How can I switch word wrap on and off in Visual Studio Code?

Question

When using code files, you typically don't need longer lines to wrap around. However, with .md files this is in fact rather useful. However, I can't seem to find the option to enable word wrap so longer lines will be wrapped.

To reproduce, open Visual Studio Code resized to a small-enough window, and enter the following text in a new document:

This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum. This is my test lorem ipsum.
A linebreak before this.

The effect is this:

Example of missing word wrap

I'm trying to get the horizontal scrollbar to stay away, having line 1 wrap around at the right side of the window.

I've done a few things to answer my own question:

Search Stack Overflow: zero results at the time of writing this;
Meticulously going through the menu of Visual Studio Code: didn't find it;
Using the Command Palette with "wrap": gives no matching commands.

Perhaps it's not possible, and I'd need to file a feature request? Or am I missing something?

Note that I'd like to be able to turn it on and off quickly. For one, @PanagiotisKanavos mentioned in comments this solution to change wrapping behavior in the settings, but I'm looking for a quick command or menu option to do this (much like Notepad++ and Sublime Text 2 have).

I think this was just added in VS Code 0.3. Check the [list of new features](https://code.visualstudio.com/updates) for wrapping control — Panagiotis Kanavos, Jun 24 '15 at 12:07
[This question](http://askubuntu.com/questions/622631/how-to-wrap-text-comments-in-visual-studio-code) from another StackExchange site shows that you can simply add `"editor.wrappingColumn": 0` in your user settings — Panagiotis Kanavos, Jun 24 '15 at 12:11
@PanagiotisKanavos Thanks for the suggestion. That would be somewhat of a workaround, because word wrap is typically something I want to switch on/off quickly. I've updated my question accordingly. It may still be useful to turn your comment into an answer though, for others that land here who may be fine with that workaround. — Jeroen, Jun 24 '15 at 13:37
Related (not duplicate): *[How can I toggle word wrap in Visual Studio?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/315485)* — Peter Mortensen, Nov 14 '17 at 19:36
For those using Eclipse Theia or gitpod.io: Go to File -> Settings -> Open Preferences -> editor -> `wordWrap` -> set it to `true`. — koppor, Jun 19 '19 at 16:37

score 1162 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:42

1162

Since v1.0 you can toggle word wrap:

with the new command editor.action.toggleWordWrap, or
from the View menu (*View** → Toggle Word Wrap), or
using the ALT+Z keyboard shortcut (for Mac: ⌥+Z).

It can also be controlled with the following settings:

editor.wordWrap
editor.wordWrapColumn
editor.wrappingIndent

Known issues:

renderLineHighlight should highlight the entire logical line

If you'd like these bugs fixed, please vote for them.

edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:42

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 24 '15 at 13:51

Benjamin Pasero

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Completely agree that this should be a thing we can manually enable/disable on a per-window basis. Right now I'm going though a .txt file with a bunch of log entries, and having word-wrap enabled makes it challenging to read. Usually I don't mind it, but in this instance would like it disabled. – Nov 04 '15 at 10:05
1

Just implement it as it is currently in Sublime. That's perfect! – Juri Nov 17 '15 at 15:11
2

@Benjamin, what about 'wrap to window'? That's something I personally use a lot in certain code files (like MarkDown as he said). Personally, I'd love to see three options accessed quickly: Off (No wrapping), Window (wraps to viewable extents) and Specified Column (which would pick up the value in the preferences.) Then be able to assign keyboard shortcuts to flip between those three. – Mark A. Donohoe Feb 24 '16 at 17:52
This is no acceptable solution if you need to set `"editor.wrappingColumn": -1` by default. Use case is: I work a lot with code files. Only in some case (*.md files) I must toggle word wrap but cannot! – Marcel Feb 10 '17 at 09:27
2

