How to downgrade vscode

Question

I am experiencing a problem with debugging in vscode just after the last update. There's something going on (https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/45657)

I'd like to check the previous version to see if my case is a problem here or in vscode but I can not find instructions on how to downgrade (I suppose it's possible)

Diverge

Download older versions from here? code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_20 You can go back as far as April 2016 release. – Hyperopia

@RosdiKasim Cannot get {version}/darwin/stable is what shows up when I try downloading it. Did they depreciate them? – Sunstone

@The_Game12 check my answer below to get the correct link. This link seems to work for me: https://update.code.visualstudio.com/1.87.1/darwin/stable – Hyperopia

@RosdiKasim I found one that worked for me, but thanks anyway! – Sunstone

Answer 1

Previous versions of Visual Studio Code can be downloaded here:

https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/

Pick the version you want from the list on the left, and then click on the download link for your OS as shown here:

You should disable auto update (as mentioned by Gregory in the comment) to prevent it from auto updating itself later upon restart. To do this, go to Preferences, Settings and then search for 'update'. Set it to 'none' as shown below:

Hyperopia

For anyone wanting a specific minor version, right click the download link, and select 'open in new tab'. Cancel the download and edit the version number in the url. Ex: the latest is 1.30.2, but I needed 1.30.1, update.code.visualstudio.com/1.30.1/win32-x64-user/stable – Prawn

Don't forget to disable auto-update or else your previous version will be replaced with the current one as soon as you restart! – Mormon

Do I need to uninstall current version before reinstalling? Also, will my extensions and preferences be deleted? – Iconography

@cbdev420 No - you don't have to uninstall current version. Your extensions and preferences will be preserved. As with all software it is advised to make a backup though. Extension like "Settings Sync" is very helpful to not only have the copy of your settings but also to sync it between multiple devices: marketplace.visualstudio.com/… – Staves

Is there a way to have multiple VSCode versions on one system? Ideally I don't want to have to install them. – Villanelle

This did not work on Ubuntu 16.04 (using the deb package) even after disabling auto update. To make it work, I had to first uninstall the current version using this method and then reinstall. – Raddie

As of July 2022, for Windows there are now separate "User" and "System" downloads. To figure out which you have currently installed go to Help -> About. Will show something like Version: 1.68.1 (user setup) – Novick

I'm using Chocolatey. Can I uninstall the current version of vscode via choco and install an older version without messing up my local environments/settings? Or is there a better way to proceed? Does anybody know? – Rennold

OP was asking for the "Install Another Version..." menu option not some, obvious, laborious, workaround. It seems Microsoft only bothered to include that button for the small extensions, not the huge majority of the code. – Decay

Just encountered a lovely problem when turning off auto-update. VS-code notified me that I had to restart before settings changes would take effect. Restarted and it auto-updated. – Creativity

@Creativity Same for me, but after restart, I closed VS Code and re-installed prev. version. The 2nd attempt worked because update mode had already been changed. – Shrievalty

For system installer remove -user from the download link. – Avron

Answer 2

Visual studio docs now have a section documenting all Url endpoints for downloading platform and archive specific downloads.

For ex. for Windows 64 bit zip the download endpoint is : https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64-archive/stable

Viviparous

Answer 3

https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/ site is only Windows Installer.
If you want to download Zip Executable, you can download like this url pattern.

# <download version> is like 1.44.0
https://vscode-update.azurewebsites.net/<download version>/win32-x64-archive/stable

reference is this site. https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/60933

And I try to download another site, and success to download. this site is linked in https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/

https://update.code.visualstudio.com/<download version>/win32-x64-archive/stable

Recalescence

Answer 4

Step −1

I downloaded a previous version (1.83.1 in my case, where 1.84.1 was the current one) from https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/ with suggestion from Rosdi Kasim's answer...
but the .deb package failed to install :

---

BTW, it's good to mention, I'm running Linux Mint 20.2, based on Ubuntu 20.04

Step 0

However, resorting to Synaptic Package Manager, where...
I searched (with Ctrl+F), found and selected code (i.e. Visual Studio Code)...

Step 1

Then, from the "Package" menu clicked on "Force version" option :

Step 2

which opens a child window that lets me select the version I want :

with the dreaded warning :

The package manager always selects the most applicable version available. If you force a different version from the default one, errors in the dependency handling can occur.

Step 3 (double-check)

However, if you're sure enough, or dare to ignore such risks (the latter being my case; though I pray it be the former for the rest of the world), it'd be perfectly fine to drop-down the "Force version" list... and select the destined !

Step 4

Then with wide-open eyes (I closed mine) click on "Force Version"

which, when done, will show a down-grade symbol ↷ on the code check-box.

Step 5

Finally, apply the changes...

and Voila !!

Beast