How to delete github copilot chat? Long github copilot chat crashes my Intellj

[JosipDomazetDev]

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I pasted a really long prompt into my github copilot chat. This chat causes the Intellj IDE to crash everytime I open the github copilot chat. How do I delete the chat? Uninstalling the plugin did not help, invalidating the cache did not help. It seems like the chat is stored online, other projects chats work fine.

Also note that I cannot access the UI for that chat at all and the settings in github.com/settings/copilot don't seem to have that option.

Update/Solution: I had to clone the project from scratch unfortunately.

[RodrigoDiasDeOliveira]

Potential Solutions

1. Clear Local Storage
   Try clearing your browser's local storage for GitHub. This might help if the problematic chat is cached locally:

Open Developer Tools (F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I)
Go to the Application tab
Expand "Local Storage" in the left sidebar
Right-click on the GitHub domain and select "Clear"
2. Use GitHub CLI
You might be able to manage Copilot chats using the GitHub CLI. Install it if you haven't already, then try:

gh copilot chat list
gh copilot chat delete Copy
Replace with the ID of the problematic chat.

3. Contact GitHub Support
   If the above solutions don't work, you'll need to contact GitHub support directly. They can access and manage your Copilot data on the server side.

Contact GitHub Support
Prevention Tips
Avoid pasting extremely long prompts into Copilot chat
If you need to share large code snippets, consider using GitHub Gists instead
Regularly clear your Copilot chat history to prevent accumulation of problematic data

[JosipDomazetHKS]

Those tips unfortunately did not work and the issue still persists.

[tshandler]

1. Clear Copilot Data
   Navigate the local Copilot configuration or data directory and try manually deleting the chat data.

2. Reinstall the Plugin
   Uninstall the plugin through setting -->> Plugins
   Reinstall again

3. Disable Problematic Chats (Optional)

[tshandler]

If my approach is not working, try this again.

Open a New Chat Instance, instead of trying to access the problematic chat, start a new chat in GitHub Copilot with a different context or project.

[JosipDomazetHKS]

Other projects chats work fine but that particular one for that project always makes it crash. Since I cannot access that paritcular chat at all because it crashes my Intellj I cant interact with that chat at all. I can start the particular project no issues but when I open copilot chat it crashes my intellj.

[oriole9g]

Same problem :C any solution?

[JosipDomazetDev]

It doesnt work, I cloned the project again... Make sure to save all env files and so on.

[oriole9g]

An easy solution is simply rename the local project folder, delete /.idea folder and open the new folder as a new project.

[tshandler]

Have you ever created new project with your current source code?

[niposch]

hitting: File > Invalidate Caches
and selecting "Delete embedded browser engine cache and cookies" has worked for me. Rider will have to re-index the current solution though.

[ThoLyt]

Sorry about waking this question to life again, but I experienced a similar issue yesterday.

What worked for me was navigating to /Users/[username]/.config/github-copilot/iu/
There should be 3 folders there, named chat-agent-sessions, chat-edit-sessions and chat-sessions.
I deleted all files in the three folders and restarted my IDE. Now copilot is working again, but without any previous sessions

[melewetwo]

This worked for me on macos, thank you @ThoLyt

[theog]

Thanks @ThoLyt , This worked for me too. Using rubymine. /Users/[username]/.config/github-copilot/rm/

[maxmobilmaster-code]

GitHub Copilot Chat v0.45.0 это дерьмо невозможно удалить заблокировать только выпилишь его а оно опять лезет все ломает .... суки

[nmz787-intel]

how to reset the "github copilot chat" in pycharm? the AI is stuck giving same ineffective responses and I want to clear all the context.

[nmz787-intel]

I asked AI how to do it... here's the working answer:

To reset the "GitHub Copilot Chat" in PyCharm, you can follow these steps:

Open the "GitHub Copilot Chat" panel in PyCharm.
Click on the three dots (menu) in the top-right corner of the chat panel.
Select "Reset Chat" or "Clear Context" from the dropdown menu.
This will clear the current context and reset the chat, allowing you to start fresh.

[oriole9g]

Same problem and none of these solutions work :( the only solution is to start a new project with the same code to effectively start a new copilot chat. Since the chat is on the copilot servers anything you do locally doesn't work because the plugin ends up syncing the chat and breaking everything when doing so.

[oriole9g]

When enable the plugin this try to sync the chat and always appears this error:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Argument for @NotNull parameter 'fileType' of com/intellij/ide/highlighter/HighlighterFactory.createHighlighter must not be null `

and there is no option to clear the chat because the plugin simply breaks when try to sync project chat.

[Cyclodex]

I had the issue in VSCode, but it might help maybe anyone with the same issue of github copilot chat history breaking the copilot completely.

• Solution: Check where your IDE stores chat history and delete those files.

