Recreate Atom in VS Code: 12 Steps, 3 Extensions [2026]

GitHub archived the Atom code editor’s repository on March 3, 2023, roughly three months after announcing the sunset on December 15, 2022. Almost four years later, the project’s GitHub page still carries the same read-only notice, and no fork under the Atom name has restarted development. Yet “atom code editor” keeps pulling steady monthly search traffic in 2026, and the reason isn’t nostalgia. It’s muscle memory. Thousands of developers spent years building keyboard habits, snippet libraries, and package workflows around Atom, and ripping all of that out for a brand-new editor is a bigger cost than most people want to pay.

This tutorial, part of our ongoing coding tools coverage, skips the “switch to a totally different editor” advice you’ve probably already read. Instead, it shows you how to rebuild Atom’s actual editing experience, keybindings, theme, snippets, and package logic, inside Visual Studio Code, the editor most Atom refugees already have installed. You’ll walk through 11 concrete steps, install the exact extensions that port Atom behavior over, convert your old snippet files with real conversion tools, and end up with a portable “Atom Mode” profile you can drop onto any new machine in minutes.

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Why Atom Still Shows Up in Developer Searches in 2026

Atom’s GitHub repository has been marked “archived by the owner” since March 2023, and the page still links back to the original December 2022 shutdown announcement. That means zero security patches, zero package registry maintenance, and zero compatibility work against modern Node.js or Electron releases. Running Atom today on a current OS is a genuine risk, not a preference. But the search demand for the Atom code editor hasn’t dried up completely, and a big chunk of that traffic comes from people who aren’t looking for a download link. They’re looking for a way to keep their Atom workflow alive somewhere else.

Two obvious paths already exist. Pulsar, the community-maintained fork that carries the Atom codebase forward, is still active in 2026 (its package registry backend received maintenance commits as recently as May 2026). Zed, the from-scratch Rust editor built by some of Atom’s original creators, shipped version 1.20.2 on September 17, 2026, and is now on a rapid weekly release cadence. Both are legitimate options, and we’ve covered a Pulsar setup guide and a Zed migration walkthrough elsewhere on this site. But neither one is a drop-in replacement if your team has already standardized on Visual Studio Code, or if you rely on VS Code-specific extensions for your day job. This guide takes a third path: keep VS Code as your daily driver and layer Atom’s feel on top of it.

How This Approach Differs From a Full Editor Migration

Most Atom migration content assumes you want to abandon Atom-style editing entirely and adopt something new. That’s a reasonable choice for a lot of people, but it isn’t the only one, and it isn’t always the cheapest. Switching to Pulsar or Zed means learning a new settings format, a new extension ecosystem, and in Zed’s case, a genuinely different set of keyboard defaults built around a different philosophy. If your company already issues VS Code as the standard editor, or if half your team relies on VS Code-only extensions for internal tooling, none of that is really optional anyway.

What this guide does instead is treat VS Code as a blank canvas and layer three specific things back on top of it: the keyboard shortcuts you built years of muscle memory around, the visual theme that made Atom instantly recognizable, and the snippet library you spent real time building. None of that requires switching editors, uninstalling anything you already rely on, or convincing a team lead to approve a new tool. It’s closer to restoring a familiar desk setup in a new office than moving to a new building entirely. The tradeoff is that it takes more manual work up front than installing Pulsar, since VS Code was never designed to be an Atom clone and every piece has to be assembled by hand. The payoff is that you end up with an editor that’s both familiar and actively maintained, backed by one of the largest extension ecosystems in the industry.

Prerequisites: What You Need Before You Start

This walkthrough assumes you’re comfortable opening a terminal and installing extensions through a marketplace UI. Nothing here requires compiling from source. Here’s the full list of tools, with the specific versions confirmed as current at the time of writing:

