Visual Studio Code cannot detect installed Git

Question

Visual Studio Code reports "It look like git is not installed on your system." when I try to switch to the git view. I know I have git installed and used by other Git clients. I guess if I reinstall Git following Visual Studio Code's instruction ("install it with Chocolatey or download it from git-scm.com"), it probably can fix the problem, but I don't want to mess up the existing Git clients on my system. Is there a reliable way to configure Visual Studio Code so it can find existing git installation?

Answer 1

Now you can configure Visual Studio Code (version 0.10.2, check for older versions) to use an existing Git installation.

Just add the path to the Git executable in your Visual Studio Code settings (menu File → Preferences → Settings) like this:

{
    // Is Git enabled
    "git.enabled": true,

    // Path to the Git executable
    "git.path": "C:\\path\\to\\git.exe"

    // Other settings
}

Answer 2

Update 2020 (Mac)

I went through this $h!† again after updating to macOS v10.15 (Catalina), which requires an Xcode update.

And to clarify, while this post is about Visual Studio Code, this issue, is system wide. Your Git install is affected/hosed. You can try to run git in your terminal, Bash, Z shell (zsh), or whatever. It is now and it just won't.

There are two possible fixes:

• Just update Xcode. Start it up and agree to the license. That's it.
• Or run sudo xcodebuild -license in a Terminal

---

I hit this on Mac/OS X.

Symptoms:

• You've been using Visual Studio Code for some time and have don’t have any issues with Git
• You install Xcode (for whatever reason - OS update, etc.)
• After installing Xcode, Visual Studio Code suddenly "can't find Git and asks you to either install or set the Path in settings"

Quick fix:

Run Xcode (for the first time, after installing) and agree to license. That's it.

How I stumbled upon this "fix":

After going through numerous tips about checking git, e.g., which git and git --version, the latter actually offered clues with this Terminal message:

Agreeing to the Xcode/iOS license requires admin privileges, please run “sudo xcodebuild -license” and then retry this command.

As to why Xcode would even wrap it's hands on git, WAT.

Answer 3

Visual Studio Code simply looks in your PATH for git. Many UI clients ship with a "Portable Git" for simplicity, and do not add git to the path.

If you add your existing git client to your PATH (so that it can find git.exe), Visual Studio Code should enable Git source control management.

Answer 4

I had this problem after upgrading to macOS v10.15 (Catalina).

The issue is resolved as follows:

1.

Find the Git location from the terminal:

which git

2.

Add the location of Git in settings file with your location:

settings.json

"git.path": "/usr/local/bin/git",

Depending on your platform, the user settings file (settings.json) is located here:

Windows %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json

macOS $HOME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json

Linux $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json

Answer 5

This can happen after upgrading macOS. Try running Git from a terminal and see if the error message begins with:

xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools) ...

If so, the fix is to run:

xcode-select --install

from the terminal. See this answer for more details.

Answer 6

In Visual Studio Code, open 'User Settings': Ctrl + P and type >sett. Press Enter.

This will open the default settings on the left side and User Settings on the right side.

Just add the path to git.exe in user settings:

"git.path": "C:\\Users\\[WINDOWS_USER]\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Git\\bin\\git.exe"

Replace [WINDOWS_USER] with your user name.

Restart Visual Studio Code.

Answer 7

First check if Git* is installed or not in your system by typing the command in cmd /command prompt (in Windows):

where git

If you get an output like this,

λ where git
C:\cmder\vendor\git-for-windows\cmd\git.exe

Then Go to Settings → Preferences → Settings and put the bellow code** right part.

 {
    // If git enabled?
    "git.enabled": true,

    // Path to the Git executable
    "git.path": "C:\\cmder\\vendor\\git-for-windows\\cmd\\git.exe"
}

• If you don't have Git installed, install Git from https://git-scm.com/

** Just add a double slash (\\), just like the above code.

Answer 8

Upgrade to macOS v13 (Ventura) < 13.0

As of November 2022

Upgrading to macOS v13 (Ventura) does not seem to affect your coding environments too much.

After upgrading to macOS v13, your Terminal and Visual Studio Code will give off a few errors. Such as:

It looks like Git is not installed on your system ..

or

can't find Git and asks you to either install or set the Path in settings

Some errors depend on your Z shell (zsh) setup or other customizations.

