What is Visual Studio Code on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Microsoft's Visual Studio Code editor and its main helper processes.
Visual Studio Code is a code editor built on Electron (the same technology as Chrome). Like a browser, it splits work into helpers: Code Helper (Renderer) for windows, Code Helper (Plugin) mostly for extensions and the language tools they start, and Code Helper (GPU) for graphics. VS Code's Help > Open Process Explorer shows exactly what each process is doing.
- Category
- Developer tools
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Safe to quit:
- Yes
Shown in Activity Monitor as Code, Code Helper, Code Helper (GPU)
Why is Visual Studio Code using so much CPU or memory?
- Extensions doing heavy work (linters, language servers, AI assistants)
- Large projects being indexed or searched
- File watching on folders with huge numbers of files
- Many windows or editors open
What to do
- 1Open Help > Open Process Explorer in VS Code to see which part is busy
- 2Run 'Developer: Show Running Extensions' and disable heavy extensions
- 3Exclude big folders (node_modules, build output) via the files.watcherExclude setting
- 4Restart VS Code
Safe to quit? Yes.
Safe to quit; save your files first.
Typical usage
Rough ranges on Apple Silicon Macs. Yours will vary.
- Memory
- 300 MB – 2 GB across all its processes
Related processes
- Code Helper (Renderer)Draws a VS Code window or webview: the editor, panels and extension views.
- Code Helper (Plugin)Usually runs VS Code extensions and the language tools they start, like TypeScript's server.
- node (Node.js)Node.js, the JavaScript runtime used by developer tools, local servers and some apps.
- CursorThe Cursor AI code editor (based on VS Code) and its helper processes.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library