open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G, paste each path, and delete the folder.

Linux

The uninstall command depends on how you installed VS Code.

For Debian and Ubuntu, remove the package with apt. This uninstalls the application but keeps your user data:

bash

sudo apt remove code

For Fedora and RHEL, the dnf package manager works the same way. Run this to remove the editor while keeping your user data intact:

bash

sudo dnf remove code

For Snap, if you installed through the Snap Store, the remove command handles both the package and its configuration data:

bash

sudo snap remove code

For Arch Linux, if you installed the AUR package visual-studio-code-bin, use your AUR helper to remove it from the system:

bash

yay -R visual-studio-code-bin

If you installed the Insiders build, replace code with code-insiders in the command above.

Clean uninstall on Linux

After removing the package, delete these folders:

bash

rm -rf ~/.config/Code ~/.vscode

The .config/Code folder contains your settings, keybindings, snippets, workspace storage, and cached data. The .vscode folder contains your installed extensions.

What a clean uninstall removes

When you delete the user data folders, here is everything that goes away:

• User settings and workspace settings
• Keyboard shortcuts and keybindings
• Installed extensions and their data
• Profiles and profile configurations
• Code snippets
• Workspace storage and recently opened lists
• Cached data and temporary files

If you enabled Settings Sync, your settings, keybindings, profiles, and snippets are stored in the cloud and will restore when you sign in on a fresh install.

Reinstall after a clean uninstall

After a clean uninstall, installing VS Code again gives you a completely fresh start. It is the same as installing for the first time. If you backed up your settings with Sync, sign in after reinstalling and everything restores.

For install instructions, see the Windows install guide. If you need to update rather than remove, follow the update guide for Windows, macOS, and Linux.