How to Create and Use Code Snippets in VS Code

Short answer

Code snippets are reusable code templates triggered by a prefix. VS Code supports built-in, extension, and user-defined snippets for any language.

Steps

1. Open the Command Palette and run "Preferences: Configure User Snippets".
2. Select the language or global snippets file to edit.
3. Add a snippet object with prefix, body, and description fields.
4. Save the file; the snippet becomes available immediately.
5. Type the prefix in an editor and press Tab to insert the snippet.

Tips

• Use ${1:placeholder} syntax to define tab stops and placeholders.
• Snippets can include current date and filename variables like $CURRENT_DATE.
• Share snippets with your team by committing the snippets file to version control.

Common issues

• JSON syntax errors in the snippets file prevent all snippets from loading.
• Conflicting prefixes from multiple extensions can interfere with each other.