VSCode has a lot of great extensions, and Live Server is one of the best.

With just a couple of clicks, Live Server lets you see your page live in an actual browser. Better yet, it features live reloading, so if you update your code, the changes are also reflected in the browser.

All you have to do is right click in the HTML file you want to view, right click, then select "Open with Live Server":

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Live Server in action

But what if Live Server doesn't open your browser and show your page like you expect? If this is happening to you, here are a few things you can try.

Restart VSCode

Sometimes the best you can do is start VSCode from scratch.

First, save all of your work. Then close VSCode, which will also stop all of the extensions you've installed.

Then, reopen VSCode and try again – go to the HTML file you want to view, right click, and select "Open with Live Server".

Set the browser for Live Server

It's possible that the extension is working, but your system doesn't have a default browser.

Even if you did set the default browser for your system, it wouldn't hurt to let Live Server know which browser you'd like to use explicitly.

First, open the Command Pallete with F1, then type in Preferences: Open Settings (JSON) and select that option.

This will open your VSCode settings.json file.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the file, add a comma after the last setting, then paste in "liveServer.settings.CustomBrowser": "chrome":

settings-json

Note that you can also use "firefox", "safari", or any other browser as the value for the "liveServer.settings.CustomBrowser" setting.

Finally, save the settings.json file and try to run Live Server again.

Set the default browser for your operating system

Even after telling Live Server which browser you want to use, it's possible that it's still not opening your page in that browser correctly.

The next thing to try is to set the default browser for your operating system itself.

The exact method for doing this can vary based on your operating system, so it's best to search for how to do this if you aren't sure.

Here's what the settings page looks like in Windows:

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Credit: Advitya-sharma

Go to the live page yourself

If for some reason Live Server still isn't opening the page in your browser automatically, no worries. You can always open the browser of your choice and view the page directly.

Just open your preferred browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:5500/<your_file_name>.

For example, if your file is called index.html, just go to http://127.0.0.1:5500/index.html.

As long as Live Server is running, you should see your page.

In closing

Those are a few common fixes you can try if Live Server isn't working the way you expect.

Stay safe, and happy (live) coding.