code . is not recognized as an internal or external command

Question

I want to open a directory using cmd in visual studio code but its giving me an error in cmd. So, what setting is required for that?

I have performed below command

D:\RND>code .

Possible duplicate of [Visual Studio Code command in Windows not working properly](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42542754/visual-studio-code-command-in-windows-not-working-properly) — INDRAJITH EKANAYAKE, Jul 29 '19 at 11:48

score 107 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 30 '21 at 14:39

107

It needs to be setup so that Code is found in your PATH. If you're on a mac system, do the following (for windows systems, read below):

Launch VS Code
Open up command palette (press F1) and type shell command to find Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.
Restart terminal

If you're on Windows, you can also set the PATH manually by adding:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft VS Code\bin

to your PATH environment variable.

Open command prompt
Type the command - setx path "%path%;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft VS Code\bin"
Restart terminal

Update: If you're on Windows 10 and VSCode 1.47.2 and above, the new PATH has to be set to:

C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin

edited Jul 30 '21 at 14:39

Tejashree

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answered Oct 09 '17 at 04:53

d.moncada

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@AnkitBhanderi see picture. you can't find that? – d.moncada Oct 09 '17 at 05:06
@AnkitBhanderi does it now work, or am I right that you can't find it? – d.moncada Oct 09 '17 at 05:09
Had the same issue but in my case, the path variable was updated for local admin bcoz I installed it with local admin. – Ravi Khambhati Jan 03 '18 at 21:02
On my win 10 I had to edit the Path manually - Select Path under 'System Variables', click on edit, on the new window click new and add new path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft VS Code" – Avishay Apr 02 '18 at 20:19
Uninstall and again install visual code.. it will work – Ankur Shah May 16 '18 at 05:00
@d.moncada https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50182417/code-command-is-not-working/52501613#52501613 see no solution is working for me – Nikhil S Sep 25 '18 at 17:11
In my environment the path is **C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code** – ilans Feb 01 '20 at 18:39
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@ilans is correct. In Windows 10 and VSCode 1.47.2 at least, the PATH has to be `C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin`. – Paul Razvan Berg Jul 26 '20 at 09:07
In version 1.49.2 the command palette's shortcut is `shift` + `cmd` + `p` – Ahmet Sep 28 '20 at 15:02
In my experience, on Windows 10 and Mac OS Big Sur, I have not been able to find the command palette command to add 'code' to the PATH. Instead, I had to manually edit the path. NOTE: Once your path is properly edited, you will need to restart any shell instances for the change to take effect therein. – Shad Feb 09 '21 at 16:13
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slightly different here: `C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\_\bin` worked for my machine – nate Feb 09 '22 at 20:32
In my case I forgot to restart the Git Bash – Rahul Chouhan Mar 20 '22 at 09:32
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thanks for destroying my dev environment entire path variable is lost!! guess I'm not sleeping tonight! DO NOT TRUST THIS!!!! – ParsaGachkar Mar 25 '22 at 18:40
Now is worst!, my CMD Does not find anything, neither other path even if they are still on my path environment – Melvin Guerrero Jun 12 '22 at 03:31

score 21 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 08 '19 at 07:57

if using Windows:

Press the "Windows"-button
Type "Visual Studio Code"
Right click on "VS Code" (or "Visual Studio Code")
Click on "Open file location"

You will then be directed to a folder, where either the VS Code program is or a VS Code shortcut is.

If it is the shortcut, then right click on it and again press "Open file location". Copy the path:

which in my situation will be: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code"

And then do as Chawki posted - paste it into your "Environmnet variables" under "Path".

This is just to show, that the two above might not be the solution for you (they weren't for me).