• Visual Studio Code: the latest stable build from code.visualstudio.com. Microsoft ships monthly stable releases and more frequent Insiders builds (Insiders was tracking version 1.138 in September 2026), so just grab whatever the stable channel currently offers.
• Atom Keymap extension (publisher ID ms-vscode.atom-keybindings): Microsoft’s own port of Atom’s keyboard shortcuts. The Open VSX registry lists version 3.0.9 as the current build.
• Atom One Dark Theme (publisher ID akamud.vscode-theme-onedark): the most widely installed Atom-style color theme on the VS Code Marketplace, built by Mahmoud Ali.
• Node.js LTS and npm: needed to run the snippet conversion tools in Step 7.
• atom-atomizr (version 0.23.3): a command-line tool by developer idleberg that converts Atom, Sublime Text, and TextMate snippets into VS Code’s JSON snippet format.
• Your old ~/.atom folder: if you still have a machine with Atom installed, back this up before you do anything else. It contains your keymap.cson, snippets.cson, init.js, and packages.json package list.
• Git: for the source control step, and for cloning your new “Atom Mode” dotfiles repo if you build one.

None of this costs money. Every extension mentioned in this guide is free and open source, and the conversion tools run locally, so nothing you type ever leaves your machine.

Step 1: Confirm Atom’s Status and Back Up Your Old Config

Before you touch VS Code, protect the data you’re about to migrate away from. If Atom is still installed anywhere, open a terminal and run the Atom Package Manager to export your full package list:

apm list --installed --bare > ~/atom-packages-backup.txt
cp -R ~/.atom ~/.atom-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)

The first command dumps every installed package name and version into a plain text file, which you’ll use in Step 6 to map packages over to VS Code. The second copies your entire configuration folder, including keymap.cson, snippets.cson, styles.less, and init.js, into a timestamped backup. Do this even if you’re fairly sure you’ll never touch Atom again. Corrupted or half-finished migrations are far easier to recover from when the original files still exist somewhere.

If Atom is already gone from your machine and you never backed anything up, check old cloud sync folders, dotfiles repositories, or a previous laptop. The ~/.atom folder is small (usually under 50MB without node_modules), so it’s a common thing to find sitting in an old Time Machine snapshot or Dropbox backup.

Step 2: Install the Latest Visual Studio Code

Download the current stable build for your OS from code.visualstudio.com. On Windows, run the installer and check “Add to PATH” during setup so the code command works from any terminal. On macOS, drag the app to Applications, then run Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH from the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P). On Linux, install via your distro’s package manager or Microsoft’s official .deb/.rpm repository rather than a random third-party build, since Microsoft ships security patches through that channel monthly.

Once VS Code is running, open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X) and sign in with a Microsoft or GitHub account under Settings Sync. You don’t need this account for anything else in this guide, but it means the Atom-style setup you’re about to build will follow you to your next machine automatically, which matters a lot for Step 11.

Step 3: Audit Your Existing Atom Packages

Open the atom-packages-backup.txt file from Step 1 and sort your packages into two piles: the ones that actually change how you edit code, and the decorative ones (themes, file icons, status bar tweaks) that VS Code already replicates through its own theming system. Most Atom setups lean heavily on a handful of workhorse packages. Here’s how the common ones map to VS Code equivalents:

Atom Package	What It Did	VS Code Equivalent
linter-eslint	Inline ESLint errors	ESLint (dbaeumer.vscode-eslint)
git-plus	Git commands from the command palette	Built-in Source Control + GitLens
atom-beautify	Code formatting on save	Prettier (esbenp.prettier-vscode)
minimap	Code overview sidebar	Built-in (Settings > Editor: Minimap)
file-icons	File-type icons in tree view	Material Icon Theme or vscode-icons
autocomplete-python / language-python	Python IntelliSense	Python (ms-python.python)
platformio-ide-terminal	Embedded terminal	Built-in integrated terminal
teletype	Live collaborative editing	Live Share (ms-vsliveshare.vsliveshare)

Notice the pattern: almost none of your Atom packages will install directly into VS Code, because the two editors use entirely different extension APIs (Atom’s are built on Node.js CSON configs, VS Code’s on a TypeScript-based extension host). Every package needs a VS Code-native replacement, not a direct port. Budget 20-30 minutes for this audit if you had more than a dozen packages installed, since it’s the step most people rush through and later regret.

Step 4: Install the Atom Keymap Extension

This is the single extension that does the most work toward making Atom feel present again. Open the Extensions view, search for Atom Keymap, and install the one published by Microsoft under the ID ms-vscode.atom-keybindings. Its description reads exactly as advertised: “This extension ports popular Atom keyboard shortcuts to Visual Studio Code.”

