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The safest audit is simple: open the Extensions view, review the complete @installed list (including disabled extensions), disable anything uncertain, test your projects, then uninstall what you can confirm you no longer need. Before changing a large set, save an inventory with code --list-extensions --show-versions. Also check publisher trust, signature status, profiles, synchronization, remote windows, and organizational policy so an extension is not merely hidden in one environment or removed against your administrator’s rules.
Think of the process as an inventory and decision exercise, not a popularity contest. A small extension that you use once a quarter can be more important than a highly rated one you never open. Your goal is an extension set whose purpose, scope, and policy status you can explain.
Start with the complete installed inventory
Open the Extensions view with Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows or Linux, or ⇧⌘X on macOS. Select the installed-extensions view, or type @installed in the Extensions search box. This is the correct starting point because the installed list includes extensions that are currently disabled.
Use the built-in filters to narrow the list without losing the full picture:
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@installed— every extension installed in the current context, including disabled items.@enabled— extensions currently enabled.@disabled— extensions that are installed but disabled.@updates— installed extensions with an available update.@deprecated— extensions marked as deprecated.
Filters can be combined. For example, use @installed @disabled to find disabled extensions that may have been forgotten, or @installed @deprecated to identify items that deserve an explicit replacement decision. Treat these filters as review queues, not automatic deletion lists: an available update does not prove that an extension is needed, and a deprecation notice does not tell you which replacement fits your projects.
Review one extension at a time. Open its Marketplace page and read the current description, publisher identity, supported languages or tools, and release information. Ask whether you still use the language, framework, project type, or workflow it supports. Check whether VS Code now provides the same capability itself or whether another extension already covers it. Install counts and ratings provide listing context, not proof that an extension is safe, maintained, or useful for your projects.
Record what you find before changing anything
A small audit record prevents a cleanup from becoming guesswork. For each extension, note its identifier, version, purpose, projects that rely on it, current state, and proposed action. The identifier is the value shown in the extension details and is also what the command-line interface uses.
Useful audit questions include:
- What exact task does this extension perform?
- Which language, repository, or client requires it?
- Have I opened a project that uses it recently?
- Does a built-in VS Code feature or another installed extension make it redundant?
- Is it disabled already, deprecated, unsupported, or from a publisher I cannot identify?
- Is it installed only for a particular profile, workspace, or remote environment?
- Could an organization policy require, allow, or prohibit it?
Add a simple decision column such as keep, disable and test, uninstall, or investigate. For a disable trial, record the workspace and the projects you intend to open. For a removal, record why the capability is no longer needed. This makes it easier to reverse a decision and prevents repeatedly debating the same item.
Do not treat age alone as a reason to remove an extension. An infrequently used formatter or debugger may still be essential when a particular repository is opened. Conversely, a popular extension may be unnecessary for your setup.
Choose between keeping, disabling, and uninstalling
Use confidence and reversibility to decide what happens next. The following framework describes the practical choices supported by VS Code.
| Situation | Recommended action | Reversibility and scope |
|---|---|---|
| You use the feature regularly and it is allowed by your policy | Keep it enabled | No change; verify it is in the profile or environment where you need it |
| You are unsure whether a project still needs it | Disable it temporarily | Reversible; disable globally or only for the current workspace |
| You need it only in one kind of project | Use a profile or workspace-scoped disable | Limits impact on unrelated projects |
| You have tested the relevant projects and no longer need it | Uninstall it | Removes it from the applicable installation or profile context |
| The extension is deprecated, unverifiable, or disallowed | Investigate a replacement, then remove it when appropriate | Check policy and project requirements before removal |
The key comparison is confidence versus reversibility. Keep an extension when its purpose is current and clear. Disable when the need is uncertain, the use is seasonal, or you are isolating a conflict. Uninstall only after the projects and environments that depended on it have been checked. A global action has a wider blast radius; a workspace-specific action is safer when only one repository is in question.
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Disable first when you are not certain
Disable globally
- In the Extensions view, locate the extension.
- Select its gear-shaped Manage menu.
- Choose Disable.
A global disable affects the current VS Code installation context wherever that extension would otherwise run. VS Code may prompt you to restart the extension host so the change takes effect. Accept the restart or reload when prompted; otherwise, an old activation state can make the result look inconclusive.
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Disable only for the current workspace
- Open the extension’s Manage menu.
- Choose the workspace-specific disable option.
- Reopen or reload the workspace if VS Code requests it.
This is the safer test when the extension might still be required by another repository. Work through the projects that previously depended on the extension, then watch for missing commands, syntax support, debugging changes, formatting differences, or task failures. Check both an ordinary project and the special repository that motivated the audit; a formatter or language service can appear unnecessary until that project is opened again.