Should this still not work for some reason then try restarting the terminal and/or add "/bin" to the path you have added inside your environment variable.

score 20 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 14 '18 at 07:40

20

For me it was due to not running cmd as an administrator. (Right click Command Prompt -> Run as Administrator)

answered Feb 14 '18 at 07:40

user3428422

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score 12 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 16 '20 at 17:40

12

If you have the insider's editions of vscode installed, the command will be code-insiders.

answered Sep 16 '20 at 17:40

Roy Touw

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this solved it for me on my LInux machine. To prevent me forgetting, I created an alias `alias code="code-insiders"` – markblandford Oct 25 '20 at 11:48

score 11 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 24 '19 at 15:33

11

O/S windows

Setting the environment variable path to C:\Users\chawki\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin solve the issue.

answered Apr 24 '19 at 15:33

U.A

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Everyone, do not do it, it literally removes all the Paths for different softwares when you add this environmental variable, click "Cancel" before proceeding. – Ali Guliyev Aug 20 '23 at 19:38

Shadi Alnamrouti · Answer 6 · 2020-07-13T15:32:11.160

Is your VS Code corrupted?

This path issue may indicate that VS Code files are corrupted and you may face other issues. Especially, if code command was working before.

No Repair or Reinstall

According to Microsoft, repair is unsupported.

Ultimate solution

Uninstall code from control panel.
Download and install code using the latest installer.
Make sure to checkbox the path checkbox.

Note: All users?

Download the system installer if you want to make code available to all users.

Finally, enjoy!

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 25 '21 at 05:39

4

1.Enter "View advanced systems settings" into the box Type here to search

2.Click "View advanced systems settings"

3.Click Environment Variables

3.On System variables click button New Then enter the variable name and add the following path C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin

4.Click OK

5.Close All tab VS Code and open again or Restart

answered Jan 25 '21 at 05:39

Trinh Hieu

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You can also set it to PATH – Valdemar Vreeman May 18 '21 at 19:01

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 31 '18 at 16:41

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Make sure you know where is the installation of VS Code, it can be in Program Files (x86) if you installed the 32bits version or Program Files if you installed the 64bits version VS Code location Once you know that Run (Win+r) cmd and type: setx path "%path%;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft VS Code"

or

setx path "%path%;C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code"

after that, you can type code . to open VS Code with the project of the current folder.

answered Jan 31 '18 at 16:41

oswazteca

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You should probably avoid using `setx path` because it [truncates the number of characters](https://superuser.com/questions/387619/overcoming-the-1024-character-limit-with-setx). – svict4 Sep 12 '18 at 02:11

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 09 '21 at 11:42

I tried all the solutions but they didn't work. Turns out that Code was not installed on my system.

First go to the directory C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin and check if there is a folder named Microsoft VS Code. If there isn't any, download it from the website link attached below.

https://code.visualstudio.com/download

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 22 '22 at 07:47

1

Notice that if you're using VS code insider's editions instead of using the command "code ." the command will be "code-insiders .".

That is obvisly after you set your PATH.

answered Mar 22 '22 at 07:47

Ahmed Adel

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 21 '22 at 10:22

Windows 11

Close the Visual Studio Code
Open the Environment variables (Control Panel > System and Security > System Properties)
Edit the variable "Path", creating a C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin
Ok and ok in options and run VS Code;
For test write code in cmd, if to open VS Code is working.

score 0 · Answer 12 · edited Dec 10 '20 at 13:34

0

The best solution was on Mac is to move MSCode to the applications folder, and on Win is to search for the location of MSCode installation ( like: C:\Users{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin ) then you set the Path.

setx path "%path%;C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin

edited Dec 10 '20 at 13:34

Dharman

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answered Dec 10 '20 at 13:29

Vacak7

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score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 23 '21 at 06:52

First, check if you're on Windows 10 & Set User variables to

C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin

Give (OK) in environment variables and relaunch any unclosed terminals and type

code

Check if you have installed the VScode-insiders version

C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\bin

Give (OK) in environment variables and relaunch any unclosed terminals and type

code-insiders

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Sep 27 '22 at 14:24

0

In my case, I had two installs of VS Code in Windows 10. One was appended with (user).

I don't know how this happened but uninstalling the older version fixed my issue.

answered Sep 27 '22 at 14:24

user1889992

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score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Dec 22 '22 at 04:06

0

Just uninstall and reinstall the vs code it worked for me

answered Dec 22 '22 at 04:06

Xorrier

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code . is not recognized as an internal or external command

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