Install it from the command line if you prefer scripting the whole setup:

code --install-extension ms-vscode.atom-keybindings
code --install-extension akamud.vscode-theme-onedark

Once installed, restart VS Code and test a few of the shortcuts you used every day in Atom: Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P for the command palette should feel identical, and Cmd/Ctrl+D for multi-cursor selection carries over too. Be realistic about scope here: this extension covers Atom’s core navigation and editing shortcuts, not every custom binding you might have added yourself or picked up from a third-party Atom package. You’ll rebuild those manually in Step 8.

Step 5: Install an Atom One Dark (or Light) Theme

Atom’s default dark theme became one of the most copied color schemes in the industry, and its VS Code ports vary in quality and maintenance status. The table below breaks down the main options currently on the Marketplace so you can pick based on what matters to you: raw install numbers, active maintenance, or a specific shade match.

Theme Extension	Publisher	Installs	Notes
Atom One Dark Theme	akamud	Millions (exact count not published as a fixed figure)	Closest match to Atom’s original palette, includes a companion One Light theme
Atom One Dark Theme	freebroccolo	44,403	Alternate implementation, last major update predates 2023
Atom One Dark (High Contrast)	SScipione	3,150	Higher contrast variant for accessibility needs
One Dark Pro	zhuangtongfa	12.7 million	Actively maintained descendant theme, not a pixel-identical clone but closer to Atom’s spirit and still shipping updates in 2026

Our recommendation: install akamud.vscode-theme-onedark first since it’s the direct, purpose-built Atom clone. If you find the syntax highlighting looks slightly off under VS Code’s newer semantic token engine (a known friction point covered in the troubleshooting section below), switch to One Dark Pro instead, since it receives updates that keep pace with VS Code’s rendering changes.

To activate your theme, open the Command Palette and run Preferences: Color Theme, then select Atom One Dark from the list. For the file tree icons that made Atom’s sidebar instantly recognizable, install a separate icon pack like Material Icon Theme and activate it through Preferences: File Icon Theme. Themes and icon packs are independent settings in VS Code, unlike Atom where a single package often bundled both.

Step 6: Convert Your Atom Snippets to VS Code Format

Atom stores custom snippets in a CSON file (~/.atom/snippets.cson), while VS Code expects JSON files scoped per language under its user snippets directory. Manually retyping every snippet is tedious and error-prone, so use a conversion tool instead. Install atom-atomizr globally via npm:

npm install -g atom-atomizr
atomizr --input ~/.atom/snippets.cson --output ./vscode-snippets --format vscode

This tool, built by developer idleberg and currently at version 0.23.3, was designed specifically to move snippets between Atom, Sublime Text, TextMate, and VS Code. If you hit compatibility issues with newer Node.js versions (it’s an older, stable tool that hasn’t needed frequent updates), a smaller alternative called convert-atom-snippets-to-vscode handles the same core conversion with a simpler command:

npm install -g convert-atom-snippets-to-vscode
convertSnippets ~/.atom/snippets.cson ./vscode-snippets.json

After conversion, open VS Code’s Command Palette and run Snippets: Configure User Snippets, choose the language you want (or “New Global Snippets file” for cross-language snippets), and paste the converted JSON in. Test each snippet by typing its trigger prefix and pressing Tab. Snippet placeholders sometimes need manual adjustment after conversion, since Atom and VS Code use slightly different tabstop syntax (${1:placeholder} works in both, but Atom’s numbered-only tabstops occasionally need renumbering).

Step 7: Rebuild Custom Keybindings

The Atom Keymap extension covers the defaults, but if you customized keymap.cson with your own bindings, you need to port those by hand. Open your backed-up keymap.cson file alongside VS Code’s keybindings.json (accessible via Command Palette > Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)). Here’s a real example of the syntax translation, converting a custom Atom binding that toggled a sidebar panel:

// Atom keymap.cson syntax
'atom-workspace':
  'ctrl-alt-b': 'tree-view:toggle'

// VS Code keybindings.json equivalent
[
  {
    "key": "ctrl+alt+b",
    "command": "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility"
  }
]

Work through your Atom bindings one at a time rather than trying to batch-convert them. Most Atom commands have a direct VS Code command ID, findable by opening the Command Palette, searching for the action by name, and hovering over it to see the assigned keybinding (if any) plus the internal command ID in the tooltip. For bindings tied to third-party Atom packages with no VS Code equivalent, you’ll need to find the closest matching extension command instead, which is exactly why Step 3’s package audit matters so much.

