Learn how to increase the max_user_watches value on Ubuntu to handle large workspaces in Visual Studio Code. This guide will help you resolve file-watching issues in VS Code.

Increasing max_user_watches for Large Workspaces in Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code may encounter issues watching for file changes in large workspaces. To resolve this, we must increase Ubuntu’s’ max_user_watches value.

Understanding the Issue

Visual Studio Code might need help monitoring file changes when working with large workspaces due to the limited number of inotify watches. This can be fixed by increasing the max_user_watches value.

Visual Studio Code Documentation

For more details on file watching and related settings, refer to the VS Code documentation.

Configuring max_user_watches

Rather than editing /etc/sysctl.conf, we will create a new configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.d/60-fs-inotify.conf

Add the following content to the file:

fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 524288

Reloading the Configuration

To apply the changes, reload the system configuration with:

sudo sysctl --system

Following these steps can increase the max_user_watches value, allowing Visual Studio Code to handle large workspaces more effectively.