These common problems can be resolved by simply by reinstalling the Xcode command-line tools and updating Homebrew - since your terminal might be affected, reinstall from Apple's executable https://developer.apple.com/download/all/ developer.apple.com. You will need to log in with your Apple ID.

Once installed, update Homebrew:

brew upgrade

Mac M1 - M2 machines likely have some native and ARM applications, so run:

arch -arm64 brew upgrade

Close all terminals and Visual Studio Code to restart!

Reopen Visual Studio Code, and the errors should be gone.

If Visual Studio Code is still looking for the Git path, you will need to add it manually.

Find the Git location and copy from the terminal:

which git

And add the path to the Git executable in your Visual Studio Code JSON settings file (menu File → Preferences → Settings) find and update the line. It should look similar to:

"git.path": "/usr/local/bin/git",

Answer 9

macOS - Visual Studio Code.

Step 1: Go to Visual Studio Code, menu File → Preferences → Settings (or Ctrl + ,).

Step 2: Type 'Path' in the search bar. You will get a result list that contains Git.

Step 3: Click on Git. After that, click on Edit in settings JSON file.

Step 4: In your Mac Terminal, type which git. You will get the Git path

Step 5: Just copy that path and add again the path key in the JSON file.

Answer 10

After an OS X update, I had to run xcode-select --install for GitLens to work.

Answer 11

I ran into the same problem after!

How did I fix it?

Step 1: Go to the Settings in Visual Studio Code.

Step 2: Open settings.json.

Step 3: You need to find something like "git.path" in settings.json

Step 4: just add the directory path where Git is installed in your system.

Example: "git.path": "D:/Git/bin/git.exe"

Step 5: Restart your Visual Studio Code.

Answer 12

Run xcode-select --install. It'll prompt you to install command line developer tools. Install the tools and restart your Visual Studio Code.

You'll see Git working once again in Visual Studio Code.

Answer 13

I ran into this problem after upgrading my macOS to macOS v12 (Monterey).

It turned out that Xcode has been removed in the new update from my mac. I Just tried the following suggested solution:

Git is not working after macOS update ("xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools")

Answer 14

Visual Studio Code 1.50 (Sept 2020) adds an interesting alternative with issue 85734:

Support multiple values for the git.path setting

I use VSCode in three different places; my home computer, my work computer, and as a portable version I carry on a drive when I need to use a machine that doesn't have it.

I use an extension to keep my settings synced up between editors, and the only issue I've encountered so far is that the git path doesn't match between any of them.

• On my home machine I have it installed to C of course,
• work likes to be funny and install it on A,
• and for the one on my drive I have a relative path set so that no matter what letter my drive gets, that VSCode can always find git.

I already attempted to use an array myself just to see if it'd work:

"git.path": ["C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\git.exe", "A:\\Git\\bin\\git.exe", "..\\..\\Git\\bin\\git.exe"],

But VSCode reads it as one entire value.

What I'd like is for it to recognize it as an array and then try each path in order until it finds Git or runs out of paths.

This is addressed with PR 85954 and commit c334da1.

---

With Visual Studio Code 1.60+

• "git.enabled": true
• git.path

Answer 15

I faced this problem on macOS v10.13.5 (High Sierra) after upgrading Xcode.

When I run the git command, I received the below message:

Agreeing to the Xcode/iOS license requires admin privileges, please run “sudo xcodebuild -license” and then retry this command.

After running the sudo xcodebuild -license command, the below message appears:

You have not agreed to the Xcode license agreements. You must agree to both license agreements below in order to use Xcode.

Hit the Enter key to view the license agreements at '/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/License.rtf'

Typing the Enter key to open the license agreements and typing the space key to review details of it, until the below message appears:

By typing 'agree' you are agreeing to the terms of the software license agreements. Type 'print' to print them or anything else to cancel, [agree, print, cancel]

The final step is simply typing agree to sign with the license agreement.

---

After typing the git command, we can check that Visual Studio Code detected Git again.

Answer 16

For Mac

First, type

git

in the terminal and see what error you are getting.

Then:

If the error is related to a command line tool!

Run:

xcode-select --install

And

Just go ahead and go through this answer. For Mac especially. It worked very easily for me:

Why am I getting an “invalid active developer path” when attempting to use Git after upgrading to macOS Ventura?

