microsoft / microsoft/vscode

Remote-WSL keeps old VS Code Server versions indefinitely, accumulating 6.55 GB

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#330,519 6 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @aeschli View on GitHub
bug WSL
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TypeScript
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Description

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

* VS Code Version: 1.133.0
* OS Version: Windows with WSL 2 (Ubuntu 22.04)

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Use VS Code with Remote-WSL normally across multiple VS Code updates.
2. Check the Windows-side Remote-WSL server cache at `$env:USERPROFILE\vscode-remote-wsl\stable`.
3. Observe that old VS Code Server versions remain after newer versions have been downloaded and used.

On my machine, this directory currently contains **61 VS Code Server version directories**, each named by a commit hash.

The directories span from **July 1, 2025 to August 12, 2026** and occupy approximately **6.55 GB** in total.

Old server versions have accumulated continuously across VS Code updates instead of being removed.

Expected behavior:

Old VS Code Server versions should be cleaned up after newer server versions are installed, rather than accumulating indefinitely.

Actual behavior:

Historical VS Code Server versions remain in `vscode-remote-wsl\stable` across updates. On my system, 61 versions have accumulated and currently consume 6.55 GB.

Related closed issues:

* https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/106595
* https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release/issues/2852
* https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release/issues/3746

All three related issues are closed, but the Remote-WSL server cleanup problem is still reproducible on the current version.

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