How to sync settings across Macs in VS Code on Mac: Settings Sync steps for 2026

If you work on a laptop at home and another Mac at the office, you know the problem. The font is too small on one machine. The theme is wrong on the other. Your shortcuts work on one Mac and not the second. VS Code fixes this with a built-in feature called Settings Sync. It stores your choices in your Microsoft or GitHub account, then applies them on every Mac where you sign in.

Many developers already use VS Code. In the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 75.9% of respondents said they use it, though that figure covers general use, not sync. This guide walks through the desktop app on macOS. It covers the first setup, the second Mac, the conflict prompt, and the controls you need later. The official docs do not include Mac screenshots, so if a label looks different on your build, search for Settings Sync in the Command Palette.

What Settings Sync copies on a Mac

Settings Sync works by category. You choose which categories travel with your account, and each category syncs on its own. The official docs list these: Settings, Keyboard Shortcuts, Snippets, Tasks, MCP Servers, UI State, Extensions, Profiles, and Prompts and Instructions. Tasks sync only at the user level, so a task tied to one project stays on the machine where you made it.

• Settings: your user settings, such as font size, word wrap, and editor behavior.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: any custom key bindings you saved in the Keyboard Shortcuts editor.
• Snippets: the snippet files you wrote for each language.
• Extensions: the extensions you installed, which install again on your other Mac.
• Profiles: named sets of settings you switch between, with up to 20 profiles.
• Prompts and Instructions: your saved prompts and instructions for AI features.

Not everything belongs in the cloud. If one value in your settings points to a path that exists only on one Mac, sync copies that path everywhere. Edit the value so it works on both Macs, or remove it from your user settings.

Before you start: account, version, and second Mac

• A Microsoft or GitHub account. GitHub Enterprise Server and Microsoft Sovereign Cloud accounts are not supported.
• A current stable build of VS Code. The latest stable release is 1.145, released November 4, 2026.
• A working browser on each Mac, because the sign-in finishes in the browser.
• Internet access on both Macs during the first sync.

To check your build, open the Code menu and choose About Visual Studio Code. If you are behind the latest release, update first. Then decide on the account before you turn anything on. Use one account for every Mac. Each account keeps its own cloud copy, so a second account gives you a second, empty set of settings.

Turn on Settings Sync on your first Mac

Start on the Mac whose settings you trust most. The first Mac seeds the cloud copy, so its settings become the starting point for every other machine. If you start on a fresh install, you will push default settings to your other Mac. Check the editor first, then turn sync on.

Sign-in is the only step that leaves VS Code. Everything else happens inside the editor, so keep the browser window handy until the sign-in completes.

Turn on Settings Sync on your second Mac

Say your work Mac uses a bigger font than your home Mac. You turn on sync at home with the same account. VS Code finds data in the cloud that differs from the data on this Mac, so it asks what to do. Your choice decides which version wins. Read the prompt before you click anything.

For a first sync on a second Mac, Accept Remote is usually the safest choice. It keeps the cloud copy you built on the first Mac and drops the defaults on this one. Use Show Conflicts when you want a mix. You might keep the theme from the cloud and the keyboard shortcuts from this Mac.

Choose which categories sync on each Mac

Open the Manage gear menu and choose Settings Sync: Configure to change categories. The change applies to that Mac only. Keep the categories the same on both machines unless you have a clear reason. If one Mac skips a category, changes in that category never reach it.

Keyboard shortcuts across Macs, Windows, and Linux

Keyboard shortcuts sync per operating system by default. Two Macs with the same account share one set, so nothing special happens there. The split matters only when you also use Windows or Linux with that account. Those machines keep their own set, so a Mac shortcut does not overwrite a Windows one.

To share one set across every system, clear the setting named settingsSync.keybindingsPerPlatform. Open the Settings editor with ⌘, and search for that name. Check your shortcuts afterward, because a binding that works on Windows may use a key your Mac keyboard lacks.

