I have the exact same issue with VSCode and decided to download the latest version of VSCode Insiders (https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders/). They seem to have fixed this issue as the problem is not showing up anymore on any of the affected projects.

You can also sync your VSCode settings with VSCode Insiders (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/settings-sync) so you can continue to work normally until this issue is fixed in regular VSCode.

Answer from F. G. on Stack Overflow
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › vscode becomes really slow with huge types file
r/vscode on Reddit: VSCode becomes really slow with huge types file
March 29, 2022 -

I have a typescript file that's about 22000 lines of code deep. This causes vscode to become really slow. I've tried disabling all my extensions but that hasn't worked. I also tried to exclude the file in my tsconfig but that doesn't do anything either. So far the only solution is deleting the file itself.

I'm also using graphql-nexus which is where the 22000 lines of graphql types got generated from. Something tells me the type checking nexus does is slowing it down a lot too.

Any suggestions would be great.

Discussions

typescript - VS Code Intellisense is extremely slow - Stack Overflow
I am using VSCode for more than a year and never faced this problem. The project I am working on is huge and VSCode is extremely slow when I am working on this project. I tried other projects and ... More on stackoverflow.com
🌐 stackoverflow.com
VS Code is insanely slow
Try disabling all your extensions and see if performance improves, then enable things one by one to see if there's a few of them crippling your performance. I work in a larger TS based codebase, and definitely feel things slowing down as the codebase grows, but overall still very useable for me. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/webdev
35
17
October 16, 2023
The vscode get very slow and laggy after opened a large file in a remote(ssh) workspace.
Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes/No VS Code Version: 1.78.2 OS Version: Windows (local) and Linux (remote) Steps to Reproduce: Open a large (for example, a 1MB txt file) in a remote(ssh) workspace The workspac... More on github.com
🌐 github.com
6
June 17, 2023
Is it normal for vscode to slow down when there are a couple large files in a project?
I don't think files of that size should be an issue. I've had workspaces open with a couple of big files (although they were only temporary for the session). For me, performance typically drops when I have multiple workspaces open, esp. with hefty amounts of code. I believe vscode will often scan your open workspaces to enable other functions like code completion. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/vscode
1
3
March 25, 2025
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 84784
VS Code slow on large project · Issue #84784 · microsoft/vscode
November 14, 2019 - files.watcherExclude - allows to exclude files/folders from file watching, for example: "files.watcherExclude": { "**/.git/objects/**": true, "**/.git/subtree-cache/**": true, "**/node_modules/**": true }, We need to make sure that we cover these 'large projects' settings in our documentation. ... freeze-slow-crash-leakVS Code crashing, performance, freeze and memory leak issuesVS Code crashing, performance, freeze and memory leak issuesinfo-neededIssue requires more information from posterIssue requires more information from poster
Author   egamma
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VSCode.one
vscode.one › make-vscode-faster
Here's How to Make VSCode Faster
We all love extensions. They're what make VS Code so great. The possibilities are endless. The problem is that some extensions may be poorly programmed and put more strain on your system than necessary. 3rd-party plugins are always a good first spot to check for performance issues.
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Zencoder
zencoder.ai › home › how to make vs code faster: speed optimization tips
How to Make VS Code Faster: Speed Optimization Tips
December 3, 2025 - ... Alternatively, disable Git features for specific large repositories. This simple change can noticeably improve speed for projects with thousands of files or complex Git histories.
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Apidog
apidog.com › blog › vscode-settings-to-make-vscode-10x-faster
My VSCode Settings to Make VSCode 10x Faster
January 27, 2026 - The File Watching Frenzy: VSCode has a built-in service that constantly watches your project files for changes. This is what powers features like the live file explorer update and the Git status in the sidebar. However, in large projects especially those with massive node_modules, dist, or build folders this file watcher can go into overdrive, consuming insane amounts of CPU and memory as it tries to track thousands upon thousands of files.
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Quora
quora.com › Why-is-VS-Code-slow
Why is VS Code slow? - Quora
Language servers and linters: Language ... / many files: Opening folders with tens or hundreds of thousands of files or many node_modules causes file watchers, indexing and symbol searches to become slow....
Find elsewhere
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › issues › 185413
The vscode get very slow and laggy after opened a large file in a remote(ssh) workspace. · Issue #185413 · microsoft/vscode
June 17, 2023 - The workspace becomes very slow and laggy. When working with a remote(ssh) host, once you opened a large file (for example, a 1MB txt file), the vscode becomes very slow and laggy, I am talking about >5s lag for every action. It remains even if you close that large file.
Author   CoREse
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TechRepublic
techrepublic.com › home › topics › software › software › why is visual studio code running slowly even on a powerful pc?
Why is Visual Studio Code running slowly even on a powerful PC? - TechRepublic
October 7, 2025 - I’ve noticed that Visual Studio Code has started running very slowly, even though my computer has more than enough RAM and processing power. Opening large projects or switching between files causes noticeable lag, and sometimes the editor freezes for a few seconds.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › how slow is vscode really?
r/vscode on Reddit: How slow is vscode really?
December 24, 2024 -

