VS Code installation

Install the Visual Studio Code (VS Code) editor on your own laptop

Author
Affiliation

Jelmer Poelstra

CFAES Bioinformatics Core, Ohio State University

Published

July 1, 2026

Modified

July 10, 2026

1 Overview

In this workshop, we’ll use the Visual Studio Code (VS Code) editor for most hands-on tasks: to write and run code, to connect to OSC, and to deploy agentic AI tools. This Microsoft program is freely available for anyone and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.

This brief page will help you to install VS Code on whatever laptop you plan to bring to the workshop. There are separate instructions for OSU-managed computers and personal computers below.

NoteWhat about VS Code in the browser via OSC OnDemand?

In the pre-workshop learning session, we used VS Code in our browser via OSC OnDemand. However, for the workshop itself, we will use VS Code installed on your own laptop. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that we can’t use the browser version for the agentic AI tools.

2 Installation on an OSU-managed computer

If you are bringing an OSU computer, you may not have the required “administrative privileges” to install software on your computer the regular way.

However, your computer should then have an OSU application that allows you to install a selection of approved software, and that selection includes VS Code.

The OSU app is called “Ohio State Application Self Service”.

  1. Open this application, which should be pinned in your Dock (otherwise, search for it)
  2. In it, start typing “Visual Studio Code” in the little search box on the top left
  3. Click the “Install” button that appears below the Visual Studio Code entry

This is the icon for the app on my Mac

If you start typing “Visual Studio Code” in the search box, this is what you should see: although this screenshot says “Update”; you should see “Install” unless you also have it installed aready.

See also this IT page for general Software Center usage instructions.

The OSU app is called “Software Center”.

  1. Open this application. For example, you can press the Windows start button and start typing “Software Center” in the search box.

  2. In it, start typing “Visual Studio Code” in the search box.

  3. Click the “Install” button that appears with the Visual Studio Code entry, which has the following logo:

The Visual Studio Code logo

See also this IT page for general Software Center usage instructions.

3 Installation on a personal computer

Installation is quite straightforward — follow the links below for the official VS Code installation instructions for:

Back to top