How can I open Visual Studio Code's 'settings.json' file?

user_793320 0
Viewed 176594

I did it many times, and each time I forgot where it was.

Menu File → Preferences → Settings.

I get this:

Enter image description here

I want to open file settings.json (editable JSON file) instead. How can I do that?

visual-studio-code
8 Answers

To open the User settings:

  • Open the command palette (either with F1 or Ctrl+Shift+P)
  • Type "open settings"
  • You are presented with two options, choose Open Settings (JSON)

Which, depending on platform, is one of:

  • Windows %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json
  • macOS $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/settings.json
  • Linux $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json

The Workspace settings will be in a {workspaceName}.code-workspace file where you saved it, and the Folder settings will be in a .vscode folder if and when it has been created.

Official page on User and Workspace Settings

As stated by sevencardz below, VS Code now includes a button in the Settings UI gutter which can be used to switch between editor and graphical view. The workbench.settings.editor option selects which of these is opened by default when not using the above method, such as ⌘+, or through the application menu.

user_60910170

On the settings UI page, there's a special button in the top right corner gutter that toggles between the settings.json file and the settings UI.

Open Settings (JSON)

Bonus Answer:

Add "workbench.settings.editor": "json" to your settings.json file. This will make it so that menu File → Preferences → Settings or ⌘ + , opens your settings.json file by default. Optionally, add a comment at the top to remind yourself where the toggle button is.

// Click the Open Settings (UI) button in the top
// right corner gutter to toggle the settings UI
{
    // Other settings in settings.json
    // ...
    "workbench.settings.editor": "json"
}
user_20972100
user_92110190

If you want to edit local workspace/folder settings instead of global user settings, you can edit the file .vscode/settings.json (shortcut: Ctrl/Cmd + P and type "settings.json").

If that settings.json file or the folder .vscode do not exist, you can create them in the folder directory.

These settings will apply to the specific project.

user_126079610

These changes are global, so it will affect all of your projects.

  1. You can change the settings.json file from user preferences.

    Menu File → Preferences → Settings → Extensions → search for "Edit in settings.json"

  2. Eventually edit these files directly:

    • Linux: $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json
    • macOS: $HOME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json
    • Windows: %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json
user_77863580

On Windows, the default keybind to open the settings UI within VSCode is Ctrl + ,. From there, there is a button at the top right to "Open Settings (JSON)":

enter image description here

That is one way to get to it. For convenience, I have bound Ctrl + Shift + , to opening the settings JSON. For reference, the setting ID for that is workbench.action.openSettingsJson.

user_115367960

On Windows:

  • Click (Fn) + F1 (or Ctrl + P + >)
  • Type open settings json

Select Preferences: open settings (JSON)

user_171756510

On a Mac the settings file is found at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/settings.json - it can be opened from the command line:

open -a 'visual studio code.app' ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/settings.json
user_4367940
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