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So you’ve installed Python. Great. Now what? You open Notepad, start typing your code, and immediately realise this feels… wrong. Uncomfortable. Like writing an important letter on a paper napkin.
That’s where VS Code comes in.
VS Code — short for Visual Studio Code — is where most programmers actually live. It’s a code editor, and a very good one at that. Free, lightweight, fast, and trusted by beginners and senior engineers alike. Today, we’re getting it set up on Windows.
But Wait — What Even is a Code Editor?
Think of it this way. You can write code in Notepad. Technically, nothing stops you. But would you write a novel in Notepad? Probably not. You’d use Microsoft Word — something that helps you format, highlights mistakes, organises your work.
A code editor is exactly that, but for code. It colours your code so it’s readable (called syntax highlighting), tells you when something’s wrong before you even run it, and does about a hundred other things that make your life easier. VS Code does all of this, brilliantly.
Step 1 — Download VS Code
Head to code.visualstudio.com. You’ll see a big blue download button — it auto-detects Windows and gives you the right installer. Click it. A .exe file will download to your machine.
Always download from the official site. No detours.
Step 2 — Run the Installer
Open the downloaded .exe file. You’ll go through a standard installation wizard — accept the agreement, choose the install location (the default is perfectly fine), and then you’ll hit a page called “Select Additional Tasks”.
Here’s what I’d suggest you tick:
- “Add to PATH” — lets you open VS Code from the terminal
- “Add Open with Code action to Windows Explorer file context menu” — this lets you right-click any folder and open it directly in VS Code. Genuinely very useful.
After that, click Install. It’ll take maybe a minute. Go stretch.
Step 3 — Open VS Code
Once installed, launch VS Code. First time you open it, you’ll see a Welcome tab with some options. Don’t get overwhelmed — you don’t need to read all of it right now. Just close it and look around.
The interface is clean. Left side has your file explorer, the big area in the centre is where you write code, and the bottom bar shows you useful info about your project. That’s really all you need to know to get started.
Step 4 — Install the Python Extension
Since we’re working with Python, there’s one more thing to do — and it takes about 30 seconds.
On the left sidebar, click the icon that looks like 4 little squares (that’s the Extensions tab). In the search bar, type Python. The first result will be the official Python extension by Microsoft. Click Install.
This extension is what connects VS Code to the Python you installed earlier. It gives you auto-suggestions, error highlighting, and the ability to run your Python files directly inside VS Code. Trust me, this makes things significantly more pleasant.
Step 5 — Write and Run Your First File
Let’s make sure everything’s working together. Go to File > New File, name it hello.py, and type:
print("Hello from VS Code!")
Now press Ctrl + F5 (or click the Run button at the top right). You’ll see a terminal pop up at the bottom of VS Code, and it’ll print:
Hello from VS Code!
And that, right there, is your complete Python setup on Windows. Editor installed, Python connected, code running. You’re ready. 🙂
Quick Recap
- Download VS Code from code.visualstudio.com
- Tick “Add to PATH” and “Open with Code” during installation
- Install the Python extension from the Extensions tab
- Create a .py file, run it with Ctrl + F5, and you’re live
We’ve covered a lot of setup ground — Python installed, VS Code set up. Now we can actually start doing interesting things with code. That’s where the real fun begins. Take a break if you need, no need to push yourself as next ones will be continuous and excess enthusiasm leads to early quitting. See you in the next one 🙂