TopolearnSettings like format-on-save and per-project rules make the editor do the right thing automatically for every teammate.
Open settings with Ctrl+,. The UI is searchable; the {} icon in the top right opens the underlying settings.json, which is what most people edit directly.
Settings exist at several levels, the more specific winning:
- User settings apply to every window.
- Workspace settings live in
.vscode/settings.jsoninside the project and override user settings. Commit them to share project conventions with the team (formatter, tab size, excluded folders). - Language-specific blocks override both for one language:
"[python]": { "editor.tabSize": 4 }. - In a multi-root workspace, folder settings are also possible.
Useful settings to know:
"editor.formatOnSave": trueplus"editor.defaultFormatter"per language."editor.codeActionsOnSave"to run fixes such as organising imports or ESLint fixes on save."files.exclude"hides files from the Explorer;"search.exclude"from search."files.autoSave": "afterDelay"saves automatically.
settings.json is JSON with comments (jsonc), and IntelliSense completes setting names and values. Hovering a setting shows its description and default. Search for @modified in the Settings UI to see everything you changed from defaults.
Example
// .vscode/settings.json (committed, shared with the team)
{
"editor.formatOnSave": true,
"editor.codeActionsOnSave": { "source.organizeImports": "explicit" },
"files.exclude": { "**/__pycache__": true, "**/.pytest_cache": true },
"search.exclude": { "**/dist": true },
"[python]": {
"editor.tabSize": 4,
"editor.defaultFormatter": "charliermarsh.ruff"
},
"[typescript]": { "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode" }
}Remember
- User < Workspace (.vscode/settings.json) < language-specific
- Commit workspace settings to share project conventions
- settings.json is JSON with comments; @modified shows changes
Watch out for
- Putting personal preferences like themes or font size in the shared workspace settings.