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Configuring file reloading
VS Code watches external file changes, reloading the latest stored file if there is no conflicting working copy. Watching and detecting changes, however, can take a long time. The larger the code base, the longer VS Code takes to detect the file change. Excluding some directories from the search space improves the speed.
Note: You can manually configure file reloading with Modify in settings.json.
Modify in GUI
To exclude a directory from VS Code’s watcher:
- Press
CMD/CTRL + commato open VS Code's settings. - In the user settings menu, click Text Editor.
- In the Text Editor dropdown, click the Files tab.
- In the Files tab go to the Exclude section.

- Click the Add Pattern button.
- Add your directory pattern in the text box.
- Click OK to save your changes.
- Your changes will take effect the next time you open VS Code.
Modify in settings.json{#modify-settings-json}
Alternatively, you can directly modify settings.json and add an exclude pattern.
settings.json contains all custom VS Code settings stored in a single JSON.
To manually exclude a directory from VS Code’s watcher:
- Press
CMD/CTRL + SHIFT + Pto open Command Palette. - Type
settingsin the search field. - Click Preferences: Open Settings (JSON).
-
In
settings.json, add an exclude pattern similar to below and restart VS Code for changes to take effect."files.watcherExclude": { "**/.DS_Store": true, "**/.cipd": true, "**/.clang-format": true, "**/.clang-tidy": true, "**/.dir-locals.el": true, "**/.git": true, "**/.gitattributes": true, "**/.gitignore": true, "**/.hg": true, "**/.idea": true, "**/.jiri_manifest": true, "**/.jiri_root": true, "**/.ssh": true, "**/.style.yapf": true, "**/.svn": true, "**/AUTHORS": true, "**/CMakeLists.txt": true, "**/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md": true, "**/CONTRIBUTING.md": true, "**/CVS": true, "**/LICENSE": true, "**/PATENTS": true, "**/buildtools": true, "**/examples": true, "**/prebuilt/test_data": true, "**/garnet/third_party": true, "**/out": true, "**/prebuilt": true, "**/rustfmt.toml": true, "**/src/chromium": true, "**/topaz": true, "**/zircon/experimental": true, "**/zircon/prebuilt": true, "**/zircon/third_party": true, }