Step 8: Tune settings.json for Atom-Like Editing Behavior

Beyond keybindings and color, a handful of small editor behaviors contributed heavily to how Atom felt to type in. Open VS Code’s settings.json (Command Palette > Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)) and add these to get close to Atom’s stock feel:

{
  "editor.minimap.enabled": true,
  "editor.minimap.renderCharacters": false,
  "editor.cursorBlinking": "phase",
  "editor.cursorSmoothCaretAnimation": "on",
  "editor.wordWrap": "off",
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.renderWhitespace": "boundary",
  "workbench.tree.indent": 16,
  "workbench.editor.enablePreview": false
}

The enablePreview: false line matters more than it looks. Atom always opened files in a permanent tab when double-clicked. VS Code’s default “preview mode” replaces the currently previewed tab every time you single-click a new file in the explorer, which trips up a lot of Atom switchers who keep losing track of open tabs. Turning preview mode off restores the one-tab-per-file behavior Atom users expect.

Step 9: Rebuild Git Integration

If you leaned on Atom’s built-in Git panel or the git-plus package for command-palette Git actions, install GitLens (eamodio.gitlens) to restore that layer. GitLens adds inline blame annotations, a commit graph, and command-palette-driven Git operations that go beyond what VS Code ships by default. Combine it with the Source Control sidebar (already built into VS Code, no extension needed) and you get a workflow that’s arguably more capable than Atom’s original Git tooling, just organized differently.

Configure GitLens to match Atom’s inline blame style by adding this to settings.json:

{
  "gitlens.currentLine.enabled": true,
  "gitlens.hovers.currentLine.over": "line",
  "gitlens.codeLens.enabled": false
}

Disabling codeLens keeps the interface from feeling cluttered compared to Atom’s cleaner default look, since GitLens’s code lens feature adds inline annotations above every function that Atom never displayed by default.

Step 10: Test Your Full Atom Code Editor Setup

Open a real project, not a blank test file, and run through a checklist that covers the things you actually did in Atom every day:

• Toggle the file tree with your muscle-memory shortcut and confirm it responds
• Trigger three or four of your converted snippets in a real file
• Open the command palette and search for a command by its old Atom name to see if it still resolves
• Make a small edit, stage it, and commit through the Source Control panel or GitLens
• Split the editor into two panes the way you used to in Atom (Cmd/Ctrl+\)
• Confirm your linter (ESLint, Pylint, or whatever you configured) is showing inline errors the way linter-eslint did

Anything that fails this checklist is worth fixing now, before you build the portable profile in the next step and carry the same gap to every future machine.

Step 11: Build a Portable “Atom Mode” Profile (Complete Working Project)

VS Code’s Profiles feature (introduced a few years ago and now stable) lets you bundle a specific set of extensions, settings, keybindings, and UI state into a single named profile you can export, import, or switch between instantly. This is the piece that turns everything above from a one-off setup into a repeatable, shareable project. Create the profile:

# In VS Code: Command Palette > "Profiles: Create Profile"
# Name it "Atom Mode"
# Check: Settings, Keyboard Shortcuts, Extensions, UI State

# Then export it to a shareable file:
# Command Palette > "Profiles: Export Profile" > "Export as a file"

Exporting produces a single .code-profile file. Commit that file to a personal dotfiles repository alongside a small bootstrap script so any new machine can be set up with one command:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# bootstrap-atom-mode.sh
set -e

echo "Installing VS Code extensions for Atom Mode..."
code --install-extension ms-vscode.atom-keybindings
code --install-extension akamud.vscode-theme-onedark
code --install-extension eamodio.gitlens
code --install-extension esbenp.prettier-vscode
code --install-extension pkief.material-icon-theme

echo "Importing Atom Mode profile..."
code --profile "Atom Mode" .

echo "Done. Select Atom One Dark under Preferences: Color Theme if it did not apply automatically."

