docs/content/codespaces/setting-up-your-codespace/personalizing-codespaces-for-your-account.md

title, intro, permissions, redirect_from, versions, type, topics

title	intro	permissions	redirect_from	versions	type	topics
Personalizing Codespaces for your account	You can personalize {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} by using a `dotfiles` repository on {% data variables.product.product_name %} or by using Settings Sync.	Anyone can personalize {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} for their user account.	/github/developing-online-with-github-codespaces/personalizing-github-codespaces-for-your-account /github/developing-online-with-codespaces/personalizing-codespaces-for-your-account	free-pro-team *	how_to	Codespaces Set up Fundamentals

{% data reusables.codespaces.release-stage %}

About personalizing {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %}

When using any development environment, customizing the settings and tools to your preferences and workflows is an important step. {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} allows for two main ways of personalizing your codespaces.

• Settings Sync - You can use and share {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode %} settings between {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} and other instances of {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode %}.
• Dotfiles – You can use a public dotfiles repository to specify scripts, shell preferences, and other configurations.

{% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} personalization applies to any codespace you create.

Project maintainers can also define a default configuration that applies to every codespace for a repository, created by anyone. For more information, see "Configuring {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} for your project."

Settings Sync

Settings Sync allows you to share configurations such as settings, keyboard shortcuts, snippets, extensions, and UI state across machines and instances of {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode %}.

Settings Sync is on by default. To configure any settings, in the bottom-left corner of the Activity Bar, select {% octicon "gear" aria-label="The gear icon" %} and click Settings Sync is on. From the dialog, you can choose to configure, show settings and data, or turn off Settings Sync.

For more information, see the Settings Sync guide in the {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode %} documentation.

Dotfiles

Dotfiles are files and folders on Unix-like systems starting with . that control the configuration of applications and shells on your system. You can store and manage your dotfiles in a repository on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}. For advice and tutorials about what to include in your dotfiles repository, see GitHub does dotfiles.

If your user account on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} owns a public repository named dotfiles, {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} automatically uses this repository to personalize your codespace environment. Private dotfiles repositories are not currently supported.

Your dotfiles repository might include your shell aliases and preferences, any tools you want to install, or any other codespace personalization you want to make.

When you create a new codespace, {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} clones your dotfiles repository to the codespace environment, and looks for one of the following files to set up the environment.

• install.sh
• install
• bootstrap.sh
• bootstrap
• setup.sh
• setup

If none of these files are found, then any files or folders in dotfiles starting with . are symlinked to the codespace's ~ or $HOME directory.

Any changes to your dotfiles repository will apply only to each new codespace, and do not affect any existing codespace.

{% note %}

Note: Currently, {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} does not support personalizing the User settings for the {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode %} editor with your dotfiles repository. You can set default Workspace and Remote [Codespaces] settings for a specific project in the project's repository. For more information, see "Configuring {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %} for your project."

{% endnote %}

You can also configure settings for your user account to add encrypted secrets, enable GPG verification, and allow your codespaces to access other repositories. For more information, see "Managing encrypted secrets for {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %}", "Managing GPG verification for {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %}", and "Managing access and security for {% data variables.product.prodname_codespaces %}."

Further reading

• "Creating a new repository"