VSCode change tacking inconsistent with git

[witbrock]

Type: Bug

Bug Summary
Title: "VS Code Insiders creates duplicate/empty untracked files during file operations"

Environment Details
VS Code Version: VS Code Insiders (you'll need to check Help > About for exact version)
OS: Windows 11 (based on your system paths)
Git Version: (run git --version to get this)
Extensions: Any relevant extensions you have installed
Reproduction Steps
Perform file organization operations (moving/renaming files within VS Code)
Use git operations within VS Code terminal
Check git status - observe empty duplicate files in root directory
Files appear as untracked despite being properly organized in subdirectories
Expected vs Actual Behavior
Expected: File moves/renames should be tracked properly by git without leaving empty duplicates
Actual: Empty duplicate files created in root directory, showing as untracked in git status
Additional Context
This has happened twice in your workflow
Files are properly moved to organized directory structure but empty copies remain
git clean -f removes the duplicates, suggesting they're not properly tracked
Where to File the Bug Report:

VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.103.0-insider (994be41, 2025-08-01T20:53:15.562Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26120
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz (8 x 1498)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	15.60GB (0.94GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id f758fe80-f39d-4f78-a7da-da64bc8f42b1
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Extensions (33)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
atlascode	atl	3.9.68
vscode-eslint	dba	3.0.15
docker	doc	0.13.0
gitlens	eam	2025.8.105
copilot	Git	1.352.1715
copilot-chat	Git	0.30.2025080201
vscode-github-actions	git	0.27.2
vscode-pull-request-github	Git	0.117.2025080412
mongodb-vscode	mon	1.13.3
vscode-azureresourcegroups	ms-	0.11.1
vscode-containers	ms-	2.1.0
vscode-docker	ms-	2.0.0
vscode-edge-devtools	ms-	2.1.9
debugpy	ms-	2025.11.2025072901
python	ms-	2025.10.1
vscode-pylance	ms-	2025.7.100
vscode-python-envs	ms-	1.3.12131645
jupyter	ms-	2025.6.0
jupyter-keymap	ms-	1.1.2
jupyter-renderers	ms-	1.3.2025062701
vscode-jupyter-cell-tags	ms-	0.1.9
vscode-jupyter-slideshow	ms-	0.1.6
remote-containers	ms-	0.424.0
copilot-mermaid-diagram	ms-	0.0.2025073101
js-debug-nightly	ms-	2025.7.2917
powershell	ms-	2025.2.0
vscode-speech	ms-	0.16.0
vscode-websearchforcopilot	ms-	0.1.2025073101
windows-ai-studio	ms-	0.18.0
vscode-jest	Ort	6.4.4
vscode-yaml	red	1.18.0
vscode-ai-foundry	Tea	0.8.0
jinja	who	0.0.8

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
pythonvspyt551:31249597
h48ei257:31000450
nativeloc1:31118317
dwcopilot:31158714
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
g012b348:31231168
pythoneinst12:31251391
c7cif404:31309980
6gi0g917:31259950
996jf627:31264550
pythonrdcb7:31268811
usemplatestapi:31297334
jdghv92:31317040
747dc170:31275146
pythonpcpt1cf:31345881
6518g693:31302842
generatesymbolt:31280541
convertfstringf:31280702
9d2cg352:31346308
j97ad248:31349650
usemarketplace:31343026
0g1h6703:31329154
b6b4d950:31327385
nes-emitfast-1:31333560
replacestringexc:31350595
testaa123:31335226
6abeh943:31336334
envsactivate1:31349248
0927b901:31340060
nb18600_tf:31359574
editstats-enabled:31346256
gendocstringf:31358905
yield-to-copilot-off:31357779
pylancealldocst:31358032

[witbrock]

This is how the bug manifests. These files were deleted, and committed. VSCode was restarted, and the green, zero length files, appeared.

[witbrock]

git clean -f
fixes them

[lszomoru]

Expected: File moves/renames should be tracked properly by git without leaving empty duplicates
Actual: Empty duplicate files created in root directory, showing as untracked in git status

VS Code renders the contents based on the output of git status so this seems to indicate to me that this is an issue with git and not VS Code.

[witbrock]

That isn't consistent with the behaviour. Is there a perhaps a cache problem for untracked files on restart @lszomoru

[witbrock]

Ah - a clue ... VSCode on startup said "Running File Creation Participants" in a popup, as the deleted files were being recreated with no content. Definitely some kind of bug.

[lszomoru]

@witbrock, sorry for not getting back to you on this.
Are you still able to reproduce this with the latest VS Code release? Thanks!

[vs-code-engineering]

This issue has been closed as it has been labeled with info-needed and has not received the additional information that was requested from the issue author. It has been labeled as info-needed for 7 days.