Introduction

If you are a developer who spends a lot of time on your terminal or code editor, you might want to customize your tools to make them more comfortable and productive. One way to do that is by using a good coding font that supports various glyphs and icons that can enhance your code readability and aesthetics.

Cascadia Code is a fun new coding font that comes bundled with Windows Terminal, and is now the default font in Visual Studio as well. It is a monospaced font that supports programming ligatures and is designed to enhance the modern look and feel of the Windows Terminal. It also has a Powerline version that includes embedded Powerline symbols for terminal prompts.

Nerd Fonts are patched fonts that contain additional glyphs and icons that can be used in the terminal or code editor. They include popular iconic fonts such as Font Awesome, Devicons, Octicons, and more. They also support Powerline symbols and ligatures. Nerd Fonts offer a wide range of fonts to choose from, including a patched version of Cascadia Code.

In this article, I will show you how to download, install, and configure Cascadia Code Nerd Font for Visual Studio Code.

Downloading Cascadia Code Nerd Font

To download Cascadia Code Nerd Font, you can visit the GitHub repository where the font is hosted: . There you can find the latest release of the font in different formats: ttf variable, ttf static, otf static, and woff2. You can download the zip file that contains all the formats, or choose the one that suits your needs.

For this article, I will use the ttf variable format, which is recommended for most users, especially those on Windows or any other OS that employs TrueType hinting. It offers the greatest diversity of weight options (anything from 200-700). The file name is CascadiaCode-2108.26.zip.

Installing Cascadia Code Nerd Font on Windows

To install Cascadia Code Nerd Font on Windows, there are several methods. One way is to navigate to the folder where you downloaded the zip file and extract it. Then, double-click on the font file that you want to install (for example, CascadiaCodePLNF.ttf for the Powerline version) and click on “Install” in the window that pops up. You may need to restart Visual Studio Code if it was already open when you installed the font.

Another way is to drag the font file into the Fonts Settings screen or right-click on the font file and choose “Install”. You can access the Fonts Settings screen by typing “fonts” in the search bar on your taskbar and clicking on the top result.

A third way is to install a font through the fonts menu by going to Settings > Personalization > Fonts and clicking on “Install” after extracting the zip file.

Configuring Visual Studio Code to use Cascadia Code Nerd Font

To configure Visual Studio Code to use Cascadia Code Nerd Font, you need to change some settings in your user settings JSON file or in the settings UI. You can access your user settings JSON file by going to File > Preferences > Settings and clicking on the curly brackets {} icon on the top right corner of the settings tab. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+P and type “Open Settings (JSON)” and press Enter.

In your user settings JSON file, you need to add or modify the following lines:

{   "editor.fontFamily": "'Cascadia Code PL', Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace",   "editor.fontLigatures": true,   "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "'Cascadia Code PL', Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace" }

The first line sets the font family for the editor to Cascadia Code PL, which is the Powerline version of the font. You can also use Cascadia Code NF, which is the Nerd Font version of the font. The second line enables font ligatures, which are special characters that combine two or more symbols into one. The third line sets the font family for the integrated terminal to Cascadia Code PL as well.

If you prefer to use the settings UI, you can search for “font” in the settings tab and change the values accordingly. You can also use the dropdown menus to select the font from the list of installed fonts.

After changing the settings, you should see Cascadia Code Nerd Font applied to your editor and terminal. You can also test some of the glyphs and icons that are available in the font by typing them in your code or terminal. For example, you can type echo $'\uf120' in your terminal to see a Linux icon, or console.log('\uf121') in your code to see a Windows icon.

Conclusion

Cascadia Code Nerd Font is a great coding font that combines the features of Cascadia Code and Nerd Fonts. It offers a modern and fun look for your terminal and code editor, as well as a variety of glyphs and icons that can enhance your code readability and aesthetics. In this article, I showed you how to download, install, and configure Cascadia Code Nerd Font for Visual Studio Code. I hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful.

If you want to learn more about Cascadia Code Nerd Font or Visual Studio Code, here are some resources that you can check out:

[Cascadia Code GitHub repository]
[Nerd Fonts website]
[Visual Studio Code documentation]
[Visual Studio Code tips and tricks]

FAQs

What is the difference between Cascadia Code PL and Cascadia Code NF?

Cascadia Code PL is the Powerline version of Cascadia Code, which includes embedded Powerline symbols for terminal prompts. Cascadia Code NF is the Nerd Font version of Cascadia Code, which includes additional glyphs and icons from various iconic fonts such as Font Awesome, Devicons, Octicons, and more.

How can I see all the glyphs and icons available in Cascadia Code Nerd Font?

You can use a tool called gucharmap on Linux or BabelMap on Windows to browse all the characters in a font. You can also visit [this website] to see a cheat sheet of all the glyphs and icons in Nerd Fonts.

How can I change the font size or weight in Visual Studio Code?

You can change the font size or weight in Visual Studio Code by modifying the editor.fontSize or editor.fontWeight settings in your user settings JSON file or in the settings UI. You can also use Ctrl+Plus or Ctrl+Minus to zoom in or out of the editor.

How can I use different fonts for different languages or files in Visual Studio Code?

You can use different fonts for different languages or files in Visual Studio Code by using editor overrides in your user settings JSON file. For example, you can add this line to use Fira Code for JavaScript files:

{   "[javascript]": {     "editor.fontFamily": "Fira Code"   } }

How can I update Cascadia Code Nerd Font to the latest version?

You can update Cascadia Code Nerd Font to the latest version by downloading it from [the GitHub repository] and installing it over the existing font. You may need to restart Visual Studio Code if it was already open when you updated the font.

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