You open VSCode on your laptop after working on your desktop all morning, ready to pick up where you left off. But something feels off. Your favorite extensions are missing, and the ones you just installed yesterday aren’t showing up.
This happens more often than you’d think, and it’s frustrating because the whole point of syncing is to have your setup ready everywhere. Let me show you why this happens and how to get your extensions back in sync.
What’s Actually Happening With Your Extensions
VSCode has a built-in feature called Settings Sync that’s supposed to keep everything identical across your devices. Your extensions, themes, keyboard shortcuts, and other settings should move with you from one computer to another. It works through your Microsoft or GitHub account, storing your setup in the cloud.
But here’s where things get tricky. Sometimes the sync works perfectly for your settings and keyboard shortcuts, yet your extensions refuse to cooperate. You might see them listed in the extensions panel, but they’re grayed out or showing as “not installed.” Other times, they just vanish completely, leaving you to wonder if sync is even working at all.
The issue usually shows up right after you sign in on a new device or after updating VSCode. You expect your extensions to download automatically, but instead you’re staring at a bare-bones editor that looks nothing like your carefully customized setup. This can really slow you down, especially if you rely on specific tools for your daily work.
If you ignore this, you’ll end up manually installing extensions on every device, which defeats the entire purpose of having sync turned on. Worse, you might think sync is working fine and only discover hours later that half your tools are missing. Your coding flow gets interrupted, and simple tasks take longer than they should.
Extensions Not Syncing VSCode: Likely Causes
Several things can break the connection between your devices and stop extensions from syncing properly. Let’s look at what usually causes this headache so you can spot the issue faster.
1. Sync Settings Aren’t Configured Properly
Your sync might be turned on, but extensions could be excluded from what actually gets synced. VSCode lets you pick and choose what to sync, and if extensions got unchecked somehow, they’ll stay local to each device.
This happens a lot after fresh installs or updates. The default settings might have changed, or you accidentally toggled something while exploring the sync options. Either way, your extensions stay put while everything else moves between devices.
You might have sync working for settings and keybindings but not for extensions. It’s easy to miss because the sync icon shows as active, making you think everything’s covered.
2. Account Authentication Problems
Your Microsoft or GitHub account might have signed out without you noticing. VSCode needs an active connection to upload and download your extension list, and if that connection drops, sync stops working.
Sometimes the token that keeps you logged in expires, especially if you haven’t used VSCode in a while. Your account looks connected on the surface, but behind the scenes, VSCode can’t actually access your synced data.
3. Network or Firewall Blocking Sync
Your internet connection or company firewall could be stopping VSCode from reaching Microsoft’s or GitHub’s servers. This is super common in corporate environments where IT teams lock down what programs can access online.
Even home networks can have issues if your router settings are too strict. VSCode needs to communicate with specific domains to pull down your extension data, and if those get blocked, sync fails silently. You won’t see an error message, so it looks like everything’s fine until you check your extensions.
4. Extension Marketplace Connection Issues
VSCode downloads extensions from the marketplace, and if that service is having problems, your extensions won’t install even if sync is working perfectly. The list of what you should have gets synced, but the actual downloading gets stuck.
This can happen during marketplace maintenance or if Microsoft’s servers are overloaded. Your sync data arrives fine, but when VSCode tries to grab the actual extension files, nothing happens. You’ll see extension names but no functionality.
5. Corrupted Sync Data or Cache
Your sync data might have gotten corrupted somewhere along the way. This can happen if VSCode crashed while uploading changes or if there was a hiccup during the sync process. The stored data becomes unreadable, and VSCode can’t figure out what extensions you actually want.
Cache files on your local machine can also cause trouble. These files store temporary data to speed things up, but if they get damaged or outdated, they can prevent new sync data from loading properly.
Your extension list might be trying to sync, but the corrupted files keep overwriting the correct information. VSCode gets confused about which version is right and ends up syncing nothing at all.
Extensions Not Syncing VSCode: How to Fix
Getting your extensions back in sync is usually straightforward once you know where to look. These fixes work for most situations, and you can try them right away.
1. Check Your Sync Settings
Open VSCode and click the gear icon at the bottom left. Look for “Settings Sync is On” and click it to see what’s actually being synced.
Make sure “Extensions” has a checkmark next to it. If it doesn’t, click to enable it. This tells VSCode to include extensions in your sync data.
After enabling it, click “Sync Now” to force an immediate sync. Give it a minute or two to upload your current extensions and download any missing ones. You should see a progress notification at the bottom right of your screen.
2. Sign Out and Sign Back In
Click the account icon at the bottom left corner of VSCode. Select “Sign Out” and confirm you want to disconnect.
Wait a few seconds, then click the account icon again and choose “Sign in to Sync Settings.” Pick either Microsoft or GitHub, whichever you used before. Complete the login process in your browser.
Once you’re back in, VSCode will prompt you about syncing. Choose to download your settings from the cloud. This fresh connection often fixes authentication issues that were blocking your extensions. The re-login creates a new token and reestablishes the link to your synced data.
3. Manually Trigger a Sync
Sometimes sync gets stuck and needs a little push. Press Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows or Linux (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) to open the command palette.
Type “sync” and select “Settings Sync: Sync Now” from the list. This forces VSCode to check for changes right away instead of waiting for the automatic sync interval.
Watch the bottom right corner for sync notifications. If you see errors, they’ll pop up here and give you clues about what’s actually wrong. A successful sync will show a checkmark and list what got updated.
4. Clear the Sync Cache
Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and type “sync cache.” Select “Settings Sync: Reset Local Sync Cache.”
VSCode will ask you to confirm. This clears out any corrupted local data that might be interfering with sync. Your cloud data stays safe, but the local copies get wiped.
After resetting, click the account icon and choose to sync again. VSCode will download fresh copies of everything from the cloud, including your extension list. This often fixes issues where local files were preventing updates from coming through.
5. Check Your Network and Firewall
Try opening VSCode’s output panel by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U (or Cmd+Shift+U on Mac). Change the dropdown to “Settings Sync” to see connection logs.
Look for error messages about blocked connections or timeouts. These tell you if your network is the problem.
If you’re on a work network, talk to your IT team about allowing VSCode to access Microsoft or GitHub servers. You might need specific domains whitelisted. At home, try temporarily disabling your firewall or antivirus to see if that’s blocking sync. If extensions start working, you know the firewall was the issue and can add VSCode as an exception.
6. Reinstall Problematic Extensions
Open the extensions panel by pressing Ctrl+Shift+X (or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac). Look for extensions that show as grayed out or partially installed.
Click the gear icon next to each problematic extension and select “Uninstall.” Once they’re gone, search for them again in the marketplace and reinstall manually.
After reinstalling, these extensions should start syncing normally with your other devices. Sometimes a fresh install clears up whatever was preventing them from syncing in the first place.
7. Contact Microsoft Support
If none of these fixes work, you might be dealing with a server-side issue or a bug in VSCode itself. Check the VSCode GitHub repository for known issues related to sync.
You can also reach out to Microsoft support or post in the VSCode community forums. Provide details about your setup, what you’ve tried, and any error messages you’ve seen. The community is usually quick to help, and Microsoft engineers monitor these forums for sync problems.
Wrapping Up
Getting your extensions to sync properly saves you tons of time and keeps your coding setup consistent everywhere you work. The fixes here cover the most common reasons sync breaks, and one of them should get you back on track.
Start with the simple stuff like checking your sync settings and signing back in. If those don’t work, clearing your cache or checking network issues usually does the trick. Your extensions are an important part of how you work, so it’s worth spending a few minutes to get sync working right.