Clearing all outputs in the notebook via VS Code's "Clear All Outputs" button (see the image below), and making sure there are no long/heavy outputs did the trick for me.

Answer from beapea on Stack Overflow
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 146153
Jupyter Notebook not showing output + background turning grey · Issue #146153 · microsoft/vscode
March 28, 2022 - Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes/No VS Code Version: 1.65.2 OS Version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19042 Steps to Reproduce: Open an existing notebook OR create a new notebook ...
Author   PepperPile
Discussions

Code greyed out with no reasons
There is a problem with some sort of analyser you have added. All of a sudden, python code (that runs without issues) is greyed out as if there were errors. Examples. This is fine. No lines are gre... More on github.com
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2
March 18, 2024
The background of main interface became grey.
Issue Type: Bug I am using Jupyter Notebook in VS code. When I wheeled down the interface, it became grey. It happened before. Cannot see any pics clearly. VS Code version: Code 1.69.1 (b06ae3b, 20... More on github.com
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53
July 14, 2022
My Cell Output in VS Code while using Jupyter Notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible.
It seems you may have included a screenshot of code in your post " My Cell Output in VS Code while using Jupyter Notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible. ". If so, note that posting screenshots of code is against r/learnprogramming 's Posting Guidelines (section Formatting Code): please edit your post to use one of the approved ways of formatting code . (Do NOT repost your question! Just edit it.) If your image is not actually a screenshot of code, feel free to ignore this message. Automoderator cannot distinguish between code screenshots and other images. Please, do not contact the moderators about this message. Your post is still visible to everyone. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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January 30, 2023
My Cell Output in VS Code while using Jupyter Notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible.
I have the same problem did you ever fix this issue? More on reddit.com
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January 30, 2023
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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › datascience › jupyter-notebooks
Jupyter Notebooks in VS Code
November 3, 2021 - When getting started with Jupyter Notebooks, you'll want to make sure that you are working in a trusted workspace. Harmful code can be embedded in notebooks and the Workspace Trust feature allows you to indicate which folders and their contents should allow or restrict automatic code execution. If you attempt to open a notebook when VS Code is in an untrusted workspace running Restricted Mode, you will not be able to execute cells and rich outputs will be hidden.
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode-jupyter › issues › 15386
Code greyed out with no reasons · Issue #15386 · microsoft/vscode-jupyter
March 18, 2024 - There is a problem with some sort of analyser you have added. All of a sudden, python code (that runs without issues) is greyed out as if there were errors. Examples. This is fine. No lines are grey. This is also fine. Line 8 is grey as ...
Author   thistlillo
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 179533
Jupyter notebook greyed out · Issue #179533 · microsoft/vscode
Type: Bug Open a jupyter notebook. The content shows briefly. Then all output and the background of the notebook turns grey. Cannot see anything. Cannot run anything and see output. Unusable now. Searching online I see this is not a new ...
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 155242
The background of main interface became grey. · Issue #155242 · microsoft/vscode
July 14, 2022 - Issue Type: Bug I am using Jupyter Notebook in VS code. When I wheeled down the interface, it became grey. It happened before. Cannot see any pics clearly. VS Code version: Code 1.69.1 (b06ae3b, 2022-07-12T08:21:24.514Z) OS version: Wind...
Author   tengyuntian
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › my cell output in vs code while using jupyter notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible.
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: My Cell Output in VS Code while using Jupyter Notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible.
January 30, 2023 -

I was coding in VSC using Jupyter and I dropped my phone on my keyboard and all of my cells became gray. I'm not sure how to fix it.

I don't know if my file size is too big, or If there are too many plotly graphics in my notebook, but I can't find a way to fix it.

I've tried re-installing the regular/stable version of VSC, installing VSC-Insiders, clearing my cache (I believe I did this correctly via stack posts).

Here's a link to a screenshot of what I am seeing: https://imgur.com/a/fkfHw9r

Is this possibly because I am using plotly for all of my visuals instead of png's?

I have a similar, larger file with roughly the same number of visuals where this problem isn't occurring

Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › my cell output in vs code while using jupyter notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible.
r/vscode on Reddit: My Cell Output in VS Code while using Jupyter Notebooks has turned gray, but my code is still visible.
January 30, 2023 -

I was coding in VSC using Jupyter and I dropped my phone on my keyboard and all of my cells became gray. I'm not sure how to fix it.