This is the complete working project this tutorial builds toward: a repository containing your .code-profile export, your converted snippet files from Step 6, your keybindings.json from Step 7, and this bootstrap script. Clone it on any new laptop, run the script, import the profile, and you have your full Atom workflow rebuilt inside VS Code in under five minutes instead of the 30-45 minutes the manual steps above take the first time through.

Performance: Does an Atom-Style Setup Slow Down VS Code?

One question that comes up constantly once people finish this setup is whether stacking five or six extensions on top of VS Code drags it back down toward Atom’s own reputation for sluggishness on large projects. The honest answer is that it depends far more on which extensions you install than on how many. Atom Keymap and a color theme extension add essentially no runtime overhead, since a keymap file is just a list of key-to-command mappings and a theme is just a set of color values applied at render time. Neither one runs background processes or watches your file system.

Where performance actually degrades is in heavier language-service extensions like ESLint, the Python extension, or any linter running full project analysis on every keystroke. Those were true in Atom as well, since linter-eslint carried the same computational cost there. If your VS Code setup starts feeling sluggish after this migration, the fix is almost never to remove the Atom-style layer. It’s to check which language server or linter extension is running heavy analysis, and either scope it to a smaller file set or move it to run only on save instead of on every keystroke through your extension’s own settings.

One genuine improvement worth calling out: VS Code’s extension host runs in a separate process from the main editor UI, so a crashing or hanging extension is far less likely to freeze your whole editor the way a runaway Atom package sometimes did. That process isolation is one of the more practical, if less visible, reasons this migration tends to feel like an upgrade rather than a lateral move once the initial setup work is done.

Common Pitfalls When Recreating Atom in VS Code

A handful of mistakes account for most of the frustration people report when trying this migration. Watch for these specifically:

• Assuming Atom Keymap covers everything. It ports the defaults, not your personal customizations or third-party package bindings. People install it, test two or three shortcuts, declare victory, and then get frustrated a week later when a binding they used constantly turns out to have never carried over. Budget real time for Step 7 instead of treating it as optional.
• Overwriting keybindings.json without a backup. VS Code doesn’t version this file automatically, and a single missing comma in a JSON array can silently break every custom binding below it. Copy the file before you start editing so a syntax error doesn’t lock you out of your shortcuts entirely, and consider keeping it under version control from day one.
• Trying to install .atom package files directly. Atom and VS Code extensions are built on completely different APIs, CSON-based Node.js packages on one side and a TypeScript extension host on the other. There is no direct import path, only manual replacement, and no amount of renaming a file extension will bridge that gap.
• Ignoring maintenance status on theme extensions. Several Atom One Dark ports haven’t been meaningfully updated since October 2022, right around when Atom itself was archived. That’s usually fine for color values, but can cause subtle mismatches against VS Code’s newer semantic highlighting engine, particularly in TypeScript and Rust files where semantic coloring is more aggressive than in older, simpler languages.
• Snippet tabstop mismatches after conversion. Conversion tools handle the CSON-to-JSON structure translation well but occasionally mangle multi-cursor tabstop numbering, especially in snippets with more than three or four placeholders. Always test converted snippets in a real file rather than trusting the conversion blindly, and fix numbering by hand where it drifts.
• Conflicting keybindings from other extensions. If you already use VSCodeVim, or you’ve set up VS Code to run alongside Cursor’s extension model, or another keymap extension, Atom Keymap’s bindings can silently lose priority conflicts without throwing any visible error. Check the Keyboard Shortcuts view and filter by “source: extension” to spot collisions, then decide which extension should win for each conflicting key.
• Forgetting the ~/.atom backup before uninstalling. Once Atom is gone and the folder is deleted, your only remaining sources are old sync backups or nothing at all. People routinely realize they need one specific old snippet or keybinding months after wiping the folder, so the five minutes it takes to zip and store it somewhere durable is cheap insurance.
• Treating this as a one-time task instead of a maintained profile. Extensions update, VS Code’s default keybindings occasionally shift, and a setting that worked perfectly in one release can behave differently a year later. Revisit your Atom Mode profile every few months rather than assuming it’s finished forever.

