VS Code will not Update

I'm using VS Code v1.45.1 and it will not update.

It automatically checks for updates as set in preferences - default for Windows and macOS - and I'm presented with the notification dialog box indicating an update is available.

However, when I click Update Now, the application closes and doesn't reopen. I've left it for hours (allowing it to download and update itself), but nothing happens. I then manually relaunch the app only to find that nothing was updated and in a few minutes the same update notification appears.

The only way I've been able to update VS Code is by manually downloading the new version and installing it on top of the existing one. This was happening with v1.42.1 as well and I thought an update would fix it. Unfortunately, it hasn't. This was a clean install of VS Code on a clean install of Catalina in March 2020. Catalina is up-to-date at 10.15.5

Does anyone know how I can fix this issue of it not updating as it's supposed to?

Is the app still in the Downloads folder? If so, try moving it to the Applications folder and see if that fixes it. If that doesn't work, then try running the following commands in Terminal:

sudo chown $USER ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.VSCode.ShipIt/*
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app

• https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/7426#issuecomment-277737150
• Also See Visual Studio Code docs page under "Common questions" → "VS Code fails to update"