ZSH And VSCode - Default Shells

Question

I've started setting up ZSH for VSCode. It worked for a small bit, but then it changed to Git Bash (my previous default shell). I tried changing the shell back to ZSH, but it didn't display in the list of opinions. Though, it does display WSL, which displays a completely different theme

My theme (in windows terminal, unbuntu, ect):

The theme that is in VSCode:

I've tried adding this to my settings.json:

"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "/bin/zsh",

But it says: "The terminal process failed to launch: Path to shell executable "\bin\zsh" does not exist."

How can I fix this (change the default shell back to ZSH)?

Liquorice

Have you tried something like "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-20.04 -e /bin/zsh". – Student

Answer 1

Try which zsh to confirm the path of your zsh executable. You might be having path error.

Or Try the GUI way.

1. Open Command Palette

Windows - Ctrl + Shift + P

Mac - ⌘ + Shift + P

2. Search For Terminal: Select Default Shell and select it.

3. See the list of available shells and select one. If you cannot see zsh here, then you might have some configuration issues with zsh.

It also likely that the zsh installation/configuration error caused your entry in settings.json file to be invalid. Once you have selected the shell, hit ctrl + ~ or ⌘ + J to open the terminal window and see the results. If you already opened a terminal then you would have to trash it or open another one.

You could also open your settings.json and see or add the following entry directly.

// Edit July 2021 - New Updated Snippet
"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx": "zsh"

// Now deprecated
"terminal.integrated.shell.osx": "/bin/zsh"

Churchgoer

terminal.integrated.shell.osx has been deprecated for terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx (shell to defaultProfile) but the new rule instead defaults to bash (at the time of this post) – Grisette

It worked! Thank you. In my VS code on Ubuntu the command is: Terminal: Select Default Profile – Lateshalatest

editing settings.json and then restarting code worked for me. thanks. – Tartar

i don't have the /bin/zsh even listed (ubuntu), any idea why and how do i add it? – Francescafrancesco

Answer 2

Looks like it has changed slightly on Macs.

Mac - ⌘ + Shift + P

Type "Terminal: Select Default Profile", and select it.

Then you will see this:

Choose bash or whatever, and then you must close and restart VS Code.

Pushkin

Not on Mac, but for all. Terminals now have profiles and OS-specific settings. – Weatherman

Key thing is to restart VS Code, not to force reload the window – Bosom

Answer 3

Here's the solution:

terminal.integrated.shell.osx has been deprecated for terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx (shell to defaultProfile) but the new rule instead defaults to bash (at the time of this post)

What actually happens is this: (got it by using the GUI instead) - it's the path. terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx actually works, but the value has to be changed from /bin/zsh to zsh.

So the setting should be "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx": "zsh" instead of "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx": "/bin/zsh".

Also note the language changed from Default shell to defaultProfile.

Grisette

Is this already working? Because the zsh profile appears but unless I use the deprecated command it keeps opening bash as the first option. – Lasonde

It is working. Not sure what your exact challenge is, but I noticed I had to close and reopen all terminal instances in my saved workspaces - since they were all defaulting to bash after the change - but after that everything works fine. – Grisette

defaultProfile saved me :) – Hydrometer

Answer 4

open "~/.config/Code/User/settings.json"

add your default shell depending on you OS:

"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "zsh"
"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx": "zsh"
"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "zsh"

Accused

For me, this was the path to settings: /Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json – Wickliffe

Depending on how you installed VS Code on a Mac, it may also be located at ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json – Shanley