Troubleshooting Guide

Here are the specific errors and mismatches people run into most often during this migration, and what actually fixes each one:

Problem	Likely Cause	Fix
Atom Keymap shortcuts don’t respond	Another extension (often VSCodeVim) claims the same binding first	Open Keyboard Shortcuts, search the key combo, and check the “Source” column for conflicts
atomizr throws a CSON parse error	Malformed or very old snippets.cson syntax	Open the file in a text editor, validate the CSON structure manually, or convert a smaller subset at a time
Atom One Dark colors look washed out	VS Code’s semantic highlighting overrides some TextMate scope colors	Disable semantic highlighting in settings.json ("editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled": false) or switch to One Dark Pro, which accounts for this
`apm` command not found	Atom (and apm) fully uninstalled already	Recover ~/.atom from a backup or old machine. The apm tool itself is not required for the VS Code migration, only for exporting the original package list
Marketplace shows a “not actively maintained” warning on a theme	Many Atom-styled extensions stopped updating around late 2022	Usually not a functional problem for themes, so switch only if you hit visible rendering bugs
Old .atom folder missing on a new machine	Backup step was skipped or the folder lived only on the old device	Check cloud sync drives, old Time Machine or File History backups, and any dotfiles repos
convert-atom-snippets-to-vscode name collision	Running the global command inside a project that already has its own package.json script with the same name	Run the conversion from your home directory or a scratch folder, not inside a project repo
Settings Sync isn’t carrying the Atom Mode profile to a second machine	Profile export wasn’t included in the sync scope, or sync wasn’t enabled for Profiles specifically	Check Settings Sync configuration and make sure “Profiles” is checked in the sync categories, or use the manual .code-profile import instead

Advanced Tips for Power Users

Diff your keymap before you commit to it

Before finalizing keybindings.json, export VS Code’s full default keybinding list (Command Palette > “Preferences: Open Default Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)”) and diff it against your converted Atom bindings in a text comparison tool. This catches silent overrides where your Atom-style binding accidentally disables a VS Code default you didn’t realize you relied on.

Replicate Atom’s build-system package with tasks.json

If you used Atom’s build package to run project scripts from inside the editor, VS Code’s tasks.json file does the same job with more flexibility. Define a task per script in your .vscode/tasks.json, bind a keyboard shortcut to workbench.action.tasks.runTask, and you get one-keypress script execution without needing a dedicated extension.

Share Atom Mode with your whole team

Add an .vscode/extensions.json file with a “recommendations” array listing every extension from this guide to any shared repository. VS Code automatically prompts new contributors to install the recommended set the first time they open the folder, which is a lightweight way to spread a consistent Atom-style setup across a team without forcing anyone to follow an 11-step manual guide themselves.

Handle multi-root workspaces the way Atom’s project panel did

Atom’s tree view could show multiple project folders stacked in one sidebar, a habit many developers relied on when working across a frontend repo and a backend repo side by side. VS Code supports the same pattern through Multi-root Workspaces. Save your open folders as a single .code-workspace file (File > Save Workspace As), and VS Code will remember the exact folder set, per-folder settings, and layout every time you reopen it. This closes one of the more commonly missed gaps between the two editors, since a fresh VS Code window by default only opens one folder at a time.

Version-control your dotfiles repo properly

Once your Atom Mode profile, converted snippets, and bootstrap script live in a Git repository, treat that repo with the same care as any other project. If you’re also weighing how VS Code’s agent tooling compares to Cursor’s MCP servers, keep that configuration in the same dotfiles repo rather than managing it separately. Tag a release every time you make a meaningful change to your keybindings or settings, so you can roll back if a new extension version breaks something. If you work across a personal machine and a work machine with slightly different extension needs, branch the repo instead of maintaining two divergent copies of the same bootstrap script by hand.

