diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c03e2b09ccda7..e6200865d319f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -257,8 +257,10 @@ cmake-build-debug
 # Below files are not deleted by "setup.py clean".
 
 # Visual Studio Code files
-.vscode
 .vs
+/.vscode/*
+!/.vscode/extensions.json
+!/.vscode/settings_recommended.json
 
 # YouCompleteMe config file
 .ycm_extra_conf.py
diff --git a/.vscode/extensions.json b/.vscode/extensions.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9c4cf774157ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/extensions.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "recommendations": [
+    "ms-python.python"
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/.vscode/settings_recommended.json b/.vscode/settings_recommended.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e9eae8ead3c9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/settings_recommended.json
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  "[python]": {
+    "editor.tabSize": 4
+  },
+  "files.eol": "\n",
+  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
+  "files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
+  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
+  "python.formatting.provider": "none",
+  "python.linting.enabled": true,
+  "python.linting.flake8Enabled": true
+}
diff --git a/mypy-strict.ini b/mypy-strict.ini
index e8bc2c2554d3c..f3c5c136bc531 100644
--- a/mypy-strict.ini
+++ b/mypy-strict.ini
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ strict_equality = True
 files =
     .github/scripts/generate_binary_build_matrix.py,
     benchmarks/instruction_counts,
+    tools/actions_local_runner.py,
     tools/autograd/*.py,
     tools/clang_tidy.py,
     tools/codegen,
@@ -47,20 +48,20 @@ files =
     tools/pyi,
     tools/stats_utils,
     tools/test_history.py,
+    tools/test/test_actions_local_runner.py,
     tools/test/test_extract_scripts.py,
     tools/test/test_mypy_wrapper.py,
     tools/test/test_test_history.py,
     tools/test/test_trailing_newlines.py,
-    tools/test/test_actions_local_runner.py,
     tools/test/test_translate_annotations.py,
     tools/trailing_newlines.py,
     tools/translate_annotations.py,
-    tools/actions_local_runner.py,
+    tools/vscode_settings.py,
     torch/testing/_internal/framework_utils.py,
+    torch/utils/_pytree.py,
     torch/utils/benchmark/utils/common.py,
     torch/utils/benchmark/utils/timer.py,
-    torch/utils/benchmark/utils/valgrind_wrapper,
-    torch/utils/_pytree.py
+    torch/utils/benchmark/utils/valgrind_wrapper
 
 # Specifically enable imports of benchmark utils. As more of `torch` becomes
 # strict compliant, those modules can be enabled as well.
diff --git a/tools/README.md b/tools/README.md
index 558607ec03493..880532ab4f7b5 100644
--- a/tools/README.md
+++ b/tools/README.md
@@ -64,10 +64,14 @@ Developer tools which you might find useful:
   trailing newline, exit with status 1 if no output printed or 0 if some
   filenames were printed.
 * [translate_annotations.py](translate_annotations.py) - Read [Flake8][] or
-   [clang-tidy][] warnings (according to a `--regex`) from a `--file`, convert
-   to the JSON format accepted by [pytorch/add-annotations-github-action], and
-   translate line numbers from `HEAD` back in time to the given `--commit` by
-   running `git diff-index --unified=0` appropriately.
+  [clang-tidy][] warnings (according to a `--regex`) from a `--file`, convert to
+  the JSON format accepted by [pytorch/add-annotations-github-action], and
+  translate line numbers from `HEAD` back in time to the given `--commit` by
+  running `git diff-index --unified=0` appropriately.
+* [vscode_settings.py](vscode_settings.py) - Merge
+  `.vscode/settings_recommended.json` into your workspace-local
+  `.vscode/settings.json`, preferring the former in case of conflicts but
+  otherwise preserving the latter as much as possible.
 
 Important if you want to run on AMD GPU:
 
diff --git a/tools/vscode_settings.py b/tools/vscode_settings.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..88dbfb4fedf9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vscode_settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    folder = Path('.vscode')
+    recommended = json.loads((folder / 'settings_recommended.json').read_text())
+    path = folder / 'settings.json'
+    try:
+        current = json.loads(path.read_text())
+    except Exception:
+        current = {}
+    with open(path, 'w') as f:
+        json.dump({**current, **recommended}, f, indent=2)
+        f.write('\n')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()