Everything becomes slow in VS Code when Copilot is enabled

[from-nibly]

So recently whenever I turn on Copilot, everything in my vscode starts slowing down. Intelligent never resolves, linting errors take forever, and basically all features outside of opening files and typing in them directly take a really long time to resolve.

Interestingly enough it doesn't even seem to help if I disable it for just typescript. It only get's fixed if I disable the extension itself.

Is anyone else having this issue?

is there a good way to peek into what's going on?

[ultmaster]

Same issue here starting around days ago. My suspicion is that some recent updates have broken things. Haven't figured it out really. I had to disable the extension temporarily.

[alexvoedi]

Same problem in small python project.

[vdods]

Same problem in Rust and Python projects. Even saving a file can take up to 7 seconds to complete. It makes the CPU chug very hard for a surprisingly long time even for a couple edits here and there. I can reliably fix this by disabling the copilot extension, and it reliably reoccurs when re-enabling the copilot extension.

[Oba-One]

Same issue and sketches me out a little ngl

[dan-cooke]

Was working just fine for weeks, and now all of a sudden on a new Remix project it is slowing to a halt. I'm wondering if its parsing node_modules or something by mistake.

[asif17r]

I have the same issue here with C++

[Dredok]

same here, also with C++ project (on ubuntu and using latest vscode, if that matters).
disabling the extension everything works as smoothly as before ...

[dougdyson]

Copilot has been really frustrating the developer experience the past couple of days - going to explore alternatives, as there are other options now.

[ZupoLlask]

I'm noticing the following pattern while working with Jupyter notebooks: when things get slow, Copilot status icon is spinning.

Maybe some API is taking too much to return some answer or some API background service is crashing...

[codinginflow]

I'm noticing the following pattern while working with Jupyter notebooks: when things get slow, Copilot status icon is spinning.

Same problem here and I noticed the same behavior.

[Recodify]

Same here. It's so slow that I've had to disable it. Come guys, this is a paid service and it's currently, for all practical purposes, broken

[lebifeng]

Check your activity monitor then maybe you will find out that some process is running with full cpu usage.

[vdods]

FYI, I switched to VSCode Insiders edition and this is no longer a problem. Copilot works and doesn't slow anything down.

[ZupoLlask]

Hi @vdods,

So how's your feedback 3 weeks switching to Insider's? Do you still consider the issue as fixed from your experience?

[vdods]

Yeah, it still works well.

[ZupoLlask]

Version 1.80.*, right?

[codinginflow]

I use Insiders and I still get the hang regularly.

[vdods]

Yes, 1.80.* works for me.

[AbdullahWins]

As copilot constantly goes through your code to make sense out of it, it is expected that it'll slow your computer down a bit as it's constantly running on background while you're using vscode.

You can minimize the workload by removing unused background tasks or maybe upgrade the computer if needed.

[codinginflow]

As copilot constantly goes through your code to make sense out of it, it is expected that it'll slow your computer down a bit as it's constantly running on background while you're using vscode.

You can minimize the workload by removing unused background tasks or maybe upgrade the computer if needed.

I have a high-end PC and it still becomes crippling slow. It can be mitigated by reloading VS Code so there must be some underlying bug.

[AbdullahWins]

Yeah that's another possibility, maybe it's triggering multiple instances which is slowing the vscode down.
It's safe to say maybe they broke something in this update

[codinginflow]

I have the same problem. I found that I can improve the speed again by executing "Developer: Reload Window" in VS Code. Then once it becomes slow again, I repeat it.

Obviously not a great longterm solution but I'm sure this will be fixed eventually.

[biggrizzleyguy]

Any fix for this yet? Autopilot causing my Visual Studio 2023 run slow on my high end machine.

[jacastillo302]

Same issue with Go proyect

[holliape]

closing some of the many files I had open helped copilot go waaaay faster.

[yaser-alazm]

Same issue, strange thing that it still not fixed!

[xNepenthe]

2025 and this is still a thing, even pasting something (ctrl + v) lags.

[jesse-beckton-alight]

And I thought it was just me, I've been fighting with this for many weeks now trying to figure it out. I just disable Copilot all together.

[garyjkuehn]

With the latest drop of VSCode Version: 1.104.2 performance fell off the cliff thanks to everything AI. Since the trend seems to be permeate AI thru everything, users be damned, I finally disabled and hid all AI features provided by GitHub CoPilot via settings. Now if I want AI assistance I use alternate means. Now I have back a responsive IDE with lightening fast linting (ruff) and itellisense that is enjoyable and certainly responsive. Granted it would be nice to use AI on demand in the IDE but its current implementation and I suspect follow-on will be more feature bloat to the detriment of performance. No, thank you.

[jesse-beckton-alight]

I've had to resort to disabling Copilot as it destroys my vs code experience. Hoping to switch to Claude Code soon.

[daviddanielng]

How can the vscode devs prioritise copilot over every other things, no doubt AI is helpful, now it is just impending .
I want copilot, but i want my autocomplete prioritised over copilot.