I've heard a lot about vs code being sluggish for some people,but I always had a problem reproducing this consistently on my setup. I am not sure if it's because I don't notice it, or my code base isn't large enough to experience some of the problems, or I am used to sluggishness, so I don't notice it. The only thing I noticed when compared to something like Zed is that the startup is a bit slow, but I don't open vs code enough times to care.

How should can I figure out more objectively if responsiveness is really in an issue?

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Quora
quora.com › Why-does-VS-Code-take-too-much-time
Why does VS Code take too much time? - Quora
Open only the project folder(s) you need, add large monorepo portions as separate workspaces or use multi-root workspaces selectively. Exclude node_modules, .git, build output, and other large directories in files.exclude and search.exclude and in the workspace settings for file-watching.
Top answer
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after some days my laptop's performance slowed down and when I uninstalled VS Code, my laptop became normal.

Are you implying that it was slowing down the computer even when it was not running? Wasn't it enough to not run it to not have the slowdown?

So I'm not 100% sure what you described is correct, there might be other aspects to this problem (extensions installed, projects opened etc...), here are few things which crossed my mind.

There were some for the code IntelliSense, but there were some problems of watching such a huge amount of files for any changes. I think when it reaches the limit of the OS (on Linux I had to increases the inotify limit), after going over the limit then it resorts to doing manual polling which is very heavy.

The type acquisition can be tweaked by adding this into the settings.json:

{
  "typescript.disableAutomaticTypeAcquisition": true
}

Reference: https://radhika.dev/vsc/

Mine VS code was very slow when I opened huge project with large amount of files. So your performance might depend on what projects you work on.

You can do few tweaks like disabling telemetry to make it slightly less heavy:

https://dev.to/claudiodavi/reducing-vscode-memory-consumption-527k

Be careful what extensions you install:

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/optimize-vscode-performance-best-extensions/

You could try Insiders build with all the extensions disabled:

https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders/

You can do a lot to track the cause of culprits:

https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/Performance-Issues

Deleting the .vs folder helped some users:

VS Code Intellisense is extremely slow

2 of 4
2

Try to start VS Code by using --disable-renderer-accessibility option in your terminal.

code  --disable-renderer-accessibility

If this works, I recommend you to add --disable-renderer-accessibility parameter in the final of "Target" field in your VS Code shortcut configuration.

It solved for me with an Intel Core i7 8650U equipped with an Intel UHD Graphics 620 + GeForce MX130

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Gitbook
bryan-guner.gitbook.io › my-docs › code-editors-and-tools › vscode › how-to-speed-up-vscode
How To Speed Up Vscode - My Docs - GitBook
February 24, 2022 - File > Preferences > Settings > Files:Exclude: Add any pattern of files that you don’t want VS Code to use in your project. File > Preferences > Text Editor > Minimap > Enabled: Checkbox to disable/enable the minimap. File > Preferences > Text Editor > Suggestions: Here, you can fine-tune anything related to suggestions. File > Preferences > Text Editor > From on save / Format on paste: You can disable formatting on saving and defer that to pre-commit, for example.
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode › wiki › performance-issues
Performance Issues · microsoft/vscode Wiki · GitHub
Very detailed information is captured in CPU profiles and that helps us best to narrow down on a slow-down. So, please create a CPU profile of the VS Code core (renderer process) and attach it to the issue.
Author   microsoft
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LifeDev
lifedev.net › 2024 › 06 › why-is-vs-code-so-slow
Why Is VS Code So Slow? - 5 Reasons - LifeDev.net
June 7, 2024 - Excessive usage of resource-intensive extensions and working with large codebases can greatly strain the performance of Visual Studio Code. The editor is designed to handle complex projects, but an excessive number of installed extensions can ...
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freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › optimize-vscode-performance-best-extensions
VS Code Performance – How to Optimize Visual Studio Code and Choose the "Best" Extensions
October 19, 2020 - John Papa speaks about this in his article "Is Your VS Code Extension Slow? Here's How to Speed it Up!". He reveals the results of an overhaul of 2 of Microsoft's extensions: Azure Account: Bundling reduced activation time by 50%. The extension size was reduced from 6.2MB to 840KB through bundling and excluding more files (in the .vscodeignore file).