You can make code reviews less surprising in VS Code by choosing a diff layout that suits your screen, tuning change markers, and deciding carefully when to stage or revert edits. The built-in workflow works without AI: review changed files in Source Control, open their diffs in the editor, and keep personal preferences separate from team conventions.
Choose a diff layout that makes changes easy to compare
Open the Source Control view, select a changed file, and use the diff view menu to choose Automatic, Side by Side, or Inline. VS Code’s built-in Git workflow lets you inspect changes without leaving the editor. Microsoft’s VS Code tips and tricks describes these layouts and review navigation.
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- Automatic: Lets VS Code adapt between side-by-side and inline presentation.
- Side by Side: Shows the old and new versions alongside each other, making corresponding lines easier to compare when your window has enough width.
- Inline: Uses less horizontal space by showing changes in one column, which can be more comfortable in a narrow editor.
For keyboard-oriented or screen-reader-friendly review, open the Accessible Diff Viewer. Use F7 and Shift+F7 to move between diff changes.
Tune change markers only when they solve a real problem
VS Code marks changed lines in the editor gutter: green indicates additions, blue indicates modifications, and a red triangle marks deleted lines. The Source Control documentation describes the gutter as a way to see where and what kind of changes were made. These settings let you adjust how those markers behave; their exact defaults can vary by release, so check each setting’s description in your installed version before changing it. Microsoft’s staging and committing guide explains gutter actions and staging.
#1 Best Overall
| Setting | What it controls | When it may help |
|---|---|---|
scm.diffDecorations |
Placement of diff decorations. | When you want to change where change markers appear. |
scm.diffDecorationsGutterAction |
What selecting a gutter marker does. | When clicks on markers do not match your preferred review or staging action. |
scm.diffDecorationsGutterPattern |
The gutter marker pattern. | When you want to adjust the marker style. |
scm.diffDecorationsGutterVisibility |
Whether gutter markers are always visible or appear on hover. | When persistent markers add clutter, or you want them visible without hovering. |
scm.diffDecorationsGutterWidth |
The width of gutter markers. | When markers are hard to see or take more space than you want. |
scm.diffDecorationsIgnoreTrimWhitespace |
Whether whitespace-only differences are ignored. | When reviewing files with formatting or trailing-whitespace changes. |
Search for a setting by name in the Settings UI to see its current description and available choices. Avoid copying a one-size-fits-all settings file: the useful values depend on your display, repository, and review habits.
Stage changes you intend to keep; revert only changes you mean to remove
When only part of a file belongs in the next commit, stage the relevant lines or blocks. Staging marks those selected changes for a commit while leaving other edits unstaged. Reverting is different: it removes selected working changes. Microsoft explicitly warns that reverting working changes is not the same as unstaging them.
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- Stage selected changes when they should be included in the next commit.
- Revert selected changes only when you want those edits discarded from the working tree.
Review the selected lines before confirming a revert. If your intention was merely to take changes out of the staging area, use the unstage action instead.
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Blame decorations can show line-history context in the editor, and a blame item can appear in the status bar. The documented settings are git.blame.editorDecoration.enabled and git.blame.statusBarItem.enabled. The settings guide also points to templates for choosing which commit details appear. See VS Code tips and tricks for blame and accessible diff navigation.
Blame can help answer when a line changed and which commit introduced it; it is context for investigation, not proof that a change is correct or that a person is solely responsible for it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Put personal preferences and team conventions in the right settings scope
User settings follow you across your VS Code use, making them a natural home for personal preferences such as diff layout. Workspace settings apply to a project and are stored in its .vscode folder; a team can share them by including them in version control. Not every setting can be set at workspace scope: application-wide and security-related settings may not be overridable by a project. Check the setting’s scope before adding it to a shared configuration. Microsoft’s user and workspace settings guide explains the distinction.
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- User settings: Choose for individual habits that should not impose on collaborators.
- Workspace settings: Choose for project conventions, provided the setting supports workspace scope and the team wants to share it.
Keep AI review optional
VS Code’s ordinary diff inspection and staging workflow is separate from AI-powered review. The Source Control view can run AI review on uncommitted changes and display generated comments as overlays; AI settings also cover selection review and Copilot-related options. Treat suggestions as an additional input to inspect, not a replacement for reading the diff. Availability and account requirements depend on the relevant Copilot feature and access. The AI settings reference documents these options, while the GitHub Copilot FAQ covers Copilot access and requirements.
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