Visual Studio Code – How to Completely Uninstall Visual Studio Code from Windows 10

uninstallvisual-studio-codewindowswindows 10

Seriously, it's hyper frustrating that after 35 years making software, Microsoft doesn't knows yet how to uninstall a program

I'm trying to uninstall Visual Studio Code, yes, this question is similar to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47689536/uninstall-visual-studio-code-in-windows but answers are partial and incorrect.

I have done, uninstall using the control panel. Then uninstall everything in %appdata%\code, then deleting %USERPROFILE%.vs… (it's different path if you use visual studio code or visual studio code insiders)

No matter what, after I install the program again, it will show my environment just as it was before doing all this.

So, how do you uninstall completely, to do a fresh VS Code installation without installing Windows 10 from scratch?

Best Answer

Here are the default paths where Visual Studio Code Insider saves files:

Installation path:

"%LocalAppData%\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders"

User settings and preferences:

"%UserProfile%\.vscode-insiders"
"%AppData%\Code - Insiders"
"%AppData%\Visual Studio Code - Insiders"

Shortcut folder:

"%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Visual Studio Code - Insiders"

These folder save the last user session and settings/preferences. Delete those to remove old settings/preferences. If you are concerned about the remaining files after installation you may use VSCode from the portable ZIP files. Here are the direct download links extracted from VSCode alternative downloads:

32 bit stable: https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/latest/win32-archive/stable
32 bit insider: https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/latest/win32-archive/insider
64 bit stable: https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/latest/win32-x64-archive/stable
64 bit insider: https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/latest/win32-x64-archive/insider

Related Solutions

Visual Studio 2010 – How to Completely Uninstall

I was able to find this with a quick google search (link):

2.4.11.2 Debugger start fails if the IntelliTrace recordings directory is Read-Only

By default, IntelliTrace files are located in the "%ProgramData%\Microsoft Visual
Studio\10.0\TraceDebugging\" directory.  If this directory is made read-only, or the 
directory is changed to a read-only location, an uncaught exception gets raised to the 
user.  "Error while trying to run project: Uncaught exception thrown by method called 
through Reflection."

To resolve this issue:

* Option 1: Modify the permissions of the directory to be writable. 
* Option 2: Change the directory where IntelliTrace recordings are stored.
      o In Visual Studio, open the Options dialog box.
      o Expand the IntelliTrace item in the left pane of the dialog box.
      o Click the Advanced item under IntelliTrace.
      o Change the IntelliTrace recordings directory to one that is not read-only.
      o Click OK.

How to remove folders from Visual Studio Code

Just in case anyone else is looking for this - just use File > Close Folder. I think this is what the op was looking for?

Added by barlop

This no longer applies post Jan 2019, as serge's comment indicates, the option mentioned above is no longer there. Mathan's answer is the one to use now.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Visual Studio 2010 – How to Completely Uninstall

How to remove folders from Visual Studio Code

Related Question