If the projects continue to work and you have no remaining use for the extension, proceed to uninstalling it. If a feature fails, re-enable the extension and narrow its scope instead of removing it everywhere.
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Uninstall an extension from the Extensions view
- Find the extension in the installed list.
- Open its Manage menu.
- Select Uninstall.
- Confirm the prompt and restart the extension host if VS Code asks.
Uninstalling removes the extension from the applicable VS Code installation or profile context; it is not the same as merely disabling it. If the extension is present in another profile, another local installation, or a remote environment, that copy may remain.
Before uninstalling an extension that contributes settings, snippets, tasks, commands, or language configuration, search your user and workspace settings for its identifier or setting names. Remove obsolete configuration only after you have confirmed that no remaining extension or project uses it. Keeping an unused setting is usually harmless, while deleting a setting still used elsewhere can create confusing warnings. Also check project-level configuration shared with teammates before editing it: removing an extension from your machine does not automatically remove a repository’s documented tooling requirement.
Create a versioned inventory with the CLI
The command-line interface gives you a text record that is easier to archive, compare, or use during a bulk-oriented cleanup. Run this command in a terminal where the code command is available:
code --list-extensions --show-versionsThe output lists extension identifiers together with their installed versions. Save the output to a dated text file if you need a before-and-after record. A versioned list is useful when an update or uninstall causes a problem: you can identify exactly what changed instead of relying on memory.
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The command reports the context associated with the VS Code installation you invoke; it does not automatically describe every remote window or every separate installation on your machines. Run it again in each relevant context and label each file with the machine, profile, and date.
Profiles can have different extension sets. To list extensions for a particular profile, use the CLI’s --profile option with the profile name supported by your VS Code installation. Keep the profile name and the resulting list in your audit record so you do not mistake a profile-specific inventory for a machine-wide one.
Remove a selected extension from the CLI
After confirming the exact identifier, uninstall it with:
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code --uninstall-extension publisher.extensionReplace publisher.extension with the identifier shown by the inventory command. For a profile-specific operation, include the appropriate --profile option. Verify the command’s output, then reopen the Extensions view or run the listing command again to confirm that the intended context no longer contains the extension.
Do not turn a cleanup into an unreviewed mass deletion. The inventory command can help you prepare a candidate list, but each removal still needs a reason, a policy check, and—when the need is uncertain—a disable-and-test period. If you script your own review, keep the original inventory and candidate list so an accidental removal can be diagnosed.
Check security before deciding an extension is safe to keep
VS Code’s Marketplace guidance states: Extensions have the same permissions as VS Code itself.
Treat an extension as executable code with broad access, not as a harmless theme or document.
For each extension you keep, verify:
- The publisher identity is recognizable and matches the project or vendor you intended to install.
- The Marketplace description and supported versions still match your use case.
- The extension is not deprecated or unexpectedly abandoned for a critical workflow.
- Your organization allows the publisher, identifier, version, and platform.
Beginning with VS Code 1.97, the first installation from a third-party publisher prompts for publisher trust. Marketplace packages are signed, and VS Code verifies their signatures during installation. If a signature cannot be verified, treat that as a reason to investigate the package and its source rather than bypassing signature checks as a routine workaround.
Security review is a reason to remove an extension you cannot justify, but do not infer risk from Marketplace install counts or star ratings. Those numbers describe the listing, not the behavior of the extension in your environment. A familiar publisher and a valid signature do not make an unnecessary extension necessary; they simply inform the keep-or-remove decision.
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Workspace Trust can disable or limit extensions that have not declared support for untrusted workspaces. That can reduce the features available when you open an unfamiliar repository, but it is not a substitute for an extension audit.
Microsoft’s Workspace Trust documentation explicitly warns: Workspace Trust can’t prevent a malicious extension from executing code and ignoring Restricted Mode.
Therefore, do not keep an unnecessary or suspicious extension on the assumption that Restricted Mode makes it harmless. Remove extensions you cannot verify, and open untrusted code with the same care you would give any executable project.
Audit profiles, synchronization, and remote environments separately
Profiles
Profiles let you maintain different extension sets for different kinds of work, such as web development, data analysis, or documentation. An extension that is unnecessary in one profile may be required in another. Confirm which profile is active before disabling or uninstalling, and repeat the inventory for each profile you use. A successful test in one profile does not prove that another profile can do without the extension.
Settings Sync
Settings Sync can synchronize extensions across supported machines. If you remove an extension on one synchronized machine and it reappears, check whether another machine or profile is still contributing it. To keep a particular extension out of synchronization, use the Extensions view actions or add its identifier to settingsSync.ignoredExtensions. Decide whether you want the extension removed everywhere or simply excluded from synchronization; those are different outcomes.
