Installing the Power Platform extension for VS Code when unable to install directly from the web

In some organizations, it is quite challenging to download installation executables or VS Code extensions directly off the web. This document shows an alternate way to install the Power Platform VS Code extension.

Power platform extension from Visual Studio marketplace

Go to the Visual Studio Marketplace and select Visual Studio Code and search for Power Platform

Click on Power Platform Tools, and on the Power Platform tools page, instead of clicking the install button (the one in green), select “Download Extension” from the links on the right-hand side

This will download a Visual Studio Extension file (*.vsix) file in your downloads folder.

Installing VSIX in Visual Studio Code

launch Visual Studio Code and go to extensions icon (or press ctrl-shift-x) in the Visual Studio code interface. This will open the extensions library

This will launch the extension panel, at the top of the panel, click on the ellipsis i.e., …, this will show you menu, and in that menu select install from VSIX

Navigate to the folder where the downloaded extension is and select the extension. Once the extension is selected, the installation will proceed and now you are ready to use the Power Platform extension from within Visual Studio Code.

Conclusion

Most users will be able to install directly from the marketplace or the extensions panel. This scenario is when users cannot download or install directly from the web and must distribute the extension to other users using more conventional means.