GitHub Copilot not showing in VS Code: 6 causes in diagnostic order

GitHub Copilot can stop showing suggestions, hide its status bar icon, or appear to be installed but do nothing — all for different reasons. This page covers the six causes in the order you should check them, from the simplest (it's toggled off) to the more complex (proxy configuration and content exclusion rules).

What "not showing" looks like

GitHub Copilot shows as missing in several distinct ways — identifying which one you have narrows the cause immediately:

Cause 1: Copilot disabled for the current file or language (most common)

Copilot can be enabled or disabled per language type and per file path. If someone — or an automated workspace config — set "github.copilot.enable" to false for the current language, suggestions silently stop. The status bar icon shows a slash to indicate this state.

Fix:

1. Click the Copilot icon in the VS Code status bar (bottom right).
2. If you see "Enable Completions" for the current language, click it.
3. To check all enabled languages: open Settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,), search for github.copilot.enable, and verify the language you're working in is set to true or is not explicitly set to false.
4. Also check .vscode/settings.json in your workspace root — a workspace-level setting overrides user settings.

Cause 2: Extension not activated or failed to load

If the Copilot icon is completely absent from the status bar, the extension didn't activate. Common reasons:

• VS Code too old: GitHub Copilot requires VS Code 1.82 or newer. Check Help → About.
• Extension error: open the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X), find GitHub Copilot, and look for a warning icon or error message.
• Conflicting extension: some extensions that modify IntelliSense behavior can prevent Copilot from activating.

Fix:

1. Run Developer: Show Running Extensions from the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) to check if GitHub Copilot is listed as active.
2. If it shows an error, click the extension, look at the output, and update VS Code if the version is below 1.82.
3. Try disabling other AI/IntelliSense extensions temporarily to rule out a conflict.
4. As a last resort: uninstall and reinstall the GitHub Copilot extension.

Cause 3: Subscription lapsed or not assigned

Copilot shows the icon but produces no suggestions if your subscription has expired, wasn't renewed, or (in a team/enterprise account) your seat was removed by an admin. There's usually no on-screen error — suggestions just silently stop appearing.

Fix:

1. Go to github.com/settings/copilot.
2. Check whether Copilot is shown as active for your account. If not, you'll see an option to start a trial or subscribe.
3. For GitHub Copilot Business/Enterprise: ask your org admin to confirm your seat assignment at Settings → Copilot → Access.
4. After confirming subscription status, sign out of GitHub in VS Code and sign back in: Command Palette → GitHub: Sign Out, then GitHub: Sign In.

Cause 4: Proxy or firewall blocking Copilot's endpoints

GitHub Copilot requires HTTPS access to these endpoints:

api.github.com
copilot-proxy.githubusercontent.com
api.githubcopilot.com
github.com

If your network has a proxy, VS Code doesn't pick it up automatically — you must configure it explicitly. If TLS inspection is active on these domains, Copilot's SSL certificate validation will fail and it will produce no suggestions without any visible error message.

Fix — configure proxy in VS Code:

1. Open Settings → search for http.proxy.
2. Set it to your proxy URL, e.g.: http://proxy.company.com:8080
3. If your proxy requires authentication: http://user:password@proxy.company.com:8080
4. Set http.proxyStrictSSL to false if your proxy does TLS inspection (only do this if your IT team confirms the proxy is trusted).

Alternatively, ask your network admin to add the Copilot domains to the TLS inspection bypass list.

Cause 5: Content exclusion rules

GitHub Copilot Business and Enterprise accounts support content exclusion — admins can block Copilot from activating on specific file paths, repositories, or file types. If an exclusion rule covers the files you're working in, Copilot will appear to be installed and active but produce no suggestions.

Fix:

1. Check the Copilot icon tooltip — hover over it to see if it says "Content excluded by your organization."
2. If so, contact your GitHub org admin. Exclusion rules are configured at the org level and individual users can't override them.
3. If you're an admin: go to your org's Settings → Copilot → Content exclusion to review and update the rules.

Cause 6: Copilot Chat panel missing (different extension)

The inline suggestions and the Copilot Chat panel are two separate extensions: GitHub Copilot and GitHub Copilot Chat. If only the Chat panel is missing, the Chat extension may not be installed.

Fix:

1. Open Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X) and search for GitHub Copilot Chat.
2. Install it if it's missing.
3. If it's installed but the panel still doesn't appear: open the Command Palette and run GitHub Copilot Chat: Focus on Chat View.

FAQ

Copilot worked yesterday and stopped today with no changes on my end. What happened? The most common cause is a subscription billing issue (auto-renewal failed) or a GitHub service disruption. Check githubstatus.com first, then verify your subscription at github.com/settings/copilot.

Can I use GitHub Copilot offline? No — Copilot requires an active internet connection to the GitHub API for every completion request. There is no offline or local inference mode.

Copilot suggestions appear but are always wrong for my codebase. Is that a different issue? Yes — that's a context or model quality issue, not a "not showing" issue. Copilot Chat's workspace indexing (@workspace) can help it understand your codebase better.

Related

• Cursor authentication failed: 5 causes & fixes
• Cursor vs GitHub Copilot: which is better for your workflow?
• Claude Code permission denied: what it means & how to fix it

Last updated June 2026. Verified against GitHub Copilot extension v1.x and VS Code 1.89+.