This should only take a short while, and is only needed once. When doing this for the first time, you should see VS Code fetching components needed to run in WSL. Navigate to a folder you'd like to open in VS Code (including, but not limited to, Windows filesystem mounts like /mnt/c) Open a WSL terminal window (using the start menu item or by typing wsl from a command prompt / PowerShell). Opening a folder inside the Windows Subsystem for Linux in VS Code is very similar to opening up a Windows folder from the command prompt or PowerShell. Open a remote folder or workspace From the WSL terminal If you plan to work with other remote extensions in VS Code, you may choose to install the Remote Development extension pack. Note: When prompted to Select Additional Tasks during installation, be sure to check the Add to PATH option so you can easily open a folder in WSL using the code command. Install Visual Studio Code on the Windows side (not in WSL). See the Remote Development and Linux article for details. Also, extensions installed in Alpine Linux may not work due to glibc dependencies in native source code inside the extension. Note: WSL 1 does have some known limitations for certain types of development. Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux along with your preferred Linux distribution. Note: After reviewing this topic, you can get started with the introductory WSL tutorial. This lets VS Code provide a local-quality development experience - including full IntelliSense (completions), code navigation, and debugging - regardless of where your code is hosted. The extension runs commands and other extensions directly in WSL so you can edit files located in WSL or the mounted Windows filesystem (for example /mnt/c) without worrying about pathing issues, binary compatibility, or other cross-OS challenges.

You can develop in a Linux-based environment, use Linux-specific toolchains and utilities, and run and debug your Linux-based applications all from the comfort of Windows.

The Visual Studio Code WSL extension lets you use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) as your full-time development environment right from VS Code. Configure IntelliSense for cross-compiling.

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