How to Use

Getting Started using Live Share

Usage is extremely easy. You should now see a “Live Share” Button on the status bar of the bottom of your VS Code. Follow these instructions in order:

Click on this button (You can also access this with the command Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P depending on your operating system). A pop-up will appear asking you to sign-in which you’ll complete in your browser. If you don’t have an account then you’ll be prompted to create one. Once you’re done following the instructions, you can just close your browser.

After you’re signed in you’ll see a new option on the VS Code activity tab as highlighted in red. To share a project, open the folder as you normally would (File -> Open..).

To collaborate, now click the “Live Share” button in the bottom status bar then select "Live Share: Start a collaboration session".

This will cause an invite link to be copied to your clipboard. An option to make the link read-only will also appear, which you can select if that’s desired. To share with other people, just send them this link via whatever way you normally message them. Make sure not to only send this link to people you trust, you don’t want to expose your files to random people. When someone attempts to join you’ll be prompted if you want to let them join or not.

That’s all it takes. From there you’ll be collaborating live! All participants will be able to see code as it’s being typed live. Each participant will see the folder being worked on as if it was on their own computer. This is an introduction to Live Share, there’s more functionality to it than explained in this document but this was just supposed to serve as an accessible guide on how to get started.

To end the session, hit this button in the top right:

If you want to join a session, just click the link the host sends you. It’s as simple as that.

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Last updated 5 years ago

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