There are many extensions that provide additional snippets, including snippets for popular frameworks such as Redux or Angular. You can evendefine your own snippets.

JSDoc support

VS Code understands many standardJSDoc annotations, and uses these annotations to provide richIntelliSense. You can optionally even use the type information from JSDoc comments totype check your JavaScript.

Quickly create JSDoc comments for functions by typing/** before the function declaration, and select theJSDoc comment snippet suggestion:

To disable JSDoc comment suggestions, set"javascript.suggest.completeJSDocs": false.

Hover Information

Hover over a JavaScript symbol to quickly see its type information and relevant documentation.

The⌘K ⌘I (Windows, LinuxCtrl+K Ctrl+I) keyboard shortcut shows this hover information at the current cursor position.

Signature Help

As you write JavaScript function calls, VS Code shows information about the function signature and highlights the parameter that you are currently completing:

Signature help is shown automatically when you type a( or, within a function call. Press⇧⌘Space (Windows, LinuxCtrl+Shift+Space) to manually trigger signature help.

Auto imports

Automatic imports speed up coding by suggesting available variables throughout your project and its dependencies. When you select one of these suggestions, VS Code automatically adds an import for it to the top of the file.

Just start typing to seesuggestions for all available JavaScript symbols in your current project. Auto import suggestions show where they will be imported from:

If you choose one of these auto import suggestions, VS Code adds an import for it.

In this example, VS Code adds an import forButton frommaterial-ui to the top of the file:

To disable auto imports, set"javascript.suggest.autoImports" tofalse.

Add imports on paste

When you copy and paste code between editors, VS Code can automatically add imports when the code is pasted. When you paste code that contains an undefined symbol, a paste control is shown that lets you choose between pasting as plain text or to add imports.

This feature is enabled by default, but you can disable it by toggling thejavascript.updateImportsOnPaste.enabled setting.

You can make paste with imports the default behavior, without showing the paste control, by configuring theeditor.pasteAs.preferences setting. Includetext.updateImports.jsts ortext.updateImports to always add imports when pasting.

Organize Imports

TheOrganize Imports Source Action sorts the imports in a JavaScript file and removes any unused imports:

You can runOrganize Imports from theSource Action context menu or with the⇧⌥O (Windows, LinuxShift+Alt+O) keyboard shortcut.

Organize imports can also be done automatically when you save a JavaScript file by setting:

"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {    "source.organizeImports":"explicit"}

Update imports on file move

When you move or rename a file that is imported by other files in your JavaScript project, VS Code can automatically update all import paths that reference the moved file:

Thejavascript.updateImportsOnFileMove.enabled setting controls this behavior. Valid settings values are:

• "prompt" - The default. Asks if paths should be updated for each file move.
• "always" - Always automatically update paths.
• "never" - Do not update paths automatically and do not prompt.

Formatting

VS Code's built-in JavaScript formatter provides basic code formatting with reasonable defaults.

Thejavascript.format.*settings configure the built-in formatter. Or, if the built-in formatter is getting in the way, set"javascript.format.enable" tofalse to disable it.

For more specialized code formatting styles, try installing one of the JavaScript formatting extensions from theMarketplace.

JSX and auto closing tags

All of VS Code's JavaScript features also work withJSX:

You can use JSX syntax in both normal*.js files and in*.jsx files.

VS Code also includes JSX-specific features such as autoclosing of JSX tags:

Set"javascript.autoClosingTags" tofalse to disable JSX tag closing.

Code navigation

Code navigation lets you quickly navigate JavaScript projects.

• Go to DefinitionF12 - Go to the source code of a symbol definition.
• Peek Definition⌥F12 (WindowsAlt+F12, LinuxCtrl+Shift+F10) - Bring up a Peek window that shows the definition of a symbol.
• Go to References⇧F12 (Windows, LinuxShift+F12) - Show all references to a symbol.
• Go to Type Definition - Go to the type that defines a symbol. For an instance of a class, this will reveal the class itself instead of where the instance is defined.

You can navigate via symbol search using theGo to Symbol commands from theCommand Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, LinuxCtrl+Shift+P)).

• Go to Symbol in File⇧⌘O (Windows, LinuxCtrl+Shift+O)
• Go to Symbol in Workspace⌘T (Windows, LinuxCtrl+T)

Rename

PressF2 to rename the symbol under the cursor across your JavaScript project:

Refactoring

VS Code includes some handy refactorings for JavaScript such asExtract function andExtract constant. Just select the source code you'd like to extract and then click on the lightbulb in the gutter or press (⌘. (Windows, LinuxCtrl+.)) to see available refactorings.

