Python ENV switching (bottom right corner) not working

[norrila]

Type: Bug

Python ENV switching (bottom right corner) not working. In previous versions of VS Code I could easily switch between python environments by clicking on the bottom right corner of VS code and select the env. This would happen right away and worked great. Now I need to click on the bottomr right corner, select the env I want and then restart VS code for it to start in that env.

Be great if this could be fixed as its a very useful feature

VS Code version: Code 1.114.0 (e7fb5e96c0730b9deb70b33781f98e2f35975036, 2026-04-01T09:27:11Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

[norrila]

Just to give some more feedback, I installed every version of VS Code until I found the version that didnt have this bug. The version that does not have this bug is listed below. All versions newer than this have the bug.

Version: 1.109.5 (user setup)
Commit: 072586267e68ece9a47aa43f8c108e0dcbf44622
Date: 2026-02-19T19:43:32.382Z
Electron: 39.3.0
ElectronBuildId: 13313481
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.21.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

[sdg002]

Yes. Similar behaviour here. I am seeing rampant inconsistencies. I have un-installed this extension for now.

[eleanorjboyd]

Thanks for the detailed report and for bisecting VS Code versions! Sorry this is causing problems and I would love to get to the bottom and fix this for yall.

It sounds like after selecting a new interpreter from the status bar, the status bar text doesn't update to reflect the new choice. Could you try the following steps to help us narrow this down:

1. Toggle the Python Environments extension off and confirm switching works without it:

   • Open Settings (Ctrl+,)
   • Search for python.useEnvironmentsExtension
   • Set it to false
   • Reload the window (Ctrl+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window")
   • Try switching interpreters via the status bar — does it work correctly now?

2. Turn it back on and share logs:

   • Set python.useEnvironmentsExtension back to true
   • Reload the window
   • Open the Output panel (View → Output) and select "Python Environments" from the dropdown
   • Try switching environments via the status bar
   • Copy and paste the full output here

3. Are you working in a workspace folder (File → Open Folder) or just editing individual files?

Step 1 will confirm whether this is specific to the Python Environments extension. Step 2 will give us the internal logs to see where the switch is failing. Thank you!

[norrila]

Super strange but I cant reproduce the bug anymore. I installed Windsurf shortly after I reported the bug and have not used VS Code until today to test your suggestions. When I did have the bug, I was working primarily with single python files and not in a workspace folder.

Hopefully someone else can test and reproduce this?

[eleanorjboyd]

Seems like no one else has hit this issue so I am going to close this for the time-being. Glad you are no longer experiencing it. Thanks