Atom Code Editor vs VS Code (Atom Mode) vs Pulsar vs Zed

If you’re still deciding whether recreating Atom inside VS Code is the right call for you, here’s how the three realistic 2026 paths compare against the original Atom code editor experience:

Option	Setup Effort	Package Compatibility	Maintenance Status (2026)
Original Atom code editor	None (already installed)	Full, but frozen	Archived since March 2023, no security patches
VS Code in “Atom Mode” (this guide)	Medium, roughly 30-45 minutes once	Manual mapping required, not automatic	Actively maintained, monthly VS Code releases
Pulsar (Atom fork)	Low, most Atom packages still install directly	High, built on the original Atom package system	Actively maintained by a community team, registry updated as recently as May 2026
Zed	Medium to high, different extension model entirely	Low, no Atom package compatibility at all	Very active, shipped v1.20.2 on September 17, 2026

Pick VS Code in Atom Mode if your team or job already standardizes on VS Code and you can’t justify running a separate editor just for personal preference. Pick Pulsar if package compatibility matters more to you than editor performance or ecosystem size, since it inherits Atom’s package system almost wholesale. Pick Zed if raw editing speed and a modern, actively developed core matter more than keeping any part of your old Atom workflow intact. We’ve published dedicated setup walkthroughs for both the Pulsar migration path and the Zed migration path if you want to compare the full step-by-step process for either. If you’re still weighing whether Atom itself has any life left, our breakdown of why Atom is dead and how migration actually works covers the shutdown timeline in more depth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still download the Atom code editor in 2026?

The installer files are technically still reachable through GitHub’s archived releases page, but running them is not recommended. The project has had no security updates since the December 2022 shutdown, and its Electron base is now years out of date against current OS security requirements.

Does the Atom Keymap extension replicate every Atom shortcut?

No. It covers Atom’s default, out-of-the-box keyboard shortcuts for navigation and editing. Any custom bindings you added yourself, or shortcuts that came bundled with a third-party Atom package, need to be recreated manually through VS Code’s keybindings.json, as covered in Step 7.

What’s the real difference between Pulsar and using VS Code with Atom extensions?

Pulsar is a direct continuation of the Atom codebase, so most existing Atom packages install and run with little to no changes. VS Code in Atom Mode only recreates the surface feel, keybindings, colors, and snippets, while every extension underneath is a different, VS Code-native tool. Choose Pulsar if deep package compatibility matters more than staying inside your existing VS Code setup.

Will my old Atom packages work in VS Code at all?

No, not directly. Atom packages are built against Atom’s own Node.js-based API, while VS Code extensions use a separate TypeScript extension host. There’s no compatibility layer between them, which is why Step 3’s manual package-mapping exercise is necessary rather than optional.

Is it safe to use an Atom One Dark theme that hasn’t been updated since 2022?

Generally yes, since color theme extensions carry very little executable logic and pose minimal security risk even when unmaintained. The main downside is visual, not safety: older theme extensions may not fully account for VS Code’s newer semantic highlighting engine, which can make certain syntax elements look slightly different than they did in the original Atom.

How do I convert my Atom snippets to VS Code format?

Use a command-line conversion tool like atom-atomizr (version 0.23.3) or convert-atom-snippets-to-vscode, both covered in Step 6. They translate Atom’s CSON snippet format into the JSON format VS Code expects. Always test the converted snippets in a real file afterward, since tabstop numbering occasionally needs small manual fixes.

Should I just switch to Zed instead of doing all this?

Only if raw performance and a modern codebase matter more to you than preserving any part of your Atom workflow. Zed has no Atom package compatibility and uses its own extension model entirely, so the migration cost is arguably higher than the VS Code path in this guide, even though the resulting editor is faster.

Can I set this up automatically on a brand-new machine?

Yes. Step 11 walks through exporting your full configuration as a VS Code Profile and pairing it with a small bootstrap shell script. Once that’s committed to a personal dotfiles repository, a fresh machine can be fully configured with one command instead of repeating all 11 manual steps.

Does this migration work the same way on Windows, macOS, and Linux?

Yes, with minor path differences. Every extension in this guide is cross-platform, and settings.json and keybindings.json use the same format regardless of OS. The main thing that changes is the location of your old Atom config folder and the exact install command for VS Code itself, both of which are covered in Steps 1 and 2. VS Code Profiles export the same way on all three platforms, so your bootstrap script from Step 11 works without modification once VS Code and Node.js are installed.

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