If you’ve been using VS Code for more than a week, you’ve probably made the mistake I made early on — installing every extension that looked cool, until your editor started feeling like it was running on a potato.
So I did the opposite. I stripped everything back and only kept what actually made a difference to how fast I write, review, and ship code.
These 15 extensions made the cut.
The Essentials (Install These First)
1. Prettier — Code Formatter
Publisher: Prettier
Install: Search esbenp.prettier-vscode
Stop arguing about formatting. Prettier auto-formats your code on save — consistent indentation, quote styles, semicolons, all of it. It works across JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, JSON, Markdown, and more.
Set it as your default formatter and turn on Format on Save in your settings. You’ll never manually fix indentation again.
Settings to add:
json
"editor.formatOnSave": true, "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode"
2. ESLint
Publisher: Microsoft
Install: Search dbaeumer.vscode-eslint
Catches errors before you run your code. ESLint highlights problems in real time — unused variables, missing dependencies, potential bugs — right in your editor as you type. Pair it with Prettier and your code will be clean before it ever hits a linter in CI.
3. GitLens — Git Supercharged
Publisher: GitKraken
Install: Search eamodio.gitlens
Hover over any line of code and instantly see who wrote it, when, and in what commit. GitLens layers Git information directly into your editor — blame annotations, file history, commit search, and branch comparisons without leaving VS Code.
The free tier alone is worth it for the inline blame feature.
4. GitHub Copilot
Publisher: GitHub
Install: Search GitHub.copilot
AI code completion that actually works. Copilot suggests entire lines and functions as you type — context-aware, trained on billions of lines of real code. It’s not perfect, but it handles boilerplate faster than any snippet manager ever could.
Requires a GitHub Copilot subscription ($10/month or free for students).
5. Path Intellisense
Publisher: Christian Kohler
Install: Search christian-kohler.path-intellisense
Autocompletes file paths as you type them. No more typos in import statements or broken relative paths. A tiny extension that saves a surprisingly large amount of debugging time.
Speed and Navigation
6. Bookmarks
Publisher: Alessandro Fragnani
Install: Search alefragnani.Bookmarks
Mark lines in your code and jump between them with a keyboard shortcut. Invaluable when working across large files or jumping between related sections — controllers, models, API routes — without scrolling endlessly.
7. Todo Tree
Publisher: Gruntfuggly
Install: Search Gruntfuggly.todo-tree
Scans your entire codebase for TODO, FIXME, HACK, and BUG comments and lists them in a sidebar tree. If you leave notes to yourself in comments (and you should), this makes sure none of them get buried and forgotten.
8. Project Manager
Publisher: Alessandro Fragnani
Install: Search alefragnani.project-manager
Save and switch between projects instantly. If you work on more than one codebase — your job’s project plus your side projects — this is the fastest way to jump between them without hunting through your file system.
9. Peacock
Publisher: John Papa
Install: Search johnpapa.vscode-peacock
Changes the color of your VS Code window per project. Sounds superficial, but when you have three VS Code windows open — one per project — color-coding the title bar and sidebar means you never commit to the wrong repo again.
Appearance and Readability
10. One Dark Pro
Publisher: binaryify
Install: Search zhuangtongfa.material-theme
The most installed VS Code theme for a reason. Dark, clean, and easy on the eyes during long sessions. If you’re going to stare at code for eight hours, it should at least look good.
11. Material Icon Theme
Publisher: Philipp Kief
Install: Search PKief.material-icon-theme
Replaces VS Code’s default file icons with clear, color-coded icons per file type. You’ll identify files in the sidebar at a glance instead of reading every filename. Small thing, real difference.
12. Indent Rainbow
Publisher: oderwat
Install: Search oderwat.indent-rainbow
Colors your indentation levels so nested code is visually distinct. Especially useful in Python (where indentation is syntax) or deeply nested HTML/JSX. Makes the structure of your code readable without counting spaces.
Specific Workflows
13. REST Client
Publisher: Huachao Mao
Install: Search humao.rest-client
Send HTTP requests directly from a .http file inside VS Code. Write your API calls in plain text, hit send, see the response — no need to open Postman for quick checks. Brilliant for testing your own APIs during development.
14. Docker
Publisher: Microsoft
Install: Search ms-azuretools.vscode-docker
Manage containers, images, and Docker Compose files without leaving the editor. You get a sidebar showing running containers, logs, and the ability to start/stop services. If you use Docker in your stack, this replaces a lot of terminal commands.
15. Live Share
Publisher: Microsoft
Install: Search MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare
Real-time collaborative editing — like Google Docs but inside VS Code. Share your session with a teammate and both of you can edit, debug, and run code together. Essential for remote pair programming without screen sharing lag.
The Setup I Actually Use
Here’s my personal extensions.json — drop this in your .vscode folder and anyone who clones your project gets a prompt to install the same set:
json
{
"recommendations": [
"esbenp.prettier-vscode",
"dbaeumer.vscode-eslint",
"eamodio.gitlens",
"GitHub.copilot",
"christian-kohler.path-intellisense",
"alefragnani.Bookmarks",
"Gruntfuggly.todo-tree",
"alefragnani.project-manager",
"johnpapa.vscode-peacock",
"zhuangtongfa.material-theme",
"PKief.material-icon-theme",
"oderwat.indent-rainbow",
"humao.rest-client",
"ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
"MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare"
]
}Quick Reference Table
| Extension | Publisher | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Prettier | Prettier | Auto-formatting on save |
| ESLint | Microsoft | Catching errors early |
| GitLens | GitKraken | Git blame and history |
| GitHub Copilot | GitHub | AI code completion |
| Path Intellisense | C. Kohler | Import path autocomplete |
| Bookmarks | A. Fragnani | Jumping between code sections |
| Todo Tree | Gruntfuggly | Tracking TODO comments |
| Project Manager | A. Fragnani | Switching between projects |
| Peacock | John Papa | Color-coding project windows |
| One Dark Pro | binaryify | Best dark theme |
| Material Icon Theme | P. Kief | File type icons |
| Indent Rainbow | oderwat | Visual indentation levels |
| REST Client | H. Mao | Testing APIs in-editor |
| Docker | Microsoft | Managing containers |
| Live Share | Microsoft | Remote pair programming |
Final Thoughts
You don’t need all 15 at once. Start with the top five — Prettier, ESLint, GitLens, Path Intellisense, and One Dark Pro — and add the rest as your workflow demands them.
The goal isn’t to have the most extensions. It’s to remove friction from the things you do every day.
If there’s an extension you swear by that didn’t make this list, drop it in the comments — I’m always looking to trim or add.