How to change C++ version being used by VS Code?

Question

I printed the value of the __cplusplus macro and found out that my files are executed with C++98 in Visual Studio Code. I'm using the CodeRunner extension.

How do I change this to C++17?

Answer 1

Go to extensions, then type ms-vscode.cpptools in the search bar.

Click on the C/C++ extension, and to the right of Uninstall, there should be a gear icon. Click it.

A dropdown menu should open. Select Extension Settings.

Now click in the search bar (sometimes it makes you click twice before you can type without replacing the extension filter) and type cppStandard.

From here, you should see two options, one for Cpp Standard, and one for C Standard.

Change Cpp Standard to your desired version. I generally use c++17.

Answer 2

Also, make sure your debugger is using the same version. In task.json the line after --std defines the version.

{
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "cppbuild",
            "label": "C/C++: g++.exe build active file",
            "command": "C:\\msys64\\mingw64\\bin\\g++.exe",
            "args": [
                "--std",
                "c++20",
                "-g",
                "${file}",
                "-o",
                "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe"
            ],
            "options": {
                "cwd": "${fileDirname}"
            },
            "problemMatcher": [
                "$gcc"
            ],
            "group": {
                "kind": "build",
                "isDefault": true
            },
            "detail": "Task generated by Debugger."
        }
    ],
    "version": "2.0.0"
}

Answer 3

If you're using the cpptools extension without CMake support, then use the C_Cpp.default.cppStandard setting, or the corresponding property of a specific configuration in your c_cpp_properties.json.

If you're using CMake support ("configurationProvider": "ms-vscode.cmake-tools"), then adjust your CMake configuration in whichever way is the most suitable for your project (Ex. target_compile_features, CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD).

Also, if you're using a build task to do the compilation, make sure to add the right compile flag to use that C++ standard (see also this post of mine).

If you're using the clangd extension, that goes off of a compile commands database (compile_commands.json file), which you can get automatically from CMake using CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS (see also this post of mine).

If you're using VS Code's Code Runner extension, see How can I change the C++ standard used by the Code Runner extension for VS Code? (edit the workspace .vscode/settings.json's code-runner.executorMap setting).