For that you can leverage our language specific settings introduced in 1.9 (see http://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_9#_settings) – Benjamin Pasero Feb 10 '17 at 10:32
Wicked ALT+Z or pressing View > Toggle Word Wrap doesn't do absolutely anything. – Eric Feb 24 '17 at 19:45
Please report issues like that to our repository (https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/) – Benjamin Pasero Feb 25 '17 at 06:57
however it's not working for me with big files. only work with very small files. – Sheldon Wei Jan 30 '18 at 07:20
editor.wordWrap is a better option to add word wrap for all files. – Amit Kumar Apr 04 '18 at 04:55
ALT+Z fires the nVidia GeForce Experience overlay for video capture etc. Only way is via the menu which is acceptable. – Bob Denny Jun 25 '19 at 23:52
Alt-Z works on a Lenovo T420 Thinkpad running Ubuntu 18. – mLstudent33 Jan 03 '20 at 23:43
NB you can do this on a per file or file type basis by adding `"[markdown]": {"editor.wordWrap": "on"}` this creates a file type override for the setting – S.B.G Feb 06 '20 at 10:30
somehow, you can hit alt+z by accident doing some other formatting stuff and the word wrap settings does absolutely nothing with it, you have to find this answer and hit alt+z again, this time on purpose – jave.web Mar 23 '22 at 22:44

score 72 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:49

72

Go to menu File → Preferences → User Settings.

It will open up Default Settings and settings.json automatically. Just add the following in the settings.json file and save it. This will overwrite the default settings.

// Place your settings in this file to overwrite the default settings
{ "editor.wrappingColumn": 0 }

edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:49

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 21 '15 at 21:48

Radha Satam

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23

with latest version its, "editor.wordWrap": "on" is setting above one wont work. – Nitish Mar 21 '17 at 18:52
3

Yes, this setting was changed in VSCode 1.10. Here's the documentation: https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_10#_word-wrap-settings-redesign – Matt Bierner Apr 05 '17 at 02:18
2

Open settings.json for me is easiest F1 > backspace key > enter settings.json > find the one in .config – Timo Dec 26 '20 at 20:42

Pixelomo · Answer 3 · 2020-05-18T04:15:05.880

54

wrappingColumn has been deprecated in favour of wordWrap.

Add this line to settings.json to set wordWrap on by default:

"editor.wordWrap": "on"

or open user settings:

Mac: ⌘ + ,

Windows: Ctrl + ,

Then search for "wordWrap" or scroll through the 'Commonly Used' settings to find it and select 'on'

edited May 18 '20 at 04:15

answered Mar 01 '18 at 03:11

Pixelomo

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Thanks for the addition, but don't [the top answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/31028495/419956) and [this other earlier answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/45397785/419956) also mention exactly that already? – Jeroen Mar 01 '18 at 10:58
1

not exactly, they reference wordWrap but I thought my addition would be useful for anyone looking for a simple piece of code to just copy and paste – Pixelomo Mar 02 '18 at 00:15

score 39 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:57

39

Since version 0.3.0, wrapping has been put in the command palette. You can activate it with Toggle Word Wrap or Alt + Z.

edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:57

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 25 '16 at 17:33

Haroen Viaene

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Unfortunately this does not seem to get remembered and has to be applied again every time. – clel Oct 06 '21 at 09:43

score 29 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:01

29

Check out this screenshot (Toogle Word Wrap):

edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:01

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 06 '17 at 21:14

Nish

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Now the answer is correct, but duplicates the info from [the top answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/31028495/419956). Thx for taking the time to help others, but there's probably other questions where new answers are more badly needed. – Jeroen Feb 07 '17 at 07:48
1

@Jeroen Yes, but it will be great, if answers can get some appreciation too. I can see in this question itself, even duplicates have got upvotes. – Nish Feb 07 '17 at 17:15

score 25 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:44

25

If you want to use text word wrap in your Visual Studio Code editor, you have to press button Alt + Z for text word wrap. Its word wrap is toggled between text wrap or unwrap.

edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:44

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 03 '19 at 12:42

Avinash Dewangan

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This is covered by the highest voting, accepted answer. – Ignatius Nov 03 '19 at 13:25

score 23 · Answer 7 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:22

23

Since 1.9, it's possible to select a specific language for word wrap settings (or any settings). You can find this in the command palette under:

Preferences: Configure Language Specific Settings...

