Bug Report: VS Code/GitHub Copilot Recreates Deleted Files When Switching Chat Threads

[Lalitj03]

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: No

Version: 1.100.3 (user setup)
Commit: 258e40f
Date: 2025-06-02T13:30:54.273Z
Electron: 34.5.1
ElectronBuildId: 11369351
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.0
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100

Summary

When switching back to a GitHub Copilot chat thread that previously referenced files, VS Code automatically recreates those files as empty files if they were deleted.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open VS Code workspace with multiple files in a directory
2. Start GitHub Copilot chat and add several files in the chat context
3. Delete some of the referenced files using PowerShell command:

   Remove-Item -Force "file1.md", "file2.md", "file3.md"

4. Switch to a new chat send at least one message
5. Return to original chat thread that referenced the deleted files

Expected: Deleted files stay deleted
Actual: Empty files are recreated with the same names

System Details

• Windows 11
• PowerShell (pwsh.exe) as default shell
• Files deleted using Remove-Item -Force command
• Recreated files are empty (no original content)

Example

• Command used: Remove-Item -Force "docs/README.md", "docs/GUIDE.md", "docs/STATUS.md"
• Result: Empty files README.md, GUIDE.md, STATUS.md recreated when returning to chat thread

[sbdevelops]

I've seen a similar issue to this, but actually suggesting that VSCode is hanging onto the context of deleted files that Copilot has recently referenced - not just "recreating" them.

I've been working in a Golang project and there's been multiple instances where I've renamed files that Copilot recently interacted with, and the Golang extension quickly starts giving warnings that methods in the newly-renamed file are redeclared in a file with the original name (which does not exist). When I do the Developer: Reload Window action, the files re-appear similar to what @Lalitj03 describes.

[boug0035]

each time i reload the vscode window, deleted files stuck on context window get created again