"code ." command is not working

Question

I get this error:

code . is not recognised as an external or internal command, operable program or batch file

moreover shell commands are not coming in my compiler VS code neither do setx path "%path%;C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code" is working in command prompt .

Did you just recently install VS Code? If so, did you restart the Command Prompt after installation? — vcsjones, May 04 '18 at 20:19
@vcsjones yes i have recently installed VS code and i have restarted Command prompt after installation — Nikhil S, May 05 '18 at 10:52
Possible duplicate of [code . is not recognized as an internal or external command](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46638944/code-is-not-recognized-as-an-internal-or-external-command) — d.moncada, May 06 '18 at 02:31

score 46 · Answer 1 · answered May 06 '18 at 02:32

46

It looks as if you do not have the code program installed. You can open the Command Palette,

Mac: ShiftCmdP
Windows/Linux: ShiftCtrlP

And search "install command", which should return this as one of the options:

Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH

Run that, and it should install the code command, after which you should be able to use it.

answered May 06 '18 at 02:32

Dan Lowe

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FYI - Windows doesn't have a command palette option starting with "Shell Command" ([screenshot](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J2QW9.png)). See my answer below for [how to install code to path **on windows**](https://stackoverflow.com/a/73137747/1366033) – KyleMit Jul 27 '22 at 12:06

score 21 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 02 '20 at 19:12

21

For Mac OS, You can paste this into your terminal, or in your .bashrc file (or whatever shell config file you are using) :

export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin"

edited Jul 02 '20 at 19:12

Malte Schwerhoff

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answered Sep 25 '18 at 15:19

starryknight

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in cmd its its showing up -'export' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. – Nikhil S Sep 25 '18 at 16:49
Worked for me on macOS – Matheus Bernardi Mar 16 '19 at 21:59
1

I'm using the Insiders version. This worked for me: `export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin"`. Thank you! – fanta Jul 11 '19 at 03:15

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited May 24 '20 at 13:56

8

I found it. In the "search" type environment variables then click on the "edit system environment variables".

Inside Environment variables->Path put C:\Users\{your_username}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin.

Go to the project folder and open the cmd with it typing in the location bar and then type code .

That will do.

edited May 24 '20 at 13:56

Mike Doe

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answered Dec 07 '19 at 13:24

Nikhil S

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Make sure that the Environment variables for this path is in the first place. If not move to the top. This worked for me only after moving this path to first place in the order. – psuneel127 Jul 13 '20 at 15:52

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered May 24 '20 at 13:50

make sure you run the command in C folder

Then click window key + R and type rundll32.exe sysdm.cpl,EditEnvironmentVariables then enter . It will open Environment Variables edit Path variable . Check whether you have C:\Users\{pc name}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin if not add it and run code -v in C folder cmd

This worked for me !

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 24 '19 at 08:07

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in windows problem is with insiders version of VSC. You can use 'code-insiders .' command or make a copy of 'code-insiders.cmd' file as 'code.cmd' inside folder with code-insider (use 'path' command to see where your VSC is installed)

answered Jun 24 '19 at 08:07

Tomasz Krasuski

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This works with WSL in Linux shell. Very helpful thx! Path to 'code-insiders' is maybe \home\\.vscode-server-insiders\bin\. . .\bin ('.' directories/files are hidden by default so you can use `ls -ld .*` to view them. – Gregory Somers Oct 28 '21 at 15:51

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 27 '22 at 12:14

For Windows OS

For Windows, you'll need to re-install code. You can download the latest version and just install it overtop of your existing install.

During setup, make sure to check the box to Add to PATH

See Also: The VSCode docs on installing the CLI

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 14 '23 at 13:29

I recently had to modify the path from /bin to /_

this is what I used after clicking the edit path variables section and it worked.

C:\Users\{user_name}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\_

make sure the path variable refers to the location of the .exe

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 07 '19 at 06:13

0

After installation, you need to restart your computer to make the PATH changes effective. Post restart, the command worked for me.

answered Dec 07 '19 at 06:13

Vibha

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 02 '21 at 05:38

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about linux, if u can't see the >shell option with ctrl+shif+p, You could install via

sudo snap install --classic code

and try again

code .

answered Mar 02 '21 at 05:38

nativelectronic

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 27 '23 at 09:40

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Just adding here since the above answers did not work for me. On windows ten when updating the path do not add the /bin. So the added pat should be C:\Users\{user_name}\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\

answered Jul 27 '23 at 09:40

Kevin Nzioka

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"code ." command is not working

10 Answers10

For Windows OS

Linked