For VSCode on Windows, it seems to be something like this:

%APPDATA%\Code\User\

there are folders like History (looks complex)...
For me it was good to look at workspaceStorage folder instead! I identified the correct workspace (check workspace.json), where there are folders like chatSessions, chatEditiingSessions and GitHub.copilot-chat.
In there, I deleted all history files from the day I know I introduced the bug into the chat history, this solved my problem (restarting editor after deleting those files).

So good luck in finding those files depending on your OS / setup.

C:\Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\workspaceStorage\*WORKSPACE*

[hotanphat28]

Thank you very much for sharing this details. it works for me! 🙏🏼

[CermakM]

In my case, I crashed Copilot chat in Goland by pasting a picture in it. :D Tried all the solutions above and none worked. I am on MacOS and deleting plugin cache folders didn't work either. The Copilot chat is unusable since then.

[mertsaner]

So, I have found the quick solution to this problem! Delete your .idea folder in your source code folder. Then copilot will be working like a charm again.

[luaugii]

Como todos aqui, tengo jetbrains con el plugin de GitHub Copilot la version de paga. Un chat congela toda la maquina. Pero solamente es con un proyecto.

Que es lo que sí funciono:
1.- Movi el proyecto a otro dicrectorio.
2.- Borre toda la carpeta .idea (Utilizo Ubuntu desktop)
3.- Abri el PHPStorm y busque la carpeta del proyecto renombrado.

Solucionado.
Se borraron todos los Chats y no se congela el PHP STORM

[maxmanco]

I had the same issue. On Windows, all chat sessions are under c:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\github-copilot\iu\. I deleted them, and Copilot stopped crashing.

[lanrehnics]

For Mac
Delete everything in
/Users/{your_user}/.config/github-copilot/ai/

[TheFoxy23]

Deleting GitHub Copilot Chat in IntelliJ

GitHub Copilot chats in IntelliJ crash the IDE when they're corrupted by long prompts, and they're stored locally per project or IDE config rather than centrally on GitHub.

Local Storage Paths

Manually delete chat data from these IDE-specific folders, then restart IntelliJ.

macOS/Linux:

~/.config/github-copilot/iu/

• Delete folders like chat-agent-sessions, chat-edit-sessions, chat-sessions.

Windows:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\github-copilot\<ide-code>\ (e.g., `iu` for IntelliJ Ultimate)

• Remove chat session files/folders.

Project-level alternative: Delete .idea folder in project root (backup first), then reimport project.

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

• Invalidate caches: File > Invalidate Caches > Check "Delete embedded browser engine cache and cookies".
• Reinstall Copilot plugin after clearing data.
• Last resort: Clone project from scratch to reset synced state.

Web vs. IDE Differences

• Web (github.com): Clear via browser storage or gh copilot chat delete.
• IDE chats: Local only; no GitHub settings option.

VS Code Specifics

Delete from %APPDATA%\Code\User\workspaceStorage\<hash>\chatSessions folders.

If you still have any issue, or something doesn't work, obviously write here 🙃

[ShivendraSahu22]

To delete or clear your GitHub Copilot Chat history in IntelliJ IDEA and resolve performance issues, you can use the built-in commands or manually clear the local data storage.

1. Clear Current Chat Responses
   If you want to quickly clear the visible responses in the active chat window to reduce memory load, use the slash command:
   Type /clear directly into the Copilot Chat input box and press Enter.
   Filo
   Filo
   +2
2. Delete Specific Chat Sessions
   You can manage your history directly from the chat interface:
   Click the History icon (usually next to the "+" or under the menu lines) in the Copilot Chat window.
   Find the session you want to remove.
   Right-click on the session title and select Delete.
   Tip: If you cannot delete the current active session, click the New Chat (+) button first to switch focus, then delete the old session from the history list.
   GitHub
   GitHub
   +3
3. Manually Clear Local Storage (Recommended for Crashes)
   If long chat history is causing IntelliJ to crash or become unresponsive, you may need to manually delete the local cache files while the IDE is closed:
   Windows: Navigate to C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\github-copilot\intellij and delete the contents.
   macOS/Linux: Navigate to ~/.config/github-copilot/intellij and delete the stored chat data.
   Project-Specific: Sometimes chat data is linked to the .idea folder in your project. Renaming your project folder and re-opening it as a "new" project can effectively clear that context.
   GitHub
   GitHub
   +3
4. Additional Performance Fixes
   If clearing the history doesn't stop the crashing, try these steps:
   Update All Components: Ensure you are using the latest versions of IntelliJ IDEA and the GitHub Copilot plugin.
   Invalidate Caches: Go to File > Invalidate Caches..., select all options, and click Invalidate and Restart.
   Increase IDE Memory: Since long prompts cause high memory usage, go to Help > Change Memory Settings and increase the maximum heap size (e.g., to 4096MB or higher).

[vishalgir007]

You don’t necessarily need to re-clone the project—there are a few ways to recover from a broken Copilot chat session in IntelliJ IDEA.