Available refactorings include:

• Extract to method or function.
• Extract to constant.
• Convert between named imports and namespace imports.
• Move to new file.

SeeRefactorings for more information about refactorings and how you can configure keyboard shortcuts for individual refactorings.

Additionally,Code Action Widget: Include Nearby Quick Fixes (editor.codeActionWidget.includeNearbyQuickFixes) is a setting that is enabled on default, which will activate the nearest Quick Fix in a line from⌘. (Windows, LinuxCtrl+.) (command IDeditor.action.quickFix), no matter where your cursor is in that line.

The command highlights the source code that will be refactored or fixed with Quick Fixes. Normal Code Actions and non-fix refactorings can still be activated at the cursor location.

Unused variables and unreachable code

Unused JavaScript code, such as the else block of anif statement that is always true or an unreferenced import, is faded out in the editor:

You can quickly remove this unused code by placing the cursor on it and triggering the Quick Fix command (⌘. (Windows, LinuxCtrl+.)) or clicking on the lightbulb.

To disable fading out of unused code, set"editor.showUnused" tofalse. You can also disable fading of unused code only in JavaScript by setting:

"[javascript]": {    "editor.showUnused":false},"[javascriptreact]": {    "editor.showUnused":false},

Code Actions on Save

Theeditor.codeActionsOnSave setting lets you configure a set of Code Actions that are run when a file is saved. For example, you can enable organize imports on save by setting:

// On explicit save, run fixAll source action. On auto save (window or focus change), run organizeImports source action."editor.codeActionsOnSave": {    "source.fixAll":"explicit",    "source.organizeImports":"always",}

As of today, the following enums are supported:

• explicit (default): Triggers Code Actions when explicitly saved. Same astrue.
• always: Triggers Code Actions when explicitly saved and on Auto Saves from window or focus changes.
• never: Never triggers Code Actions on save. Same asfalse.

You can also seteditor.codeActionsOnSave to an array of Code Actions to execute in order.

Here are some source actions:

• "organizeImports" - Enables organize imports on save.
• "fixAll" - Auto Fix on Save computes all possible fixes in one round (for all providers including ESLint).
• "fixAll.eslint" - Auto Fix only for ESLint.
• "addMissingImports" - Adds all missing imports on save.

SeeNode.js/JavaScript for more information.

Code suggestions

VS Code automatically suggests some common code simplifications such as converting a chain of.then calls on a promise to useasync andawait

Set"javascript.suggestionActions.enabled" tofalse to disable suggestions.

Enhance completions with AI

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered code completion tool that helps you write code faster and smarter. You can use theGitHub Copilot extension in VS Code to generate code, or to learn from the code it generates.

GitHub Copilot provides suggestions for numerous languages and a wide variety of frameworks, and it works especially well for Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Go, C# and C++.

You can learn more about how to get started with Copilot in theCopilot documentation.

Once you have the Copilot extension installed and enabled, you can test it out for your JavaScript projects.

Create a new file - you can use theFile: New File command in the Command Palette (F1).

In the JavaScript file, type the following function header:

function calculateDaysBetweenDates(begin,end) {

Copilot will provide a suggestion like the following - useTab to accept the suggestion:

Inlay hints

Inlay hints add additional inline information to source code to help you understand what the code does.

Parameter name inlay hints show the names of parameters in function calls:

This can help you understand the meaning of each argument at a glance, which is especially helpful for functions that take Boolean flags or have parameters that are easy to mix up.

To enable parameter name hints, setjavascript.inlayHints.parameterNames. There are three possible values:

• none — Disable parameter inlay hints.
• literals — Only show inlay hints for literals (string, number, Boolean).
• all — Show inlay hints for all arguments.

Variable type inlay hints show the types of variables that don't have explicit type annotations.

Setting:javascript.inlayHints.variableTypes.enabled

Property type inlay hints show the type of class properties that don't have an explicit type annotation.

Setting:javascript.inlayHints.propertyDeclarationTypes.enabled

Parameter type hints show the types of implicitly typed parameters.

Setting:javascript.inlayHints.parameterTypes.enabled

Return type inlay hints show the return types of functions that don't have an explicit type annotation.

