Make your cursor easier to see by increasing the caret (text cursor) height in VS Code.
This extension is inspired by Sublime Text’s feature, aiming to improve visibility and comfort for users who prefer a more prominent text cursor during editing.
Extension Marketplace
You can find and install the Extra Cursor Caret Height extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace here:
Extra Cursor Caret Height - VS Code Marketplace
Using a VS Code fork (Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium)? Those pull extensions from Open VSX or let you install the .vsix manually.
✨ Features
- 🔼 Adds extra height to the blinking text cursor (caret).
- 🎯 Fully customizable — set the exact height in pixels.
- ⚙️ Configure it right from the Settings UI (or the Command Palette).
- 🔁 Applies on a single Reload Window — no full restart needed.
- 🛟 Auto-recovery — a VS Code update wipes the patch; on the next launch the extension offers to re-apply your height.
- 🔐 Prompts for Admin/Sudo when the install directory needs elevated write permission.
- 🧩 Works on VS Code and its forks (Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium) and older VS Code versions.
- 🧼 Clean reset — turn it off and the patch is removed.
📸 Preview
🔹 Regular Caret
You can clearly see the difference between the default caret height and the enhanced version provided by the Extra Cursor Caret Height extension.
🛠️ Usage
Via Settings (recommended):
- Open Settings (
Ctrl+, / Cmd+,) and search for Extra Cursor Caret Height.
- Set Height to the desired pixels (default
30).
- Turn on Enabled.
- Click Reload Window on the confirmation prompt (or run
Developer: Reload Window) to see the changes.
Via Command Palette:
- Open the Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P).
- Search for
Extra Cursor Caret Height: Apply Height.
- Enter the desired height in pixels (e.g.,
30).
- Click Reload Window on the confirmation prompt.
✅ The new height is applied after the window reloads — no full restart needed.
If VS Code cannot write to its own install directory (e.g. a root-owned .deb/.rpm or Program Files install), it will offer Retry with Admin/Sudo and prompt for elevated permissions. Read-only installs such as Linux Snap (/snap/code/...) cannot be patched.
Reset Height
- Turn off Enabled in Settings, or run the command
Extra Cursor Caret Height: Reset Height.
- Click Reload Window on the confirmation prompt to see the changes.
⚙️ Settings
| Setting |
Type |
Default |
Description |
extraCursorCaretHeight.enabled |
boolean |
false |
Master on/off. When enabled, the caret height patch is applied; when disabled, it is removed. |
extraCursorCaretHeight.height |
number |
30 |
Total extra caret height in pixels. Applied only when enabled is on. |
Changing either setting patches (or removes) the change and prompts you to Reload Window.
🔄 Reapplying & updates
- Changing the height while enabled replaces the previous patch automatically.
- When VS Code updates, it replaces its internal files and the patch is lost. Because your settings are stored in
settings.json, the extension detects this on the next launch and offers to re-apply your height.
🧹 Uninstallation / Revert
- Before uninstalling or disabling the extension, turn off Enabled (or run
Extra Cursor Caret Height: Reset Height) and reload the window, so the patch is cleanly removed from VS Code's files.
⚠️ Disclaimer
Note: It is not recommended to use it with "editor.cursorStyle": "underline" or "underlineThin", as these styles are not visually compatible with the caret height adjustment.
This extension modifies the internal file:
workbench.desktop.main.js
Use with caution. If VS Code updates, it replaces this file and the patch is lost. On the next launch the extension detects this and offers to re-apply your last height automatically.
Additionally, after the patch is applied, VS Code may show a warning:
⚠️ "Your installation appears to be corrupted."
This is expected behavior when internal files are modified and does not indicate actual corruption or malicious activity. The extension only makes a minimal, reversible change to enhance the caret height.
You can safely ignore the warning, or remove the patch by Extra Cursor Caret Height: Reset Height command and restarting VS Code.
👤 Author
MD. Shibbir Ahmed
🔗 https://shibbirweb.github.io
📧 shibbirweb@gmail.com
🐙 @shibbirweb on GitHub
