VS Code Tips: Terminal Tips

Join the AI Workshop to learn more about AI and how it can be applied to web development. Next cohort February 1st, 2026

The AI-first Web Development BOOTCAMP cohort starts February 24th, 2026. 10 weeks of intensive training and hands-on projects.

VS Code has an integrated terminal that’s incredibly convenient for running commands without leaving your editor.

Opening the Terminal

You can activate it from:

  • Menu: View ➤ Integrated Terminal
  • Shortcut: `CMD+“

The terminal opens with your default shell.

Multiple Terminals

You can:

  • Create more than one terminal tab
  • Show them side by side
  • Stack them to the right rather than at the bottom

This is especially useful when you have npm or yarn processes running in the background while you need to run other commands.

Clearing the Terminal

By default, cmd-k might not clear the terminal in VS Code.

To fix this:

  1. Open Keyboard Shortcuts (cmd-shift-P and search “Keyboard Shortcuts”)
  2. Find Terminal: Clear
  3. Check the When column - it might be set to terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported
  4. Change it to just terminalFocus

You can also remove terminalFocus entirely to make cmd-k clear the terminal even when the terminal is not focused.

Alternatively, use cmd-shift-P and search for Terminal: Clear command.

Lessons in this unit:

0: Introduction
1: Setup and Configuration Tips
2: ▶︎ Terminal Tips
3: Editing Tips
4: Prettier and Auto-Formatting
5: Language-Specific Settings
6: Emmet for Faster HTML/CSS
7: Debugging in VS Code
8: Fix node modules import errors in VS Code
9: Fixing TS issues in VS Code - Astro
10: regex select entire line starting with..