[JE-lee]

I'm using Windows 10 with WSL. When I'm using GitHub Copilot Chat on a large project (perhaps 2 million lines of code), after one or two conversations, the entire VSCode system almost inevitably becomes very slow, including switching tabs, typing, and so on. I've also observed that during this period of lag, all my Chromium-based programs will even flash black screens. Gemini tells me that a problem with my graphics card driver or insufficient memory is likely the cause. I tried closing many other software programs and ensuring my computer's memory load is relatively low (<70%), and everything has improved. Copilot works quickly, and VSCode runs smoothly. The above is for reference only.

[MathanGeurtsen]

I'd just like to add a voice to the choir: I've just disabled copilot, and the dreadful performance improved somewhat. Like everyone else here, I'm not going to use copilot if it means hamstringing the rest of vscode's features.

(Interesting to note: I'm seeing no such problems in the excellent github/copilot.vim plugin I'm using in neovim, it's a joy to use there!)

[kristiangasic]

Quick fix for GitHub Copilot Chat in vscode:

Open this path in your Explorer:
C:\Users\YourUSER\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\globalStorage\github.copilot-chat

Delete the file: commandEmbeddings.json

Restart VSCode or your PC – done!

[sandeepbanala]

Hey there!

Doing that wouldn't delete the chat context?

[kristiangasic]

No, deleting the commandEmbeddings.json file does not delete your chat context or chat history :)
file stores embeddings for VSCode commands that GitHub Copilot Chat uses to better understand VSCode-specific commands. It's automatically created during initial indexing and contains no personal chat data

[Mathews-axisTech]

This seemed to do the trick!
I also didn't go to open any previous chat contexts after deleting the file. And that fixed the issue for me.

[00xDisaster]

Everything becomes slow in VS Code when Copilot is enabled (#10053)

Problem

When Copilot is enabled, VS Code becomes very slow:

• IntelliSense never resolves
• Linting and saving takes many seconds
• Typing and navigation lag
• Performance returns to normal only when Copilot is disabled

This happens across different languages (TypeScript, Python, Rust, C++, etc.) and persists for many users.

---

Why this happens (Root Cause)

Copilot runs background analysis and indexing for your project.
When the project is large or has many open files, Copilot can:

• consume high CPU/RAM
• run continuous background processes
• interfere with IntelliSense and other extensions
• cause VS Code to freeze or lag

Many users reported that the slowdown starts after some time, and reloading VS Code fixes it temporarily.

---

Common Observations from Users

• Slowdowns occur especially in:
  • Jupyter notebooks
  • large TypeScript projects
  • large Python projects
  • projects with many files
• Some users fix it by:
  • disabling Copilot
  • reloading VS Code window
  • using VS Code Insiders (some versions fixed it)
  • closing many open files
  • reducing Copilot file scope

---

Workarounds (Most Effective)

✅ 1. Disable Copilot when not needed

This is the most reliable workaround.

✅ 2. Reload Window

Developer: Reload Window
This temporarily restores performance.

✅ 3. Reduce Copilot Scope

Add this in settings.json:

"copilot.fileExtensions": [
  "js",
  "ts",
  "py"
],
"copilot.enable": true

Or reduce workspace indexing using:

"copilot.exclude": [
  "**/node_modules/**",
  "**/.git/**",
  "**/dist/**"
]

✅ 4. Close many open files / don’t open workspace

Users reported better performance by:

Opening single files instead of a folder

Keeping few tabs open

✅ 5. Delete Copilot Chat embeddings (if using Copilot Chat)

Path:

%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\github.copilot-chat

Delete:

commandEmbeddings.json

Then restart VS Code.

---

Why this is still not fixed

Many users have reported this issue since 2022 and it continues to appear in 2025.
It may be due to:

• Copilot’s background indexing

• Conflicts with other extensions

• VS Code performance changes

• Large project size

---

Summary

If Copilot slows down VS Code:

• It’s not a single bug — it’s related to background indexing and project size

• The most reliable fix is to disable Copilot

• Temporary fixes: reload window, close files, reduce scope

• If using Copilot Chat, deleting commandEmbeddings.json often helps

---

Sources

• GitHub Community discussion (Everything becomes slow in VS Code when Copilot is enabled #10053)

• User reports across 2022–2025 (multiple comments)

• GitHub Copilot documentation

[Sandbye]

I had this issue a long time ago, and it hasn't come up again.
Make sure VS Code is up to date, and delete old big chat history.
If VS Code is slowing down, most likely the issue stems from having a large chat.

[MrBns]

This issue is here for a long time. but still marked as Unanswered.
I am still having similer problem.

[AdjWang]

Same issue with C++, it even slows down typing to an untoleratable level. Restart vscode or reboot does not help, the only way is to disable Copilot.

[luho]

Deleting my copilot-instructions.md file fixed the issue for me.