fix broken nRF Connect extension in VSCode

RE: fix broken nRF Connect extension in VSCode

AMarch01 — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:16:05 GMT

I am not sure exactly where the break occurred. I had manually removed some versions of the SDK and the toolchains, even going through the toolchains.json and manually removing the toolchains I removed.

At some point I attempted to pull up a project I had worked many times before however, that was many months ago. It didn't come up properly; the build would fail because it couldn't find tools, the PATH was incorrect.

I attempted to remove the extension. And re-installed... same behavior. Tried creating a new project only for the software to not recognize where the samples were and it was listing SDKS with the
"nRF Connect SDK ??? C:\Users\<user>\ncs\v2.9.1"

I then tried uninstalling and removing anything under .vscode\extensions\ that had "nordic-semiconductor" in the name. I also deleted a .nfrutil directory as well.

Re-installing didn't fix anything. Tried the same again and deleted anything Nordic like under C:\Users\<user>\Appdata. After a few useless attempts, I wrote to the forum here, trying to see if there were other places in the code where the "ghost of nordic tools past" was residing.

Then Turbo J added the downgrade note, which I executed, and then everything started working.

There must be something hidden, perhaps in the VSCode settings and maybe something having to do with "Profiles" in VSCode.

I suppose there might have been something in the upgrade path taken. Maybe the old version of the extension I was using months ago broke when moving to the latest. I might be going from the prior version to the current works fine but jumping from a much older version to the current looses something.

Tony

RE: fix broken nRF Connect extension in VSCode

Edvin — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 09:07:49 GMT

Hello,

Yes, we are aware of this issue, and working on replicating it. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to successfully reproduce this. If any of you would be able to try a custom version of the tool with more debug output, and are able to reproduce the issue using this version, we'd be happy to see what the log output would be in that case. If so, please see the description from my reply 13th of March in this ticket:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/support-private/support/358031#permalink=1136667

Best regards,

Edvin

RE: fix broken nRF Connect extension in VSCode

AMarch01 — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 21:18:18 GMT

Yup, that appears to have fixed things. I installed all the pieces separately, and set the nrf connection to 2026.1.1327. Things are at least operating as they should.
Now I have to see it things build properly.

Thanks.

RE: fix broken nRF Connect extension in VSCode

AMarch01 — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 19:43:51 GMT

I will try that next. The behavior in Case ID: 358118 is what I am seeing and using as litmus test on confusion or not.
Nothing like having to fight your tools.

RE: fix broken nRF Connect extension in VSCode

Turbo J — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 18:46:24 GMT

Try downgrading the nRF connect for VS code extension to v2026.1.1327 version. The current one might be a bit buggy.