Answer 17

I have recently started with Visual Studio Code. I have this issue and just writing the exact path of the Git executable solves the issue. Here is the code:

"git.path": "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\git.exe",

Answer 18

If you have multiple environments. You could include Git Path in the Visual Studio Code Workspace Setting. For Windows, depending on your setting, you could hit Ctrl + P, search for "settings". Open settings.json (or menu File → Preferences → Settings). Navigate to Workspace Settings. Find "Path" and add paths to Git bin and cmd folders.

Environments can have their own paths. I discovered this when I echoed my PC %PATH% on cmd. Git bin and cmd path where available, but when I was working on my project, echoed %PATH% did not have git and cmd folder. Adding them, as shown above, solved the issue.

Extra Notes:

On cmd, you can echo "%PATH%" and see if git bin and cmd folders are included. If not, you could concatenate using SETX PATH on, for example,

SETX PATH "%PATH%;Path_to_Git_bin;Path_to_Gt_cmd;"

This will make git available on local, root but not in some environments which comes with their own paths (SETX /M PATH "%PATH%;Path_to_Git_bin;Path_to_Gt_cmd;" would have though).

In case you have a long Path that is chopped off due to Path length (getting "Error: Truncated at X characters." message), you can increase the path length in RegEdit.

• In "Search Windows", search for "regedit". Right-click to open as Administrator.
• Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
• Right-click and modify. Change value data from 0 to 1

This will increase your path length. If it is already one, then I am not sure how to proceed from there :).

[9

Answer 19

Three years later, I ran into the same issue. Setting the path in user settings & PATH environment variable didn't help. I updated Visual Studio Code and that solved it.

Answer 20

First install Git onto your desktop, and then add the encircled extension in Visual Studio Code, as seen in the picture.

That helped me fix the same issue you have.

Answer 21

Open

C:\Users\nassim\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\settings.json

Comment any Git line there:

// ...
// "git-graph.integratedTerminalShell": "E:\\Apps\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe",
// "git.path": ""
//...

And add git.exe to the OS path.

Note for me: Fixing this Git error also fixed the npm error too. Since they are both defined in the path, if one fail, the remaining will fail as well.

Answer 22

In my case, Git was installed on my Windows 10 OS and there was an entry in PATH variable. But Visual Studio Code 1.52.1 still is unable to detect it from a terminal window, but it was available in a CMD console.

The problem was solved by switching the terminal from PowerShell to CMD or shell, and a Visual Studio Code restart.

Answer 23

1. Make sure Git is enabled (menu File → Preferences → Git Enabled) as other have mentioned.
2. Make sure Git is installed and in the PATH (with the correct location, by default: C:\Program Files\Git\cmd) - PATH in System Variables, BTW
3. Change the default terminal. PowerShell can be a bit funny, and I recommend Git Bash, but cmd is fine. This can be done by selecting the terminal dropdown and selecting 'set default shell' and then creating a new terminal with the + button.
4. Restart Visual Studio Code, and sometimes reboot if that fails.

Answer 24

If Git is missing after the OS update, in my case macOS v11 (Big Sur), just literally:

brew install git

Answer 25

I solved the same problem on macOS with an M1 Pro processor by installing the GitLens Visual Code extension. The changed files were displayed after enabling the extension. Then I turned to reloading Visual Studio Code and there were no changes, but once I ran

git status

in the terminal, it showed all the files, and all changes were tracked.

Answer 26

The only way I could get to work in my Windows 8.1 is the following:

Add to system environment variables (not user variables):

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\GitHub\PortableGit_YOURVERSION\bin;C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\GitHub\PortableGit_YOURVERSION\libexec\git-core;C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\GitHub\PortableGit_YOURVERSION\cmd\

This fixed the "it looks like Git is not installed on your system" error on my Visual Studio Code.

Answer 27

I faced this issue after updating macOS!

I installed Git again using Homebrew, and it worked!

brew install git

Answer 28

I edited Path into System Environment and add "C:\Program Files\Git\bin" then restart Vscode. It's worked for me. I don't understand why I am using it normally then I have this problem. Maybe during the installation of something it causes that problem.

Answer 29

I found that I had git: false in settings.json and changed it to true. It works now.

Answer 30

Here's what worked for me. Instead of using the Visual Studio Code terminal to run your Git commands, run the Git commands from a cmd terminal at the path of your application.