8 VSCode Popular Extensions You Should Consider Uninstall
Tags: Vscode, Software Development, Programming, Productivity, Web Development

8 VSCode Popular Extensions You Should Consider Uninstall

Some unnecessary extensions will take up your memory and reduce your productivity.

Photo by Pankaj Patel on Unsplash

I’ve been a fan of VSCode for a long time. At that time, I installed many extensions to enhance the functionality of VSCode. Even today, you can often find articles about “N VSCode Extensions You Should Install” in the community.

But as I installed more and more extensions, I found that my VSCode was getting stuck. So I carefully sorted through the extensions, and I found that I didn’t need as many.

Installing too many extensions can have these disadvantages:

Causing VSCode to start slowly . Many extensions are loaded when VSCode starts. If you install too many extensions, your VSCode is bound to start slowly.

. Many extensions are loaded when VSCode starts. If you install too many extensions, your VSCode is bound to start slowly. There may be conflicts between extensions. For example, many extensions change the color of the code. If you have TODO highlight and TODO Tree at the same time, they will conflict with each other.

For example, many extensions change the color of the code. If you have and at the same time, they will conflict with each other. Functionality repeats between different plugins. For example, IntelliSense for CSS class names in HTML and HTML CSS Support .

For example, and . Excessive CPU usage.

Even with these problems, there are still many articles that go out of their way to recommend all sorts of unnecessary extensions, which I think is irresponsible.

This article will mainly introduce some unrecommended VSCode extensions from two perspectives:

The functionality provided by an extension has been built into VSCode.

The extension has been stopped for maintenance.

This article is just to give you some reasons why you should consider uninstalling, not to persuade you to uninstall them. Some extensions are problematic, but there are still some features that are not built-in or there are no better alternatives, but I think you should be aware of these things.

At present, I mainly use VSCode for front-end development, so most of the extensions involved in this article are front-end related.

A few other things to note:

I write this article on 2020–5–11

I am using the latest version of VSCode: v1.45.0

1. Path Intelligence

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=christian-kohler.path-intellisense

Total installs: 2,941,907

Last updated: 5/11/2017

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is to automatically complete the file name:

Visual Studio Code plugin that autocompletes filenames.

But VSCode has now built in the ability to complete filenames.

Without this extension

As you can see, VSCode can help us automatically complete file names without the help of this plugin.

However, the current VSCode built-in is not particularly powerful, some special circumstances, it can not help us complete the file name.

Without this extension

In the above scenario, this extension helps us auto-complete.

With the extension

In common scenarios, VSCode has built-in path completion as well as enough to use. If you don’t have these special requirements, consider uninstalling the extension.

As I said at the beginning of this article, the purpose of this article is not to persuade you to uninstall some extensions, but to help you analyze them and decide for yourself whether to uninstall them.

Another similar extension, Path Autocomplete, does the same thing.

2. Auto Close Tag

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.auto-close-tag

Total installs: 2,797,029

Last updated: 4/21/2020

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is to automatically add HTML/XML close tag:

Automatically add HTML/XML close tag, same as Visual Studio IDE or Sublime Text does.

From VS Code 1.16, it has built-in close tag support for HTML, Handlebars, and Razor files.

Without this extension

VSCode can automatically complete HTML tags now. However, currently, VSCode cannot automatically complete XML tags, and this extension can. For a front-end developer, you probably don’t need this extension anymore. Of course, if you often write XML files, you can keep this extension.

3. Auto Rename Tag

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.auto-rename-tag

Total installs: 2,834,669

Last updated: 4/21/2020

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is to automatically rename paired HTML/XML tag:

Automatically rename paired HTML/XML tag, same as Visual Studio IDE does.

However, the Rename Symbol function of VSCode can completely replace this extension.

4. npm Intellisense

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=christian-kohler.npm-intellisense

Total installs: 2,085,142

Last updated: 2/23/2017

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is to automatically complete npm modules in import statements:

Visual Studio Code plugin that autocompletes npm modules in import statements.

However, VSCode can do it by itself now.

Without the extension

Even though the extension has become obsolete, and the author has given up maintaining it. But there are still a lot of people using the extension and making requests on GitHub issues, so I thought it was important to mention this extension here.

5. Document This

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=joelday.docthis

Total installs: 663,175

Last updated: 6/4/2018

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is to automatically generate detailed JSDoc comments for both TypeScript and JavaScript files:

“Document This” is a Visual Studio Code extension that automatically generates detailed JSDoc comments for both TypeScript and JavaScript files.

However, VSCode can do it by itself now.

Without the extension

5. HTML Snippets

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=abusaidm.html-snippets

Total installs: 3,468,331

Last updated: 12/28/2017

From the homepage of this extension, we can see:

DISABLING THIS EXTENSION AS IT CURRENTLY CONFLICTS WTH EXISTING VS CODE HTML EXTENSION

The author has made it clear on the home page that this extension should no longer be used. However, from the Q & A page, the Rating & Review page, and the number of downloads of the extension, we can see that many people continue to use the extension.

This tells us a truth: many people do not read the extension’s home page carefully when installing the extension, which is really a bad habit.

6. TypeScript Related

We know that VSCode is written in TypeScript, so the VSCode team prioritizes typescript-related features. The current popular typescript-related extensions are built into VSCode, including Auto Import, TypeScript Hero, TypeScript Importer, Move TS. So you probably don’t need these extensions anymore.

7. Color Highlight

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=naumovs.color-highlight

Total installs: 955,815

Last updated: 7/12/2017

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is:

This extension styles css/web colors found in your document.

The author of this extension has given up maintaining it, and it is not recommended that you continue to use it. You can think about replacing it with vscode-colorize.

8. TODO Highlight

Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=wayou.vscode-todo-highlight

Total installs: 997,703

Last updated: 7/22/2018

From the homepage of this extension, we can see that the purpose of this extension is:

Sometimes you forget to review the TODOs you’ve added while coding before you publish the code to production. So I’ve been wanting an extension for a long time that highlights them and reminds me that there are notes or things not done yet.

The author of this extension has given up maintaining it, and it is not recommended that you continue to use it. You can think about replacing it with Todo Tree which is still active.

By modifying the configuration file, Todo Tree can completely replace TODO Highlight.

// settings.json

"todo-tree.general.tags": ["TODO:", "FIXME:"],

"todo-tree.highlights.defaultHighlight": {

"gutterIcon": true

},

"todo-tree.highlights.customHighlight": {

"TODO:": {

"foreground": "#fff",

"background": "#ffbd2a",

"iconColour": "#ffbd2a"

},

"FIXME:": {

"foreground": "#fff",

"background": "#f06292",

"icon": "flame",

"iconColour": "#f06292"

}

}

Conclusion

While I don’t recommend you use these extensions now, they all helped a lot of people. I am so grateful to their authors!