I don't know if my file size is too big, or If there are too many plotly graphics in my notebook, but I can't find a way to fix it.

I've tried re-installing the regular/stable version of VSC, installing VSC-Insiders, clearing my cache (I believe I did this correctly via stack posts).

Here's a link to a screenshot of what I am seeing: https://imgur.com/a/fkfHw9r

Is this possibly because I am using plotly for all of my visuals instead of png's?

I have a similar, larger file with roughly the same number of visuals where this problem isn't occurring

🌐
GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 123671
Vscode grays out completely, becomes unusable · Issue #123671 · microsoft/vscode
May 12, 2021 - VS Code Version: 1.56.1 (user setup); commit: e713fe9 OS Version: Windows 10, 10.0.18363 Build 18363 Steps to Reproduce: Run jupyter notebook program for long time All of a sudden vscode screen turns gray. Program seems to still be runni...
Published   May 12, 2021
Author   MJimitater
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Jupyter Community Forum
discourse.jupyter.org › general
Jupyter notebook's annoying grey text auto-show - General - Jupyter Community Forum
November 20, 2022 - After running a cell, that cell will show gray texts; if I click on the cell, they will disappear. Anyone ever encounter something like this before?
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode-jupyter › issues › 16827
"Debug cell" not working in Jupyter notebooks · Issue #16827 · microsoft/vscode-jupyter
July 22, 2025 - I cannot debug code cells in VSCode. Key buttons are greyed out, and there is no highlight to show which lines are running. I have tried to uninstall "typing" but this is not installed within my kernel. ... Visual Studio Code (1.102.1, undefined, desktop) Jupyter Extension Version: 2025.6.0.
Author   nickriches
🌐
GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 186020
Notebook don't show outputs and backscreen turn grey · Issue #186020 · microsoft/vscode
June 23, 2023 - Type: Bug It started when I was loading an heavy file to pandas. Since then everytime I try to run a notebook it occurs. VS Code version: Code 1.79.2 (695af09, 2023-06-14T08:57:04.379Z) OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22621 Modes: System...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › can't enable jupyter experimental debugging
r/vscode on Reddit: Can't Enable Jupyter Experimental Debugging
August 28, 2021 -

I watched this video on enabling debugging in the new jupyter notebooks in VSCode but it won't work for me.

For reference, I am on Ubuntu on WSL1 in VSCode 1.59.1. I've got the latest ipykernel and am using Python 3.9.5.

I try to add the setting "jupyter.experimental.debugging": true to my settings.json and the text gets greyed out and and the tooltip says

This setting can only be applied in user settings in local window or in remote settings in remote window.

Which is not helpful - I have no idea what it means.

I've tried adding this line to my json settings file (e.g. command palette, user settings (JSON)) as well as in the settings.json file in my .vscode folder at the root of the directory I am working in. Both give the same tooltip.

Does anyone know how to interpret this? Or how I can go about enabling debugging in the Jupyter notebooks in VSCode?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › jupyter notebook in vs code stuck. malfunctioning
r/vscode on Reddit: Jupyter notebook in Vs code STUCK. Malfunctioning
March 10, 2026 - If I need a .ipynb notebook, I switch to jupyter lab-vim, working much better than vs code. code is becoming bloated and buggier day by day... ... Actually VSCode wasn't the issue. As I said, the notebooks were problematic on PyCharm as well. However I found out that, as someone said before, the problem was ipykernel.
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Visual Studio Marketplace
marketplace.visualstudio.com › items
Jupyter Extension for Visual Studio Code
Extension for Visual Studio Code - Jupyter notebook support, interactive programming and computing that supports Intellisense, debugging and more.
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode-python › issues › 10587
Interrupting kernel can only be used once · Issue #10587 · microsoft/vscode-python
March 16, 2020 - However, when I use jupyter notebook I can just call interrupt twice when I want to leave the loop. After calling it once in vscode the button for interruption is greyed out and I see a loading bar on top, can't restart kernel in this case and have to close the notebook and reopen it to restart the kernel.