Visual Studio Code v1.51 Changelog

This update is all about "housekeeping"—meaning the developers spent time fixing bugs and polishing existing tools rather than adding massive new features. It matters a lot to coders who use VS Code daily, especially those who work on remote servers or use Git heavily, because it makes their workflow smoother and less frustrating.

What's new

• Install extensions from your file explorer: If you have a downloaded extension file (a .vsix file), you can now just right-click it in your computer's file explorer and install it directly into VS Code.
• Local Echo in the terminal: When you type in a terminal connected to a distant server, your typing can lag. "Local echo" guesses what you're typing and shows it instantly on your screen (usually dimmed) before the server confirms it, making slow connections feel fast.
• Resizable autocomplete menu: When IntelliSense (the tool that suggests code as you type) pops up, you can now drag the corners to make the menu bigger or smaller. VS Code will even remember the size for next time.
• Status bar for suggestions: You can turn on a mini status bar at the bottom of the autocomplete menu. It gives you easy buttons to choose whether you want to "insert" new code or "replace" existing code.
• Move cursor while suggesting: You can now click or use your arrow keys to move your cursor around while the autocomplete menu is open, making it easier to edit your code on the fly.
• Emmet snippets return: Emmet (a tool that lets you type quick shortcuts to generate HTML/CSS) now supports custom snippets again, and it updates them automatically when you save your file.
• Commit message history: When writing Git commit messages, you can now press the Up and Down arrow keys to cycle through your past messages, so you don't have to retype them.
• New Git commands: You can now do a "recursive clone" (which downloads a project plus any nested sub-projects) and a "rebase" (a way to merge code branches) right from the VS Code menus.
• Markdown smart select: In Markdown files, you can now use keyboard shortcuts to quickly highlight and expand your text selection by paragraphs, lists, or headers.
• Download folders in browser: If you use VS Code in a web browser (like Chrome or Edge), you can now download entire folders from your project to your computer.
• Prevent accidental close: A new setting lets you force VS Code to ask "Are you sure?" before you close the window, stopping you from accidentally quitting your work.

Improvements

• Pinned tabs: Tabs you "pin" to the top of your editor now always show their pin icon, making them much easier to identify. If a pinned file has unsaved changes, the icon will show that too.
• Better extension tooltips: When you hover over items in the Extensions menu, the little info boxes (tooltips) that pop up now match the look and feel of the rest of the app across all computers.
• Install without syncing: If you have Settings Sync turned on (which shares your settings across multiple computers), you can now choose to install an extension on just one computer without it automatically downloading to your other devices.
• Blur command: There's a new command that removes your typing focus from whatever box you're currently typing in, which you can map to a custom keyboard shortcut.
• Emoji in timelines: The Timeline view (which shows the history of your files) can now properly display emoji shortcuts like :smile:.
• Empty brace formatting: For JavaScript and TypeScript, you can now control whether the app puts a space inside empty braces (like { } instead of {}).
• Remote development upgrades: If you code on a remote machine or container, VS Code can now reconnect to your terminal sessions if you get disconnected, and has made forwarding network ports easier.

Fixes

• The developers focused heavily on "housekeeping" this month, which means they spent time organizing user feedback and fixing various bugs reported by the community to make the editor more stable.

Breaking changes

No breaking changes in this release.