> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://igb.mit.edu/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://igb.mit.edu/mini-courses/research-computing-on-engaging-with-vscode/vscode/basic-guide.md). # Basic Guide When opening VSCode, you'll be greeted with the welcome page.

From here, you can create a new file, open a folder, clone a git repository, or open recent files. On the left-hand side is the sidebar, which contains the File Explorer tab, Search tab, Source Control tab, Debugger tab, etc. From the File Explorer tab, you can click "Open Folder" to open a folder on your local computer. All of the files in the folder will become available for you to click and open in VSCode.

Example Python file opened from File Explorer

In the menu bar, you can navigate to **Terminal** > **New Terminal** to open a terminal in your opened folder.

## Command Palette The command palette is a feature in VSCode that allows you to search through all actions that VSCode makes available to you. If you are ever unsure about what actions you can take in a VSCode window, you can simply search the command palette. To open the Command Palette, press **Command + Shift + P** on MacOS or **Ctrl + Shift + P** on Windows. The command palette text input window will open. Input any text to search for a specific command and its keyboard shortcut, if applicable. For example, here I've highlighted a couple of lines of text, then opened the command palette and searched "comment" to look for all the commands related to code comments.

If I select "Add Line Comment" and press Enter, VSCode will automatically highlight the lines of text I selected.