I removed 90% of my VS Code extensions and my workflow didn’t break
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
Yash Patel, a former software engineer turned tech writer, experimented by disabling roughly 90 % of his Visual Studio Code extensions to test the editor’s native capabilities. After removing the bulk of his custom add‑ons, he found that core VS Code features—such as file navigation, symbol definition lookup, reference searching, renaming, and language‑specific autocomplete—handled his daily coding tasks without degradation. The author noted that many extensions he previously relied on duplicated functionality already built into the editor, and that the streamlined setup reduced visual clutter and potential performance overhead. Patel’s trial, detailed on his blog and shared on XDA, suggests that developers may be able to maintain efficient workflows with far fewer third‑party tools than commonly assumed.
💡 Why It Matters
- · It reveals that the default VS Code experience is more robust than many developers realize, prompting a rethink of extension bloat and its hidden costs.
