CodeNeat: The Best Free Code Formatter for VS Code (41 Languages, One Extension)

Pamal Jayasinghe — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:49:50 +0000

TL;DR: CodeNeat is a free, open-source VS Code formatter extension that formats 41 languages with one install. It uses official engines like Prettier, Ruff, gofmt and clang-format, gives you a visual settings dashboard instead of JSON config files, and shows a live before/after preview before anything changes. No account, no telemetry, no network requests.

🛒 Install from the VS Code Marketplace: CodeNeat on Visual Studio Marketplace
👉 GitHub: github.com/pamaljayasinghe/CodeNeat

Why I Built Another Code Formatter for VS Code

If you work in more than one language, your VS Code setup probably looks like this:

Prettier for JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML and CSS
Black or Ruff for Python
clang-format for C and C++
A separate extension for Go, PHP, SQL, Lua, Bash…
And a pile of .prettierrc, pyproject.toml and .clang-format files to keep them in line

Every language means another extension, another config file and another set of conflicts in Format on Save. I also noticed I was spending AI tokens asking assistants to fix indentation, which a formatter should do for free.

So I built CodeNeat: one extension, every language, your style.

What Is CodeNeat?

CodeNeat is a multi-language code formatter for Visual Studio Code. It formats 41 languages and file formats through their official formatting engines, and replaces hand-edited configuration with a visual dashboard and a live preview.

Key Features at a Glance

Feature	What you get
🌐 41 languages	32 ready on install, 9 more with guided setup
⚙️ Built-in engines	Prettier, Ruff, gofmt, clang-format, StyLua, shfmt, dart format and more
🎛️ Visual settings dashboard	15 searchable sections, no JSON editing
👀 Live before/after preview	See every changed line before you save
📁 Respects your project	`.editorconfig`, `.prettierrc`, `.clang-format`, `rustfmt.toml` take priority and are never modified
🔒 100% private	No account, no telemetry, no network requests
💸 Free and open source	Apache 2.0 licence

Which Languages Does CodeNeat Support?

Ready on install (32): HTML, CSS, SCSS, Less, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX, JSON, YAML, Markdown, MDX, Vue, Angular templates, GraphQL, XML, Java, Python, C, C++, C#, PHP, Go, Dart, Bash, Lua, SQL, TOML, Dockerfile, Protocol Buffers and LaTeX.

Guided setup: Rust, Ruby, Kotlin, Scala, Swift, F#, PowerShell, R and Terraform use the formatter from their own toolchain. If one is missing, CodeNeat shows you the exact install command, asks you to confirm, and runs it in a terminal.

No other extension is required.

How to Format Code in VS Code with CodeNeat

Install the extension (see the install section below).
Open any supported file.
Click the CodeNeat button at the top right of the editor.
Changed lines are highlighted in green. Choose Keep Changes or Undo Changes.

That's it. Prefer the keyboard? Use:

Windows / Linux:  Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F
macOS:            ⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + F

All the Ways to Format

Editor button at the top right
Keyboard shortcut (above)
Right-click menu: Format Document, Format Selection, Format Document with Review
Status bar: click CodeNeat at the bottom right
Automatically: Format on Save, on Paste and on Type
Format Workspace: format a whole folder with a preview, progress and a summary (skips node_modules, build output and everything in .gitignore)

How to Enable Format on Save in VS Code

Open the CodeNeat dashboard from the Activity Bar.
Go to Auto Formatting.
Make CodeNeat the default formatter.
Switch on Format on Save.

Or run the command CodeNeat: Use CodeNeat as Default Formatter.

Customize Your Code Style Without JSON

The settings dashboard lets you set:

Line length: 60 to 160 presets, or any value from 40 to 300 (default 120)
Indentation: spaces or tabs, 2, 4, 8 or custom
Style: quotes, semicolons, trailing commas, brace position, blank lines, import sorting
Per-language rules: apply a setting to all languages or just one, for yourself or the whole workspace
Profiles: Standard, Compact, Readable and Team Style built in, plus your own (import/export to share with your team)

Every change shows up in the live preview before you press Apply.

Language-specific extras include C/C++/C# base styles (LLVM, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, WebKit, Chromium, GNU), Python quote style, SQL dialect and keyword case, and XML whitespace handling.

CodeNeat vs Prettier: What's the Difference?

Prettier is excellent, and CodeNeat uses Prettier under the hood for web languages. The difference is scope:

	Prettier extension	CodeNeat
Languages	Web languages (JS, TS, CSS, HTML, JSON, YAML, Markdown…)	41, including Python, Go, C/C++, C#, Java, PHP, Dart, SQL, Lua, Bash, Rust
Configuration	`.prettierrc` file	Visual dashboard + respects `.prettierrc`
Preview	No	Live side-by-side diff
Review before change	No	Yes (Enter to keep, Escape to undo)

If you only write JavaScript, Prettier alone is enough. If you switch between languages, CodeNeat replaces a stack of formatter extensions with one.

Is CodeNeat Safe for My Code?

Yes. CodeNeat:

Makes no network requests and collects no telemetry
Never edits your project config files
Never changes behaviour, only layout. Code-changing options like removing unused imports are off by default and clearly labelled
Leaves files over the size or time limit untouched and tells you why

How to Install CodeNeat

Option 1: VS Code Marketplace (recommended)

Open the CodeNeat page on the VS Code Marketplace and click Install, or
In VS Code, open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / ⌘+⇧+X), search CodeNeat and click Install.

You can also install it from the terminal:

code --install-extension PamalJayasinghe.codeneat

Option 2: Install from a VSIX

Download the .vsix from the GitHub releases page, then run:

code --install-extension codeneat.vsix

Or in VS Code: Extensions view → … menu → Install from VSIX…

Requires VS Code 1.90 or newer.

FAQ

What is the best code formatter extension for VS Code?
For a single web project, Prettier. For multi-language work, CodeNeat formats 41 languages with one extension, a visual settings dashboard and a live preview.

Does CodeNeat work with Python?
Yes. It uses Ruff (built in) and lets you set quote style, indentation and list layout.

Can I use my existing .prettierrc or .editorconfig?
Yes. Project config files take priority by default and are never modified.

Where can I download CodeNeat?
From the VS Code Marketplace (search "CodeNeat" in the Extensions view) or from the GitHub releases page.

Is CodeNeat free?
Yes. It is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0.

Does it work offline?
Yes. All engines are bundled. No account or internet connection is needed.

Try It and Tell Me What You Think

🛒 Install it: VS Code Marketplace
⭐ Star it on GitHub: github.com/pamaljayasinghe/CodeNeat
📖 Read the intro on Medium: Stop Spending AI Tokens on Indentation: Meet CodeNeat

Which language should get more formatting options next? Drop a comment below 👇

#vscode #codeformatter #prettier #opensource #webdev #productivity #python #javascript #typescript #developertools

DEV Community: Pamal Jayasinghe