Why does Visual Studio Code keep things (like settings and recently opened files) after reinstalling and how to reset everything?

Question

I want to reset Visual Studio Code on my Laptop entirely and already uninstalled everything, even deleted the .vscode file unter the user file. But after reinstalling, everything is the same as before. The settings are exactly the same and also my recently opened files are shown.

I don't want to reset everything individually and manually, I want the whole program to be new. Where is all that information saved, and how can I delete it?

Answer 1

It's a pretty common thing for uninstaller programs to purposely leave behind configuration files (and sadly, even cache files if the uninstaller is lazily implemented ^{_{(or maybe even that's by-design- who knows)}}).

For VS Code, see (on specific platforms):

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Code
• macOS: $HOME/Library/Application Support/Code
• Linux: $HOME/.config/Code

Those folders store things like cache data, user settings, workspace info database files, etc. (Related: What are ALL configuration files used by Visual Studio Code?)

See also .vscode in your user home folder for storage of extensions.