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SSH, containers, and WSL
Extensions installed in remote windows are a separate consideration. VS Code documentation says extensions do not sync to or from remote windows such as SSH hosts, development containers, or WSL environments. An extension can therefore be absent locally but still installed remotely, or vice versa. Open the relevant remote window, run the installed filter there, and audit that environment independently.
When a project behaves differently after cleanup, identify where the extension actually runs before changing more settings. The local Extensions view and a remote Extensions view can show different inventories, and a profile can further change what is enabled.
Check organization policy before removing or adding anything
On an organization-managed machine, administrators can control extensions with the application setting extensions.allowed. Documentation identifies support beginning in VS Code 1.96. Policy can constrain publishers, extension identifiers, versions, and platforms.
Users can still remove preinstalled extensions, but policy determines what is permitted and what may return through management tools. If an extension is required for work, prohibited for security reasons, or repeatedly restored after removal, ask the policy owner rather than attempting to work around the control. Record the policy decision in your audit notes so the same extension is not repeatedly re-evaluated. A policy check belongs both before installation and before removal: deleting a required tool can interrupt a team workflow, while retaining a disallowed one can violate organizational rules.
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An extension disappeared from one project but works elsewhere
Check whether you selected a workspace-specific disable or whether another profile is active. Workspace scope and profile scope can make the same extension appear enabled in one project and absent in another.
A command, formatter, or language feature stopped working
Re-enable the extension from the Extensions view, reload the window if prompted, and reopen the affected project. If the feature returns, keep the extension enabled for the projects that require it and use a profile or workspace-specific disable elsewhere. Note the affected project in your audit record so a later cleanup does not repeat the same failed trial.
The extension still appears after uninstalling
Inspect the active profile, then check local and remote windows separately. Run code --list-extensions --show-versions in the relevant installation context. Settings Sync or organization management may also reinstall or retain the extension.
VS Code asks to restart the extension host
Accept the restart or reload so VS Code can apply the new activation state. A pending restart can make an extension appear to be enabled or disabled until the host is refreshed.
You cannot remove an organization-managed extension
Do not bypass the restriction. Check the extensions.allowed policy or contact the administrator responsible for the machine. The policy may require a particular version, publisher, or platform.
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Use a repeatable maintenance routine
A short review at sensible change points is more reliable than deleting extensions on a timer. Revisit the inventory when you change projects, adopt a new VS Code version, replace a language toolchain, or notice slow startup, activation errors, or conflicting commands.
- Open
@installed, not only@enabled, so disabled leftovers are visible. - Run
@updatesand@deprecatedas review queues, not automatic removal lists. - Keep a dated CLI inventory before a large cleanup.
- Disable uncertain extensions and test the projects that matter before uninstalling.
- Check publisher identity, signature behavior, and organization policy for extensions you keep.
- Repeat the review in every profile and remote environment you actually use.
- After changes, reload the extension host and verify formatting, language services, debugging, tasks, and source-control workflows.
The result should be a smaller, understandable extension set: each retained item has a current purpose, each disabled item is intentional, and each removed item can be explained by a project, security, maintenance, or policy decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I disable an extension or uninstall it?
Disable it first when you are unsure, when its use is seasonal, or when you want to test one workspace. Disable is reversible and can be global or workspace-specific. Uninstall after the projects that depended on it continue to work and you have confirmed it is no longer needed.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhy does @installed show extensions I thought I removed?
The installed list includes disabled extensions, and another profile, local installation, remote window, Settings Sync source, or organization-management tool may contain a copy. Check the active context and run code --list-extensions --show-versions there.
Does Workspace Trust make an extension safe?
No. Workspace Trust can limit extensions that do not support untrusted workspaces, but Microsoft warns that it cannot prevent a malicious extension from executing code and ignoring Restricted Mode. Remove extensions you cannot verify or justify.
How do I keep an extension from returning through Settings Sync?
Use the extension’s actions in the Extensions view or add its identifier to settingsSync.ignoredExtensions. Remember that remote windows such as SSH, development containers, and WSL do not sync extensions to or from local windows.
What should I do if a signature cannot be verified?
Treat the result as a reason to investigate the package, publisher, and source. Do not make disabling signature checks a routine workaround. If you cannot establish that the extension is legitimate and needed, remove it and consult your organization’s policy owner when applicable.
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Yes. The extensions.allowed application setting, supported beginning in VS Code 1.96, can constrain publishers, extension IDs, versions, and platforms. Users may still be able to remove preinstalled extensions, but policy determines what is permitted and what may be restored.
The Bottom Line
Audit every context, not just the enabled local list: review @installed, record versions, disable uncertain extensions, test the projects that matter, and uninstall only when the need is clear. Then verify publisher and signature status, Workspace Trust’s limits, profiles, synchronization, remote windows, and extensions.allowed policy. A clean extension set is one you can explain and reproduce.
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