VS Code Terminal Not Working

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Pick a different shell

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   1. Click the dropdown next to the + in the Terminal panel
   2. Choose another installed shell
   3. Run Terminal: Select Default Profile to make it permanent
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Check profile and cwd settings

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   1. Open Settings and search terminal.integrated.profiles
   2. Confirm each executable path exists
   3. Check terminal.integrated.cwd and terminal.integrated.env for your platform
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Test the shell without startup files

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   1. In an external terminal run bash --noprofile --norc, zsh -f, or pwsh -NoProfile
   2. If it works, inspect .bashrc, .zshrc or your PowerShell profile for lines that exit or error
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Disable shell integration to test

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   1. Note the current value of terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled
   2. Set it to false and open a new terminal
   3. Restore it afterwards if it was not the cause
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Fix Windows and WSL cases

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   1. Right-click Code.exe > Properties > Compatibility and clear compatibility mode
   2. For WSL exit code 1 run wsl --status and wsl --list --verbose
   3. Use wsl --set-default so the default is not docker-desktop-data
   Did this fix it? Yes No

6. 6. Capture trace logs

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   1. Run Developer: Set Log Level and choose Trace
   2. Reproduce the failure
   3. Run Developer: Open Log and check Terminal and Pty Host logs
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

The terminal shows 'The terminal process failed to launch', exits with a code, or closes right after opening.

Why it happens

• Invalid shell path in terminal.integrated.profiles
• Missing terminal.integrated.cwd directory
• terminal.integrated.env overrides breaking PATH
• Shell startup file exits or errors
• Shell integration conflict
• Untrusted workspace
• Windows compatibility mode or broken WSL default distro

This guide also covers

• vscode terminal not working
• terminal process failed to launch vscode
• vs code terminal not opening

Other VS Code errors

• VS Code Python Interpreter Not Found
• VS Code IntelliSense Not Working
• VS Code High CPU Usage
• VS Code High Memory Usage
• VS Code Extension Host Terminated Unexpectedly
• VS Code Extensions Not Loading or Installing
• VS Code 'code' Command Not Found
• VS Code Unable to Watch for File Changes (ENOSPC)