Setting:javascript.inlayHints.functionLikeReturnTypes.enabled

References CodeLens

The JavaScript references CodeLens displays an inline count of reference for classes, methods, properties, and exported objects:

To enable the references CodeLens, set"javascript.referencesCodeLens.enabled" totrue.

Click on the reference count to quickly browse a list of references:

Linters

Linters provides warnings for suspicious looking code. While VS Code does not include a built-in JavaScript linter, many JavaScript linterextensions are available in the marketplace.

Type checking

You can leverage some of TypeScript's advanced type checking and error reporting functionality in regular JavaScript files too. This is a great way to catch common programming mistakes. These type checks also enable some exciting Quick Fixes for JavaScript, includingAdd missing import andAdd missing property.

TypeScript tried to infer types in.js files the same way it does in.ts files. When types cannot be inferred, they can be specified explicitly with JSDoc comments. You can read more about how TypeScript uses JSDoc for JavaScript type checking inWorking with JavaScript.

Type checking of JavaScript is optional and opt-in. Existing JavaScript validation tools such as ESLint can be used alongside built-in type checking functionality.

Debugging

VS Code comes with great debugging support for JavaScript. Set breakpoints, inspect objects, navigate the call stack, and execute code in the Debug Console. See theDebugging topic to learn more.

Debug client side

You can debug your client-side code using a browser debugger such as our built-in debugger for Edge and Chrome, or theDebugger for Firefox.

Debug server side

Debug Node.js in VS Code using the built-in debugger. Setup is easy and there is aNode.js debugging tutorial to help you.

Popular extensions

VS Code ships with excellent support for JavaScript but you can additionally install debuggers, snippets, linters, and other JavaScript tools throughextensions.

Next steps

Read on to find out about:

• Working with JavaScript - More detailed information about VS Code's JavaScript support and how to troubleshoot common issues.
• jsconfig.json - Detailed description of thejsconfig.json project file.
• IntelliSense - Learn more about IntelliSense and how to use it effectively for your language.
• Debugging - Learn how to set up debugging for your application.
• Node.js - A walkthrough to create an Express Node.js application.
• TypeScript - VS Code has great support for TypeScript, which brings structure and strong typing to your JavaScript code.

Common questions

Does VS Code support JSX and React Native?

VS Code supportsJSX andReact Native. You will get IntelliSense forReact/JSX andReact Native from automatically downloaded type declaration (typings) files from thenpmjs type declaration file repository. Additionally, you can install the popularReact Native extension from the Marketplace.

To enable ES6 import statements forReact Native, you need to set theallowSyntheticDefaultImports compiler option totrue. This tells the compiler to create synthetic default members and you get IntelliSense.React Native usesBabel behind the scenes to create the proper run-time code with default members. If you also want to do debugging ofReact Native code, you can install theReact Native Extension.

Does VS Code support the Dart programming language and the Flutter framework?

Yes, there are VS Code extensions for bothDart andFlutter development. You can learn more at theFlutter.dev documentation.

IntelliSense is not working for external libraries

Automatic Type Acquisition works for dependencies downloaded by npm (specified inpackage.json), Bower (specified inbower.json), and for many of the most common libraries listed in your folder structure (for examplejquery-3.1.1.min.js).

ES6 Style imports are not working.

When you want to use ES6 style imports but some type declaration (typings) files do not yet use ES6 style exports, then set theTypeScript compiler optionallowSyntheticDefaultImports to true.

{  "compilerOptions": {    "module":"CommonJS",    "target":"ES6",    // This is the line you want to add    "allowSyntheticDefaultImports":true  },  "exclude": ["node_modules","**/node_modules/*"]}

Can I debug minified/uglified JavaScript?

Yes, you can. You can see this working using JavaScript source maps in theNode.js Debugging topic.

How do I disable Syntax Validation when using non-ES6 constructs?

Some users want to use syntax constructs like the proposed pipeline (|>) operator. However, these are currently not supported by VS Code's JavaScript language service and are flagged as errors. For users who still want to use these future features, we provide thejavascript.validate.enablesetting.

Withjavascript.validate.enable: false, you disable all built-in syntax checking. If you do this, we recommend that you use a linter likeESLint to validate your source code.

Can I use other JavaScript tools like Flow?

Yes, but some ofFlow's language features such as type and error checking may interfere with VS Code's built-in JavaScript support. To learn how to disable VS Code's built-in JavaScript support, seeDisable JavaScript support.