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How to Sync Editor Settings and Extensions Across Computers

Built-in sync is the simplest option for VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, and Visual Studio, but each handles extensions, remote work, and versions differently. Sublime Text uses configurable files rather than a documented native sync service.
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Use your editor’s built-in sync feature when it covers the settings and extensions you need. Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, and Visual Studio can sync through their account-based tools, but their supported data and edge cases differ. Sublime Text’s documented approach is file-based; the cited settings guide does not describe a built-in cloud sync service.

Compare what each editor syncs

Editor What can sync Account or scope Important limitation
Visual Studio Code Selected settings, shortcuts, snippets, user tasks, UI state, extensions and their global enablement, profiles, MCP server configurations, and user-level prompts and instructions. Sign in with a Microsoft or GitHub account. Profiles can sync, up to 20. Workspace tasks do not sync; extensions do not sync to or from remote SSH, development-container, or WSL windows. Microsoft documentation.
JetBrains IDEs Selected settings and enabled/disabled plugin state; an enabled plugin missing from the other IDE can be installed there. JetBrains Account; choose whether to sync instances of one IDE or across JetBrains IDE products. Uninstalling a plugin in one IDE disables it on the other rather than uninstalling it. JetBrains documentation.
Visual Studio Selected preferences such as development settings, layouts, theme, menus, fonts and colors, shortcuts, text-editor options, and XAML Designer options. Sign in on each computer with the same personalization account. Behavior varies by version; Visual Studio 2026 receives settings from a Visual Studio 2022 profile but does not sync its changes back. Microsoft Learn.
Sublime Text Settings are configured in user and project files; the cited guide does not establish package or extension syncing. Manual file-based workflow, such as keeping suitable user configuration in a synced folder or version-control repository. Do not treat this as a documented native sync feature. Sublime HQ documentation.

Sync settings and extensions in Visual Studio Code

  1. Choose Backup and Sync Settings… from the Manage gear menu or the Accounts menu.
  2. Select the data categories you want to sync, then sign in with a Microsoft or GitHub account. VS Code merges local and cloud data after sign-in and syncs in the background.
  3. Repeat sign-in on the other computer. Review the category selection if something you expect is missing.

Know what is included

VS Code can sync user settings, user-defined keyboard shortcuts, snippets, user-level tasks, MCP servers, UI state, extensions and their global enablement, profiles, and user-profile prompts and instructions. It excludes workspace tasks. Settings marked machine or machine-overridable, along with settings you explicitly exclude, are not synced.

By default, keyboard shortcuts are kept separate for each operating system. To use the same shortcuts across operating systems, clear settingsSync.keybindingsPerPlatform. Exclude individual settings in the Settings editor or through settingsSync.ignoredSettings; exclude extensions through the Extensions view or settingsSync.ignoredExtensions.

Remote windows, profiles, and service limits

Extensions and their global enablement state sync between local environments, but not to or from remote SSH, development-container, or WSL windows. Stable and Insiders use separate sync services by default; sharing between them is possible but can expose incompatibilities because Insiders may be newer. VS Code does not support GitHub Enterprise Server or Microsoft Sovereign Cloud accounts for this feature, and it does not provide a custom sync backend.

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Resolve conflicts and recover data

If VS Code pauses sync because of a conflict, choose the local version, the remote version, or manually compare and merge the diff. Local backups are deleted after 30 days, and the latest 20 remote versions of each category are retained. Settings, shortcuts, and user tasks must each be 100 KB or smaller. On desktop, authentication uses the operating system credential store; Microsoft warns that the basic text-encryption option provides obfuscation, not secure encryption.

Sync JetBrains IDE settings and plugins

  1. Sign in to your JetBrains Account in the IDE.
  2. Open Settings → Backup and Sync, enable sync, and select the categories to share.
  3. Choose whether to share settings among instances of the same IDE or across JetBrains IDE products.
  4. On the other IDE instance, sign in and enable sync to retrieve the selected settings.

Examples of syncable settings include themes, keymaps, color schemes, editor and code-completion settings, live templates, and code styles. Plugin behavior depends on its state: an enabled plugin missing from the other IDE is installed there, while a disabled plugin missing there is not installed. If a plugin is already on both IDEs, its enabled or disabled state syncs. Removing a plugin from one IDE disables it on the other instead of removing it there. JetBrains also supports a one-time transfer by exporting selected settings to a ZIP and importing chosen components into another IDE.

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Sync Visual Studio settings across computers

  1. Sign in to Visual Studio on each computer with the same personalization account.
  2. Open the account or options area and select the settings you want synchronized.
  3. Confirm that synchronization is enabled in each installation; the setting’s scope depends on Visual Studio version.

Available categories include development settings, command aliases, window layouts, theme and menu casing, fonts and colors, keyboard shortcuts, tabs and windows, startup options, text-editor settings such as code style, and XAML Designer options.

Account for version differences

Microsoft says the sync checkbox works differently before and after Visual Studio 2022 version 17.2. In version 17.2 and later, it controls synchronization both among installations on the same device and across devices. Visual Studio 2026 initially takes settings from a Visual Studio 2022 profile, but subsequent changes in Visual Studio 2026 do not sync backward to Visual Studio 2022.

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Use a file-based workflow for Sublime Text

Sublime Text’s general user preferences normally live in Packages/User/Preferences.sublime-settings. You can also define editor settings per project, though project settings are limited to editor settings. The official guide documents these configuration files, not a native cloud sync service for settings and packages.

If you put appropriate user configuration under version control or in a file-sync service, keep machine-specific paths and other local-only values out of shared files. Avoid editing the same configuration on two computers at once; if changes conflict, compare them and resolve the file deliberately before using it on both machines.

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