WSL 2 Integration on Windows
WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) lets Windows developers run a real Linux kernel. VS Code's WSL extension makes the experience seamless — Linux tools, Windows editor.
1Installing WSL 2
wsl --install # Installs Ubuntu by default # Reboot when prompted wsl --set-default-version 2
2Opening VS Code from WSL
From a WSL terminal, navigate to your project and run code .. VS Code opens with a WSL connection indicator (green badge: WSL: Ubuntu). The VS Code server runs in Linux — no path translation needed.
3Installing Extensions in WSL
Extensions installed on the Windows side don't automatically run in WSL. Open the Extensions view and install extensions into the WSL environment — they run in Linux context. Theme and UI extensions are shared; language and debugger extensions need to be in WSL.
4File System Performance
Keep your projects inside the Linux file system (~/projects) not on the Windows mount (/mnt/c). File I/O performance inside WSL is 10–20× faster in the Linux filesystem, which dramatically speeds up npm install, builds, and test runs.
5Accessing WSL from Windows & Vice Versa
From Windows Explorer, type \\wsl$ in the address bar to browse Linux files. From WSL, use /mnt/c/ to access Windows drives. Avoid cross-filesystem operations for performance-sensitive tasks.