Visual Studio Code basics

Visual Studio Code is a lightweight source code editor available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It's a useful tool for editing Markdown, HTML, and other documents.

Setup

To install Visual Studio Code on your desktop computer, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Visual Studio Code download page.
2. Download an installation file appropriate for your operating system.
3. Once downloaded, execute the file and follow the instructions displayed in the setup assistant.

Basic layout

The Visual Studio Code user interface is divided into five areas.

1. Editor: the main area where you edit your files.
2. Side bar: an area containing different views such as the Explorer.
3. Status bar: information about the current project.
4. Activity bar: a set of icons that let you switch between views.
5. Panels: debug information, errors and warnings, an integrated terminal, etc.

For a detailed description of the respective areas, go to Visual Studio Code documentation.

Searching for features

If you want to search for a particular Visual Studio Code feature, press Ctrl+Shift+P and start typing.

Rendering whitespace

To display whitespace characters in the editor, go to View > Render Whitespace.

Suggestions

When working in the editor, you can display a list of suggestions by pressing Ctrl+Space.

Previewing Markdown files

To open a preview of your Markdown file, click in the top right-hand corner of the editor.

Document outline

To display an outline of your document, click Outline on the Side Panel.

Installing extensions

Visual Studio Code lets you browse and install numerous extensions from within the program. To install a new extension, do the following:

1. Go to View > Extensions.
2. Start typing and choose an extension from the list.
3. Click Install.

Markdown All in One

The Markdown All in One extension provides helpful features for working with Markdown-based documents.

Setup

To install the Markdown All in One extension, follow these steps:

1. Go to View > Extensions.
2. Type "Markdown All in One" and choose the extension from the list.
3. Click Install.

Formatting a document

If you want to quickly format your Markdown document using the Markdown All in One extension, press Ctrl+Shift+P and type "Format Document".

Generating a table of contents

To generate a table of contents, do the following:

1. Go to the location in the document where you want to add the table of contents.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P and type "Create Table of Contents".

Note: If you make changes to your document structure and need to update the table of contents, press Ctrl+Shift+P and type "Update Table of Contents".