Manage Code Editor Settings

To customize a code editor to your liking or to enforce consistent code formatting styles for everyone who works on an application, use the Editor Settings option in a code editor's context menu. Doing this brings up the settings.json file, which you can use to control how a code editor functions:

Description of the illustration code-editor-settings.png

Use settings.json to control tab width, font size, and more. By default, only a handful of settings show, but you can include several more properties as listed here.

Setting	Description	Default
editor.acceptSuggestionOnEnter	Whether insight suggestions should be accepted on pressing the Enter key, in addition to the Tab key: on: Accept a suggestion with Enter as well as Tab off: Accept a suggestion only with Tab smart: Accept a suggestion with Enter only when the change is textual	on
editor.accessibilityPageSize	Number of lines read out by a screen reader	None
editor.accessibilitySupport	Whether the editor should be optimized for use with screen readers: on: Keep editor optimized for usage with a screen reader off: Do not optimize editor for usage with a screen reader auto: Optimize editor only when a screen reader is detected	on
editor.autoIndent	Control automatic indentation while typing: none: Do not automatically insert indentation advanced: Keep the current line's indentation, honor language-defined brackets, and invoke special onEnterRules defined by languages full: Keep the current line's indentation, honor language-defined brackets, invoke special onEnterRules defined by languages, and honor indentationRules defined by languages brackets: Keep the current line's indentation and honor language-defined brackets keep: Keep the current line's indentation	advanced
editor.cursorBlinking	Control cursor blinking: blink, smooth, phase, or expand: Provide various degrees of the blinking animation solid: No blinking	blink
editor.cursorStyle	Control the appearance of the cursor: line: A line at the current position line-thin: A thinner version of line at the current position block: A solid block that covers the current character block-outline: A block that outlines the current character underline: An underline at the current position underline-thin: A thinner version of underline at the current position	line
editor.cursorWidth	When cursorStyle is set to line, controls the width of the line	2
editor.cursorSurroundingLines	Minimum number of lines visible above and below the cursor, starting with 0	0
editor.cursorSurroundingLinesStyle	Whether cursorSurroundingLines should be enforced: default: Enforce cursorSurroundingLines only when cursor is changed using the mouse all: Enforce cursorSurroundingLines always	default
editor.dragAndDrop	Enable or disable drag and drop of a selection: true or false	false
editor.emptySelectionClipboard	Whether copying without selection should copy the current line: true or false	true
editor.folding	Enable or disable code folding: true or false. The folding margin disappears when folding is disabled.	true
editor.fontFamily	Font family to use in the editor	monospace
editor.fontSize	Control text font size in pixels, starting with 10. A value under 10 may be difficult to read.	14
editor.fontWeight	Weight of the font used in the editor: normal, bold, or numbers between 1 and 1000	normal
editor.formatOnPaste	Whether pasted content should be automatically formatted: true or false	false
editor.formatOnType	Whether a line should be automatically formatted while typing: true or false	false
editor.insertSpaces	Insert spaces (instead of tabs) when the Tab key is used for indentation	true
editor.letterSpacing	Control spacing between letters, in pixels	None
editor.lineHeight	Control height of a line	None
editor.matchBrackets	Whether matching brackets should be highlighted when the cursor is at a brace: always, never, or near	always
editor.mouseWheelScrollSensitivity	Numbers of lines to scroll when the mouse wheel is used	1
editor.mouseWheelZoom	Whether pressing the Control key and the mouse wheel should change font size: true or false	false
editor.multiCursorModifier	Modifier to be used with a mouse click to create multiple cursors: alt: Maps to the Alt key on Windows and to the Option key on Mac ctrlCmd: Maps to the Control key on Windows and the Command key on Mac	alt
editor.occurrencesHighlight	Whether to track cursor and highlight other occurrences of the current word or variable: true or false	true
editor.renderLineHighlight	Controls how the current line is highlighted: all: Highlight the current line as well as the gutter line: Only highlight the current line gutter: Only highlight the current line's gutter none: Do not highlight the current line	all
editor.renderWhitespace	Control how the editor should render whitespace characters: none: Do not render whitespace characters boundary: Render whitespace characters except for single spaces between words selection: Render whitespace characters only on selected text trailing: Render only trailing whitespace characters all: Render all whitespace characters	selection
editor.selectOnLineNumbers	Whether the line should be selected if the line number is clicked: true or false	true
editor.showFoldingControls	Control when folding controls show: always: Always show the folding controls mouseover: Show the folding controls only when the mouse is over the gutter	mouseover
editor.showUnused	Whether unused variables should be faded out: true or false	None
editor.suggestFontSize	Font size for insight suggestions	None
editor.suggestLineHeight	Line height for insight suggestions	None
editor.suggestOnTriggerCharacters	Whether insight should be triggered by special characters: true or false	true
editor.suggestSelection	Controls how suggestion history works: first: Always select the first suggestion recentlyUsed: Select recent suggestions recentlyUsedByPrefix: Select suggestions based on previous prefixes that have completed those suggestions	None
editor.tabCompletion	Enable or disable completion by pressing the Tab key: on: Insert the best matching suggestion when pressing Tab off: Disable Tab completion onlySnippets: Tab complete snippets when their prefixes match	None
editor.tabSize	Number of spaces a tab is equal to, starting with 1	2
editor.theme	Changes the editor's color theme: redwood, vs, vs-dark, or hc-black	redwood
editor.wordWrap	Controls word wrap in the editor: on: Wrap lines at the viewport width off: Do not wrap lines wordWrapColumn: Wrap lines at wordWrapColumn bounded: Wrap lines at the minimum of viewport and wordWrapColumn	off
editor.wordWrapColumn	Number of columns to use when wordWrap is set to wordWrapColumn, starting with 20	None
editor.wrappingIndent	Controls how a wrapped line is rendered: none: No indentation. Wrapped lines begin at column 1 same: Wrapped lines use the same indentation as the parent indent: Wrapped lines get +1 indentation toward the parent deepIndent: Wrapped lines get +2 indentation toward the parent	same
editor.minimap.enabled	Show or hide the code minimap.	true
editor.minimap.size	Control the size of the minimap: proportional: The minimap has the same size as the editor contents (and might scroll) fill: The minimap will stretch or shrink as necessary to fill the height of the editor (no scrolling) fit: The minimap will shrink as necessary to never be larger than the editor (no scrolling)	fit
editor.minimap.side	Where to render the minimap: right or left	right
editor.minimap.renderCharacters	Render characters on a line as opposed to color blocks: true or false	true
editor.minimap.scale	Scale for rendering the minimap, starting with 1	1