Which will take you to your "settings.json" for a selected language where you might include:

"[markdown]": {
  "editor.wordWrapColumn": 100,
  "editor.wordWrap": "wordWrapColumn"
},

edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:22

Peter Mortensen

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answered Dec 08 '18 at 01:46

robstarbuck

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How do you get to *"Configure Language Specific Settings"*? – Peter Mortensen Jan 23 '20 at 01:22
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One route is from the menu `View => Command Palette...` You can then type "Configure Language Specific Settings..." (or just "Lang set"). The Command Palette is a really good way of finding anything in vscode, it's worth learning the shortcut. – robstarbuck Jan 23 '20 at 13:38

score 23 · Answer 8 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:39

23

Go to the Preferences tab (menu File → Settings), and then search as “word wrap”. The following animated image is helpful too.

edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:39

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 08 '19 at 08:20

snr

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score 21 · Answer 9 · edited Feb 15 '21 at 09:27

21

Here you go with word-wrap on Visual Studio Code.

edited Feb 15 '21 at 09:27

Sabito 錆兎 stands with Ukraine

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answered Feb 15 '21 at 09:18

حمزہ صابر

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score 13 · Answer 10 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:57

13

I am not sure when it was added, but I'm using v0.10.8 and Alt + Z is the keyboard shortcut for turning word wrap on and off. This satisfies the requirement of "able to turn it on and off quickly".

The setting does not persist after closing Visual Studio Code. To persist, you need to set it through Radha's answer of using the settings.json file...

// Place your settings in this file to overwrite the default settings
{ "editor.wrappingColumn": 0 }

edited Jan 23 '20 at 00:57

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 23 '16 at 15:14

Hoss

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I had to use { "editor.wrappingColumn": -1 } to make it the default. – djabraham Mar 12 '16 at 20:14
6

`editor.wrappingColumn` has been deprecated, use `editor.wordWrap` instead. – Aryo Mar 20 '18 at 01:58

score 8 · Answer 11 · edited Nov 29 '17 at 17:16

8

Word wrap settings redesign

Here are the new word wrap options:

editor.wordWrap: "off" - Lines will never wrap.
editor.wordWrap: "on" - Lines will wrap at viewport width.
editor.wordWrap: "wordWrapColumn" - Lines will wrap at the value of editor.wordWrapColumn.
editor.wordWrap: "bounded"

Lines will wrap at the minimum of viewport width and the value of editor.wordWrapColumn.

edited Nov 29 '17 at 17:16

Zoltan Toth

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answered Jul 30 '17 at 08:15

digish a d

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Thx for the answer. But this info was also already in the top-voted answer. I suggest adding the short bits of explanation for the new options to that answer as an edit. – Jeroen Jul 30 '17 at 09:34
Was looking some clarity regarding the meaning of the different options. I played with the values and it was basically between `boundend` and `on`, in the end I decided to go with `on` as if you have more space in your window it will not wrap, while `bounded` wraps to `editor.wordWrapColumn` (default is `80`) even if there is more space in the window so for me personally `on` the most sensible but it's personal of course. Hope it helps :) – Aldo 'xoen' Giambelluca Feb 05 '19 at 13:16

score 7 · Answer 12 · edited Apr 30 '21 at 01:18

7

press ctrl+ shift + p
Preferences open keyboard shortcut
search Toggle Wrap word
Set your preferences toggle wrap word

NOTES:

Works for version 1.55.2
Default one is alt+z

edited Apr 30 '21 at 01:18

WurmD

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answered Apr 29 '21 at 01:56

Syahidur Rahman

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for the latest version – Syahidur Rahman Apr 29 '21 at 01:56
You can edit your answer if you wished to add "for the latest version" :) – WurmD Apr 29 '21 at 18:44
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that default note `alt + z` was really helpful! – amurrell Jan 05 '22 at 23:54

Ricardo stands with Ukraine · Answer 13 · 2021-03-10T10:29:02.167

Explained here Language-specific editor settings but specifically:

Ctrl+Shift+P and type "Preferences: Configure Language Specific Settings"
Select the language or add section in the file (start typing "[" to see list of suggestions) or edit section as you like if already there.
If set it to bounded you might need to adjust the editor.wordWrapColumn value to wrap depending on the screen size. With bounded Lines will wrap at the minimum of viewport and editor.wordWrapColumn

Example:


    "editor.wordWrapColumn": 200,
    "[markdown]": {
        "editor.wordWrap": "on",
    },
    "[plaintext]": {
        "editor.wordWrap": "bounded",
    },
    "[typescript]": {
        "editor.tabSize": 2,
        "editor.wordWrap": "off",
    },

