My favorite VS Code extensions in 2023
Tags: webdev, html, css, javascript
Published: 2023-03-13 22:04:06

I have been using VS Code for so long that I cannot remember when I switched. One of the reasons VS Code is so successful is its extensions. There are so many great ones, and I use quite a few. So, if I had to pick my favorites, it would be the following.

## :emojisense:

I use [:emojisense:](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bierner.emojisense) occasionally when I need to insert emojis in my code. It doesn't happen that often, but it saves me time because I have it in my editor.

## Auto Rename Tag

Sometimes I forget that I have [Auto Rename Tag](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.auto-rename-tag) installed. It just does its job so smoothly.

## Beautify

Although [Beautify](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=hookyqr.beautify) is deprecated, I'm not giving up on it because it still works great. I frequently use it to beautify my HTML, CSS, Sass, JavaScript, and JSON code.

## Change Case

[Change Case](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=wmaurer.change-case) is an extension that I use so often. For example, when I want to create a new blog post, I use "Change Case kebab" to generate the file name for me. I especially like to use this command with multi-selection when I need to change cases in bulk.

## Date & Time

[Date & time](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rid9.datetime) have been part of my status bar very long. I feel like it should be part of the standard VS Code package.

## Front Matter CMS

[Front Matter CMS](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eliostruyf.vscode-front-matter) prevents me from forgetting about SEO. Although this extension has many other options, I use it to highlight errors like the title and meta description length of my articles and pages.

## Gremlins tracker for Visual Studio Code

I stumbled upon [Gremlins tracker for Visual Studio Code](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=nhoizey.gremlins) extension a while ago. It is a helpful extension that reveals those unwanted and harmful characters that slip in your code when pasting or accidentally hitting unwanted key combinations like option + space.

## Import Cost

[Import Cost](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=wix.vscode-import-cost) is a known extension that shows how much the npm package weighs.

## Insert Unicode

I like unicode characters, and I sometimes use them in my articles. [Insert Unicode](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=brunnerh.insert-unicode) extension has thousands of characters, but my favorite ones are the times (⨉), the right arrow (→), and the note (♪) characters. This extension also searches emojis, but it has different names than the :emojisense: which I got used to.

## Remove empty lines

I like my code clean and organized, and [Remove empty lines](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=usernamehw.remove-empty-lines) extension helps me clean unnecessary blank lines in documents, like in HTML code.

## Conclusion

Last year I wrote about [my favorite VC Code settings](https://dev.to/starbist/my-favorite-vs-code-settings-1ll0), so check that, too. And check [my setup page](https://www.silvestar.codes/uses/) if you want to know what other software and hardware I use.