Cannot Sign In to GitHub Copilot in VS Code: "Timed out waiting for authentication provider to register" Error (GitHub Education User)

[Guldfisk5682]

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Hi everyone,
I'm a student using GitHub Education and have access to GitHub Copilot through my benefits. However, I'm facing a persistent issue with signing in to GitHub Copilot within Visual Studio Code.
The Copilot extension in VS Code is currently showing a "not signed in" status. When I try to click the "Sign in to GitHub" option or execute related commands, there is no response or visible action in VS Code.
I've checked the GitHub Copilot output log, and the recurring error is:

2025-05-21 07:51:13.234 [error] [default] github.copilot.signIn: TokenResultError [CopilotAuthError]: Timed out waiting for authentication provider to register
    at getSessionHelper (/path/to/vscode-server/extensions/...)
    at processTicksAndRejections (...)
    at signInCommand (...)
    at ...
    at Wb.h (...)
    at Rq.handleItemSelection (...) {
  result: {
    reason: 'NotSignedIn',
    message: 'Timed out waiting for authentication provider to register'
  },
  [cause]: undefined
}

This error message points to a timeout during the process of waiting for the authentication provider to register.
I've already gone through extensive troubleshooting steps, including:
Confirming my GitHub Education benefits and Copilot subscription are active.
Verifying the built-in @Builtin GitHub extension in VS Code is enabled and appears normal.
Attempting to re-sign into my Microsoft account in VS Code.
Reinstalling the GitHub Copilot extension.
Performing a complete uninstallation of Visual Studio Code (including deleting user settings/cache files in locations like /C:/Users/.../AppData/Roaming/Code and /C:/Users/.../.vscode), followed by a clean reinstallation.
Checking the GitHub account list in VS Code.
Trying to manually trigger sign-in commands within VS Code.

My environment details are:

• Operating System:Windows11
• Visual Studio Code Version: the latest
• GitHub Copilot Extension Version: the latest
• WSL used
• Network Environment: school network with VPN(It works well until I get github education)

Has anyone else encountered this specific "Timed out waiting for authentication provider to register" error with GitHub Copilot in VS Code, especially after obtaining access through GitHub Education? Or does anyone have suggestions for further troubleshooting steps, perhaps related to the VS Code authentication provider or system-level issues that might persist even after a clean reinstall?
Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!

[github-actions[bot]]

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[avolok]

The issue might be related to wrongly set authProvider, it should be set as "github", but not as "github-enterprise":

"github.copilot.advanced": {

        "authProvider": "github"
    }

This issue recently discussed here

[AmeliaRose802]

Thanks! That fixed the issue for me too. I do wonder what the root cause of this is because it was previously working and I never manually changed this to github-enterprise

[doubleLLL3]

Thanks！ And don't forget restart the VSCode app.

[vishalshaw074]

You are a life saver. I was scratching my head from past 2 weeks and your solution resolved my issue. Thanks a lot.

[JinpengHuang-sjtu]

thank u sooooooooooooooooooo much！

[ghost]

thank you

[2Owy]

I had the same problem, but I don't remember changing the authProvider to github-enterprise...
Thx.

[HanggiAnggono]

you probably misclicked when the copilot sidebar shows the sign in button

[skar-23]

all of sudden i am getting like this , i am a student who availed github education