Copy the 16-character password — you'll paste it into the extension settings
Setup
Open Settings (Ctrl+,) and search for Send Email, or edit your settings.json directly:
{
"sendEmail.smtpUser": "you@gmail.com",
"sendEmail.smtpPassword": "your-16-char-app-password",
"sendEmail.fromAddress": "Your Name <you@gmail.com>"
}
Setting
Default
Description
sendEmail.smtpHost
smtp.gmail.com
SMTP server hostname
sendEmail.smtpPort
465
SMTP port (SSL)
sendEmail.smtpUser
—
Your Gmail address
sendEmail.smtpPassword
—
Gmail app password
sendEmail.fromAddress
—
From display name/address (defaults to smtpUser)
Usage
From the Activity Bar
Click the ✉️ envelope icon in the left Activity Bar
The email form opens in the sidebar
Fill in To, Subject, Message
Click Send
From the Command Palette
Press Ctrl+Shift+P
Type Send Email
Press Enter — the form opens as an editor panel
Extension Settings
All settings are under the sendEmail namespace and can be configured per-user or per-workspace.
⚠️ Security note: Use a Gmail App Password, not your main account password. App passwords are revocable independently. Avoid committing workspace settings.json files containing your password to source control.
Known Limitations
Supports plain-text emails only (no HTML or attachments in this version)
Requires a Gmail account (other SMTP providers work if you update host/port settings)
The app password is stored in VS Code settings — use User Settings (not Workspace) to keep it off disk in shared projects
