javascript - File operations taking long time, receiving "Running [file, save, delete create participants" mes

Happening with VSCode version 1.52.1, while working with JavaScript, React, and Node.

I've been working on a React project in VSCode for a couple months now. At some point, in those two months, I started noticing a significant decrease in the speed at which VSCode handles file operations. Like, slow enough that I was creating a single css file, and I went to fill up my water bottle at the cooler and I came back and it still needed about another minute to finish. After browsing some of the VSCode "Issues" on GitHub, I noticed that someone mentioned it might be an issue with the Prettier formatter, but I'm still having the same issue when saving, as well as on file creation and deletion.

*Note: this is my first question, and I need more reputation to directly embed the images

A VSCode prompt box displaying the message "Running 'File Delete' participants"

A VSCode prompt box displaying the message "Running 'File Create' participants"

Things I've tried: Disabling "format on save", disabling all extensions, closing and re-opening VSCode, restarting my laptop

Happening with VSCode version 1.52.1, while working with JavaScript, React, and Node.

I've been working on a React project in VSCode for a couple months now. At some point, in those two months, I started noticing a significant decrease in the speed at which VSCode handles file operations. Like, slow enough that I was creating a single css file, and I went to fill up my water bottle at the cooler and I came back and it still needed about another minute to finish. After browsing some of the VSCode "Issues" on GitHub, I noticed that someone mentioned it might be an issue with the Prettier formatter, but I'm still having the same issue when saving, as well as on file creation and deletion.

*Note: this is my first question, and I need more reputation to directly embed the images

A VSCode prompt box displaying the message "Running 'File Delete' participants"

A VSCode prompt box displaying the message "Running 'File Create' participants"

Things I've tried: Disabling "format on save", disabling all extensions, closing and re-opening VSCode, restarting my laptop

• javascript
• reactjs
• webpack
• visual-studio-code

Share Improve this question Follow edited Jan 10, 2021 at 21:41 Yahya Hafez asked Jan 10, 2021 at 21:18 Yahya HafezYahya Hafez 36111 gold badge33 silver badges55 bronze badges 3

• 3 Hey, just noticed (using Little Snitch) that a network request was happening behind-the-scenes while the Running 'File Delete' participants... modal was displayed. That could perhaps explain the latency you are experiencing. – sunknudsen Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 18:06
• 1 @sunknudsen, that's a really insightful observation. It could be that some extension or the other, or perhaps even VS Code itself is attempting some async request during these operations, though that's fairly strange behavior given that most users would expect file operations to be pretty snappy... Did using Little Snitch provide anymore insight about the request? – Yahya Hafez Commented Feb 19, 2021 at 7:00
• The root cause of the problem is the WSL extension in VSCode expects windows paths to be exposed to the Linux VM. I had disabled those paths as they caused too many headaches. To get the WSL support back into VS Code I had to add code to my path again. /mnt/c/Program\ Files/Microsoft\ VS\ Code/bin/code, this should probably be done very high up the chain, like /etc/profiles.d and restart the VM. – Ray Foss Commented Jun 21, 2022 at 16:14

Add a comment  | 

13 Answers 13

Sorted by: Reset to default 9

Trust the workspace folder you're working on explicitly (no parent folders). It might be taking a long time to check if the folder you're executing is trusted for each filesystem operation. To do this:

F1 > Workspaces: Manage Workspace Trust > Add Folder > add workspace folder (not a parent!)

I have encountered the same issue today (Visual Studio Code 1.52.1) while working on CSV and HTML files. Saving a file took like 1 or 2 minutes to finish. I have resolved it by updating VS Code to 1.53.1 version and disabling all extensions.

I have re-enabled extensions one by one to see if the issue came from a specific extension. It still works so far.

I had the same issue with Code 1.53.2 on RHEL7. I would perform any file operations within VS Code (save, create, delete, rename), and I would get the Running 'X' participants dialog.

I solved it by downgrading to 1.52.1. Not sure what OS you are running, but it might be worth it to downgrade Code to a version you know was working well for you, and keep an eye on latest development to see if it works itself out.

Hope this helps!

I had the same problem with macOS Big Sur 11.5.1 using VSCode (1.59) and turns out it was (in my case) very simple (basically a newbie problem...). I had been downloaded VSCode and was executing it in Downloads directory. All worked fine but when had to create or rename some file/folder, it took a long time 'Running "File Create" participants' ... After moved the application to Application's folder, the problem was solved.

even i encoutered the same problem with basic python programs. even creaing new files and deleting them took minutes. it is not about how old or new your machine is. it is about workspace and vs code. when you open a new workspace, vs code runs it in a so called restricted mode where a lot of things are limited. extensions, de-bugging and a lot of other things. on the bottom left of your vscode, click on restricted workspace and then select the 'trust workspace' option. worked for me.

Disable some vs code extensions, one by one as you test, you will surely land on a culprit.

For me, it was the Github Copilot Labs extension that was causing these issues. Disabling it fixes the problem.

I have this too. In windows, I had drive w: assigned (subst.exe) to my project folder. It started taking a long time to create/rename/delete files. I tried opening directly from the physical drive and it went away. I tried re-assigning w:\ up the file tree a bit and it also went away.

I found this bug ticket being reported: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/128263

What the hell is Running 'File Delete' participants... all about. It takes several minutes to create a blank file and several minutes to delete a file. How do I turn off whatever this is. VS Code is basically unusable with whatever this is enabled.

The solution apparently was this:

Microsoft Live-Share was the culprit. Disabled that and everything is back to normal.

For me Vscode was not able to save files. Initially,I thought either prettier or gitlens extension is culprit.

But it was due to conflict. It was showing that file has been modified outside the editor and can not be saved. Resolving conflict results in instantly file being saved.

Initially it was not showing any error for that later on, It showed to me.

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/tips-and-tricks#_preventing-dirty-writes

"files.participants.timeout": 100

use this

I encountered the same problem recently(in Nov 2021). I just closed that workspace and reopened same workspace again, and luckily my problem got solved.

Simply run

php artisan optimize

This will remove cache, this is the cache problem.