STEP ONE: Install VS Code

1. Download Visual Studio Code (VS Code) for MacOS from https://code.visualstudio.com/download.
   
2. Extract (Double click) the downloaded VS code file.
   
3. Drag Visual Studio Code.app to the ‘Applications’ folder and make it available in the MacOS Launchpad.
   
4. To launch VS code, press Command + space bar and type Visual Studio Code.app and click VS code icon.
   • You can add the VS Code to your Dock by right-clicking on the icon and choosing Options, Keep in dock.
   • Later, you can launch the VS Code directly clicking the VS Code icon in Dock.
     
5. You can also launch VS Code from the macOS terminal, but path need to be added.
   • Launch VS Code (as in step 4)
   • Open the Command Palette (Shift + command + P) and type ‘shell command’ and click Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH.

STEP TWO: Install C++ Extension to VS Code

1. Click on the Extensions button  in VS Code. It is in the menu on the left side (see image below).
   Then, type “C++” in the search bar (see image below) and hit the Enter key on your keyboard to display all extensions related to C++.
   
   
2. Then, click on the C/C++ Extension Pack Microsoft extension and click the Install button. This extension will install four extensions at one time.
   

STEP THREE: Disable all GenAI in VS Code

STEP FOUR: VS Code: Write, Compile & Run C++ Code

STEP FIVE: VS Code Features You May Like