Visual Studio Code – A simple "Hello World" program written in C++ does not print anything on Windows 11

I just learned C++, and I’m trying to code a simple Hello World program on my 64-bit Windows 11 machine. I write the code with Visual Studio Code, but compile it with Command Prompt. When I try to compile it, no error pops up, but when I try to run it, nothing is printed.

The program (main.cpp):

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
    cout << "Hello world!" << endl;
    return 0;
}

This is the output.The output is always stored right next to the main.cpp file, and is always named a.exe (without specifying).

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.2134]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersmeDesktopHello World>g++ main.cpp

C:UsersmeDesktopHello World>a.exe

C:UsersmeDesktopHello World>a

C:UsersmeDesktopHello World>

What other things I tried:

• Opening the a.exe file in my folder, which closes immediately. I also tried adding system("pause"); to the main method, but to no avail.

• Adding a custom name for the output, such as g++ main.cpp -o hello, with or without the .exe suffix.

• Renaming main.cpp to something else, such as hello.cpp.

G++, GCC and GDB are installed on my machine as required.

C:Usersme>g++ --version
g++ (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project) 13.2.0
Copyright (C) 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


C:Usersme>gcc --version
gcc (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project) 13.2.0
Copyright (C) 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


C:Usersme>gdb --version
GNU gdb (GDB) 12.1
Copyright (C) 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Help would be greatly appreciated.