Should be the accepted answer for users who want to permanently turn it off. Turning it off in preferences has no effect if it is set to `on` in the language preference. — Hari, May 07 '21 at 23:44

score 5 · Answer 14 · answered May 20 '20 at 20:42

This is from the VS Code docs as of May 2020:

Here are the new word wrap options:

editor.wordWrap: "off" - Lines will never wrap.
editor.wordWrap: "on" - Lines will wrap at viewport width.
editor.wordWrap: "wordWrapColumn" - Lines will wrap at the value of editor.wordWrapColumn.
editor.wordWrap: "bounded" - Lines will wrap at the minimum of viewport width and the value of editor.wordWrapColumn.

So for example, if you want to have the lines wrapped at the boundary of the window, you should:

Open settings.json (Hit CTRL+SHIFT+P and type "settings.json")
Put "editor.wordWrap": "bounded" in the json file, like this:

{

... ,

"editor.wordWrap": "bounded",

... ,

}

and then it should work.

score 5 · Answer 15 · answered Jan 09 '22 at 19:17

5

If it's not working in mac,

make sure to tell VScode that you are not using a screen reader. I had word wrap on and restarted VScode, and it gave me a notification window saying that if I'm in a screenreader, yes or no, and to note that word-wrap does not work in screen readers.

answered Jan 09 '22 at 19:17

Royer Adames

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This is what work for me – Royer Adames Jan 09 '22 at 19:17
In my case it was due to grammarly app – Himanshu Patil Jan 27 '22 at 09:38

Bahman.A · Answer 16 · 2020-01-23T01:38:30.370

4

Windows: Ctrl + Shift + press the key "P". Now on the command line, type Toggle Word Wrap and press Enter.
Mac: Command + Shift + press the key "P". Now in the command line, type Toggle Word Wrap and press Enter.

edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:38

answered May 18 '19 at 01:07

Bahman.A

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score 3 · Answer 17 · answered Nov 23 '20 at 13:24

3

For Dart check "Line length" property in Settings.

answered Nov 23 '20 at 13:24

Adam Smaka

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score 3 · Answer 18 · edited Mar 14 '21 at 12:23

3

Accessibility support is on by default and it will override your selected wrapper behavior. So disable Accessibility Support first.

Then choose "on" for the Word Wrap option. You don't need to go into settings.json to enable word wrap.

Picture of the accessibility support option

edited Mar 14 '21 at 12:23

Tomerikoo

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answered Mar 14 '21 at 10:16

Cihan

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score 2 · Answer 19 · answered Oct 14 '19 at 09:32

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Mac: Code -> Preferences -> Settings -> Type wordwrap in Search settings -> Change Editor: Word Wrap from off to on.
Windows: File -> Preferences -> Settings -> Type wordwrap in Search settings -> Change Editor: Word Wrap from off to on.

answered Oct 14 '19 at 09:32

Daniel Danielecki

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score 1 · Answer 20 · edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:49

1

If you want a permanent solution for wordwrapping lines, go to menu File → Preference → Settings and change editor.wordWrap: "on". This will apply always.

However, we usually keep changing our preference to check code. So, I use the Alt + Z key to wrap written code of a file or you can go to menu View → Toggle Word Wrap. This applies whenever you want not always. And again Alt + Z to undo wordwrap (will show the full line in one line).

edited Jan 23 '20 at 01:49

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 04 '19 at 07:40

Abhishek

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Can you fix it? – Peter Mortensen Jan 23 '20 at 01:49

score 1 · Answer 21 · answered Jan 15 '21 at 03:14

1

In version 1.52 and above go to File > Preferences > Settings > Text Editor > Diff Editor and change Word Wrap parameter as you wish

answered Jan 15 '21 at 03:14

rmb

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score 1 · Answer 22 · answered Dec 14 '21 at 21:28

The language-specific example by @Riga is great. For a general setting, I would recommend the following:

"editor.wordWrap": "bounded",
"editor.wordWrapColumn": 90,
"editor.wrappingIndent": "same",

This wraps text if your viewport is smaller than the column limit (90 here) and uses the same indent when wrapping.

How can I switch word wrap on and off in Visual Studio Code?

22 Answers22

If it's not working in mac,

Linked

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