Extensions: what syncs and what does not

Extensions sync to normal local windows. They do not sync to or from remote windows, such as SSH, dev containers, or WSL. If you open a project on a server, install the extensions there again. Installing on your Mac does not put them on the server.

A useful habit is to install new extensions on your main Mac first. After a short wait, open the Extensions view on the second Mac. If something is missing, open the Manage gear menu and confirm that the Settings Sync is On entry is there.

Size limits: 100 KB per category and 20 profiles

Settings, keyboard shortcuts, and user tasks must each be 100 KB or smaller. If a category goes over that limit, VS Code disables that category. The symptom is one category that stops updating while everything else keeps working. Trim the file, then turn the category back on.

Profiles have a cap of their own. The Profiles category syncs up to 20 profiles. If you keep more than 20 profiles, remove the ones you no longer use before you expect all of them to sync.

Stable and Insiders keep separate sync

Stable and Insiders use separate sync services by default. If you run both builds on one Mac, a setting you change in Stable will not show up in Insiders. To share data, select the Stable sync service when you turn on sync in Insiders. Pick one build for daily work to avoid surprises.

How to turn off Settings Sync on one Mac

You might turn sync off on an old laptop you are retiring, or on a shared machine. Turning it off on one Mac does not remove the cloud copy by default. Your other Macs keep syncing with that data.

1. Open the Manage gear menu and select Settings Sync is On.
2. Choose Settings Sync: Turn Off, then select Turn off.
3. Leave the box for clearing cloud data unchecked unless you want to remove data everywhere.

Fix Cannot sign in and other Settings Sync errors

One error that shows up in third-party troubleshooting notes is Turning on Settings Sync failed: Cannot sign in. Those notes suggest running Settings Sync: Reset Extension, then Accounts: Remove Account, then fully quitting and restarting VS Code. That advice comes from a third-party site, not from Microsoft, so try the basic checks first.

• Confirm the account is a Microsoft or GitHub account, not an unsupported type.
• Quit VS Code fully with ⌘Q, then reopen it and try the sign-in again.
• Make sure the browser sign-in finished. VS Code waits for that step.
• If problems persist, launch from Terminal with the verbose flag and read the logs described below.

The official docs say extra keychain setup is usually unnecessary on macOS. If problems continue, start VS Code from Terminal with `code --verbose --vmodule='*/components/os_crypt/*=1'`. The code command must be installed first, so install the code command in VS Code on Mac if you have not. Then open the Log (Settings Sync) and Account output channels from the View menu and read the messages.

Settings Sync and VS Code for the Web

If you open VS Code for the Web at vscode.dev, the rules change a little. Installed extensions live in the browser's local storage, according to the official web page. That page recommends Settings Sync to keep extensions consistent across instances. It gives no menu labels for turning sync on in the web version, so the desktop steps above are the ones to follow.

Mistakes people make when syncing Macs

• Signing in with two different accounts. Each account keeps its own cloud copy, so the Macs never meet.
• Starting on a fresh Mac and choosing the option that replaces the cloud copy. That erases the good settings.
• Expecting extensions to follow you into an SSH or dev container window.
• Turning on sync in Insiders and expecting Stable settings to appear without selecting the Stable sync service.
• Letting one category grow past 100 KB, then wondering why it stopped syncing.

A quick test that sync works

Make one small change on your first Mac, such as the editor font size. Open VS Code on the second Mac, wait a short moment, and look for the change. If it does not appear, open the Manage gear menu and confirm that the Settings Sync is On entry is there.

What to do next after sync works

With the same settings on both Macs, set up the tools you use every day. Start with Git, using how to set up Git in VS Code on Mac. If you use the built-in terminal, set the default terminal shell in VS Code on Mac, then check that the shell matches on the second Mac.

Install new extensions once on your main Mac. The install an extension in VS Code on Mac steps cover the details. For the shortcuts you use most, the command palette guide shows how ⇧⌘P finds almost anything.