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# How to make a local application available on the web with Visual Studio Code

**By:** [Chris Heilmann](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@chris-heilmann)

**Published:** March 14, 2025

Visual Studio Code allows you to make a local application available on the web using a feature called “port forwarding”.

All you need to do is follow these steps:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iy0u9EB_cKQ

1. Open the current folder in Terminal (Ctrl + `)
2. Start your server or run your build process and note down the port number
3. Go to `ports`, add port and request forward
4. Open the context menu and set `visibility` to `public`
5. Copy the URL and you’re live - you can now send this URL to others to help you debug
6. Deleting the port forward also makes the URL inactive

This is a an excellent way to temporalily share your app with the world without having to use a tunnel service like ngrok. Just be aware that you are effectively making your local machine available web-wide and thus also vulnerable to attacks. As a quick means to debug an app or show it to others for review, this is excellent but it should not be used as a way to publish your app to users.



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