I clocked my VS Code startup time: 4.2 seconds . That's with 34 extensions installed, 11 of which I hadn't touched in six months. So I ran a full audit. Removed, replaced, reconfigured. Startup time after: 1.1 seconds . Here's exactly what I changed and why. Step 1 — The audit process Open the command palette ( Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P ) and type: Show Running Extensions This shows every extension currently active, its activation time, and which ones are ...