How to Install Visual Studio Code Silently with winget on Windows

Visual Studio Code is the most-installed dev tool on Windows. Here's the silent install workflow with winget — including per-user vs system-wide install, extension auto-installation, and team-wide configuration.

TL;DR

Open Terminal as Administrator:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

VS Code installs system-wide to C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code. Ready to use in 30 seconds.

Per-user install (no admin)

If you don't have admin rights, VS Code installs cleanly per-user:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --scope user --silent

Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code. Same functionality, no admin needed. This is actually Microsoft's recommended approach for individual developers.

What gets installed

Field	Value
Package ID	`Microsoft.VisualStudioCode`
Publisher	Microsoft Corporation
Installer type	Inno Setup
License	Microsoft Software License
Latest version	1.121.0
Homepage	code.visualstudio.com
Default install path	`C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code` (machine) or `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code` (user)

The installer registers:

code on PATH (open files / folders from terminal)
Right-click "Open with Code" context menu (with --override)
File associations for code file types

Pre-install extensions

After installing VS Code silently, install extensions via the code CLI:

# Wait for VS Code's PATH update to propagate
Start-Sleep -Seconds 2

code --install-extension ms-python.python
code --install-extension dbaeumer.vscode-eslint
code --install-extension esbenp.prettier-vscode
code --install-extension biomejs.biome
code --install-extension GitHub.copilot
code --install-extension ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl

You can pre-load whatever extension pack matches your team's stack. See dev-environment guides:

Customise with override flags

VS Code's Inno installer accepts component flags:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --override "/VERYSILENT /NORESTART /MERGETASKS=!runcode,addcontextmenufiles,addcontextmenufolders,associatewithfiles,addtopath"

Common MERGETASKS flags:

Flag	Effect
`addcontextmenufiles`	"Open with Code" on files
`addcontextmenufolders`	"Open with Code" on folders
`associatewithfiles`	Register as default for code file types
`addtopath`	Add `code` to PATH
`!runcode`	DON'T launch VS Code after install (negation)

Useful for unattended deployments where you don't want the IDE to open at the end.

VS Code Insiders

For the bleeding-edge build:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode.Insiders -e --silent

Insiders runs side-by-side with stable. Useful for testing new features without breaking your main install.

Variations

Specify version

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --version 1.118.0 --silent

List available versions:

winget show --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --versions

Pin to a major version

To prevent winget upgrade from jumping to a different release line:

winget pin add --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --version "1.121.*"

See winget pin guide.

Verify

code --version
# 1.121.0
# (commit hash)
# x64

Upgrade silently

winget upgrade --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

VS Code self-updates anyway by default (Auto Update setting), so weekly winget upgrade --all rarely shows it as outdated. If you've disabled auto-update for compliance reasons, winget handles it.

Uninstall silently

winget uninstall --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --silent --disable-interactivity

To also wipe your settings, extensions, and workspace state:

winget uninstall --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --silent
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\Code" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\.vscode" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Detailed: How to uninstall Windows apps with winget.

Full team-standard setup script

# 1. Install VS Code
winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --scope user --silent `
  --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

# 2. Wait for PATH propagation
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3

# 3. Install team extensions
@(
  "GitHub.copilot",
  "GitHub.copilot-chat",
  "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint",
  "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
  "ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
  "ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl",
  "EditorConfig.EditorConfig"
) | ForEach-Object { code --install-extension $_ }

# 4. Apply team settings.json
$settingsPath = "$env:APPDATA\Code\User\settings.json"
@"
{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.insertSpaces": true,
  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
  "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off"
}
"@ | Out-File -Encoding utf8 $settingsPath

Run on every new dev machine. ~2 minutes start to finish.

Common errors

"App is already installed" — winget detected an existing copy. Force-reinstall:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --silent --force

"Multiple installer matches" — VS Code has User and System installer variants. Add --scope:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e --scope user --silent

code command not found after install — restart Terminal. PATH only refreshes for new processes.

"Installer hash does not match" — manifest lag. Wait 24h or --force. See hash mismatch fix.