279

VScode notifies you when you open a config of an extension:

remember to Restart VScode

enter image description here

But it says nothing about how. They use capital letter for the restart word, so normally it should mean something if you emphasize an appellation. Is there some hidden restart button or a key shortcut?
How do I restart the IDE?

Henke
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Green
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    Probably save the edited files and close VScode and open it again? – Superiom Feb 02 '17 at 12:58
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    This message is coming from the extension, not vscode - it's usually not required to reload vscode after changing an extension setting. – Rob Lourens Feb 03 '17 at 00:59
  • Nice question, thanks! I was just curious what an "[appellation]"(http://gobtan.sourceforge.net/tutorials/html/Text%20Editor%20Appellations.html) is, in the context of VSCode / editors / software. Maybe it's just a fancy word for a "special name" i.e. "special command", as implied by capital letter. Thanks :) – Nate Anderson Feb 26 '22 at 21:23
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    @TheRedPea, I was just wondering that too. I wonder if the author hadn't accidentally used the wrong term, and meant "admonishment" instead. – witenitenz Apr 27 '22 at 23:19

11 Answers11

480

Execute the workbench.action.reloadWindow command.

There are some ways to do so:

  1. Open the command palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) and execute the command:

    >Reload Window

  2. Define a keybinding for the command (for example CTRL+F5) in keybindings.json:

    [
  {
    "key": "ctrl+f5",
    "command": "workbench.action.reloadWindow",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  }
]
a1300
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Wosi
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    F1 or CTRL+Shift+p or CMD+Shift+p or click `View` -> `Command Palette...` – Wosi Nov 12 '17 at 13:40
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    On OSX VSCode isn't using CMD+R as a keybinding. I found it useful to set this up to reload the window. Click Code > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts (or press CMD+K+S) search for 'reload window' and hover over and click the plus then press CMD R ENTER. Now you can reload the window simply by pressing CMD+R. – Hunter Sep 12 '18 at 16:09
  • @Hunter this isn't working for me nor any other key combinations. Althought I see that CMD+R was default in my setup. Does it still works for you? – quasi Jun 20 '19 at 13:29
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    For Mac: Command + Shift + P, then select Reload Window from the drop down list. – il0v3d0g Sep 17 '19 at 18:42
57

  1. Open the Command Palette

    Ctrl + Shift + P

  2. Then type:

    Reload Window
KyleMit
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Bogdan
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21

You can do the following

  1. Click on extensions
  2. Type Reload
  3. Then install

It will add a reload button on your right hand at the bottom of the vs code.

KyleMit
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Bonnie Nyambura
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10

You can use this VSCode Extension called Reload

Marketplace > reload

KyleMit
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kaizen
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8

Use Ctrl + Shift + P in Windows OR Hit F1 to Open Command Palette then type Reload Window

Wolf
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Yash Jadhav
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6

On a Mac, Command + Shift + P , type Reload Window then hit enter.

Sharon Atim
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5

How to bind Ctrl+Alt+R to Restart

File > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts -or- Ctrl+K,Ctrl+S
(Code > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts -or- ⌘K,⌘S on macOS).

This opens the default Keyboard Shortcuts window :

Default Keyboard Shortcuts

Click on the icon in the upper right corner with tooltip Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON) that looks like:

Click this icon to open user 'keybindings.json'

This opens your keybindings.json on a per-user level. Paste or type :

{"key": "ctrl+alt+r", "command": "workbench.action.reloadWindow"},

(Make sure your keybindings are surrounded with square brackets, [].)

Why Ctrl+Alt+R and not Ctrl+R ?

There are two reasons I bind Restart VS Code to Ctrl+Alt+R.

  • Ctrl+R already has two other bindings: File: Open Recent... and quickOpenNavigateNextInRecentFilesPicker.
  • It's a blink to the Microsoft legacy of Ctrl+Alt+Del.

If you need more help, try:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/keybindings#_keyboard-layouts

If all else fails, Ctrl+Alt+Del

Henke
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3

To make reload window shortcut works:

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + p and open command pallet
  2. Type keyboard shortcuts (JSON) and press enter
  3. On the keybindings.json file:
  • On the key field pass the shortcut
  • On the command field pass workbench.action.reloadWindow
  • On when field pass a empty string to this shortcut work without an specific condition
[
    {
        "key": "ctrl+f5",
        "command": "workbench.action.reloadWindow",
        "when": ""
    }
]
Juan Colchete
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2

Method1

VIEW->COMMAND PALETTE->RELOAD WINDOW

enter image description here

Method2

cntrl+Shift+p Then Type: Reload window (Method1 same but using shortcut)

enter image description here Method3

cntrl+R

enter image description here

NB:if Method3 did'nt work try this approach https://stackoverflow.com/a/71046140/7706354

lava
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  • For method 3 to work, you need to remove When "is Development" condition. The attached link shows how you can do it (right mouse click, change when expression). – Ashark May 10 '22 at 11:51
1

Cmd+Shift+P Developer: Restart Extension Host

Command Palette Developer Restart Extension Host

It is easier now, and maybe more granular than "restart window".

Monte Hayward
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1

For a more comprehensive restart, use File → Exit.

Indeed, Google search seems to insist that this post also answers: How to restart VSCode so that changes to $path are reflected? Unfortunately, the suggested reloadWindow function does not update changes to $path.

The answer is to use the menu item File → Exit — a hot exit. Then restart VScode.

Nils Klarlund
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