Extension does not pick up PowerShell LTS msix installation #5691

Prerequisites

• I have written a descriptive issue title.
• I have searched all open and closed issues to ensure it has not already been reported.
• I have read the troubleshooting guide.
• I am sure this issue is with the extension itself and does not reproduce in a standalone PowerShell instance.
• I have verified that I am using the latest version of Visual Studio Code and the PowerShell extension.
• If this is a security issue, I have read the security issue reporting guidance.

Summary

Neither the PowerShell extension nor the integrated terminal with a PowerShell shell picks up the PowerShell LTS msix installation. (7.6.10).

Instead of PowerShell 7, Windows PoweShell 5.1 was picked up.
Then setting the option
"powershell.powerShellDefaultVersion": "C:\\Program Files\\WindowsApps\\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_7.6.10.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\\pwsh.exe" generated the warning message:

2026-11-13 10:31:04.936 [warning] The 'powerShellDefaultVersion' setting was 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_7.6.10.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\pwsh.exe' but this was not found! Instead using first available installation 'Windows PowerShell (x64)' at 'C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'!

Setting the option to the per-user alias resulted in the same warning.
The editor language status then keeps on spinning and the powershell extension never returns a prompt.

I checked both
& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\pwsh.exe" -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command '$PSVersionTable.PSVersion' and
& "$env:ProgramFiles\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_7.6.10.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\pwsh.exe" -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command '$PSVersionTable.PSVersion'
return the proper version from a terminal.

There seems to be a related problem with powershell profile discovery for Windows Terminal, see microsoft/terminal#20028.

PowerShell Version

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.6.10
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.6.10
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.26100
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.4
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Name             : ConsoleHost
Version          : 7.6.10
InstanceId       : 9d7b8d06-8e11-4757-b521-200e7f2677aa
UI               : System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHostUserInterface
CurrentCulture   : en-GB
CurrentUICulture : en-US
PrivateData      : Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost+ConsoleColorProxy
DebuggerEnabled  : True
IsRunspacePushed : False
Runspace         : System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace

Visual Studio Code Version

1.146.0
69047191fc427f2f92828279aae1d90d8eeda7ab
x64

Extension Version

ms-vscode.powershell@2025.4.0

Steps to Reproduce

PowerShell 7.6.9 was automatically updated to 7.7.0.
Uninstalled 7.7 via winget uninstall -- id Microsoft.PowerShell.
Reinstalled PowerShell 7.6.10 via winget install --id Microsoft.PowerShell --version 7.6.10.
This version is installed to $env:ProgramFiles\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_7.6.10.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe with a per-user alias in $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_8wekyb3d8bbwe.

Start vs code and open any PowerShell file.

Visuals

No response

Logs

2026-11-13 10:31:04.936 [warning] The 'powerShellDefaultVersion' setting was 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell-LTS_7.6.10.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\pwsh.exe' but this was not found! Instead using first available installation 'Windows PowerShell (x64)' at 'C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe'!