File operations taking long time, receiving "Running [file, save, delete create participants" message

Question

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

Sinegold

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. – Leshia

@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? – Sinegold

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. – Dyna

Answer 1

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!)

Apocynthion

It didn't help me at all – Synonym

Answer 2

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.

Duma

I've since updated to 1.53.2 and purged all extensions that I wasn't using at all. It seemed to at least speed up the wait time, but performing larger delete operations, say on a /public directory generated from a build process, will still occasionally cause this to happen every now and then. I wish I had taken your approach to be able to provide a better update for you all. Has re-enabling extensions one-by-one given you any insights about potentially problematic extensions? I know Prettier caused this to an extent with large files on save, but wouldn't have affected other operations... – Sinegold

The only extension I could incriminate was Excel Viewer. I have reenabled it today (Visual Studio Code 1.53.2) and there is no problem for now. I will let this extension enabled and I will let you know if the problem appears again. By the way, Prettier is enable on my side and I do not have notice any issue with it. – Duma

Disabling Excel Viewer worked for me also! – Radioscope

Answer 3

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!

Crammer

Answer 4

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.

Conclude

Answer 5

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.

Loxodromic

Answer 6

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

Bot

This approached worked for me.. C/C++ extension – Frenchpolish

Answer 7

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.

Lavolta

Answer 8

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.

Chico

Make sure that you read the full post before giving an answer. They already restarted vs code and even restarted their computer. If there is more information please share it. – Erdmann

This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From Review – Mellicent

Answer 9

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.

Translocate

Answer 10

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

Prospective

Answer 11

Simply run

php artisan optimize

This will remove cache, this is the cache problem.

Triphibious

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Calder