Why Does Visual Studio Code Keep Crashing and How Can You Stop This Annoying Error Forever?

What's Causing Your VS Code Window to Terminate Unexpectedly and Which Simple Fix Actually Works?

I've been working with Visual Studio Code for years, and I know how frustrating it can be when you're deep in coding and suddenly hit that dreaded "window terminated unexpectedly" error. Let me walk you through everything I've learned about fixing this problem.

What's Really Happening When VS Code Crashes

When you see this error message, your Visual Studio Code has essentially crashed because one of its background processes stopped working. Think of VS Code like a web browser - it's built on something called Electron, which uses the same engine that powers Chrome. Each window you open runs in its own separate process, kind of like having multiple browser tabs.

The error comes with different codes that tell us what went wrong:

• Code '1073741819' or '6' means the process crashed unexpectedly
• Code '-536870904' with reason 'oom' means your computer ran out of memory
• Code '9' with reason 'killed' means something forcefully shut down the process

Why This Error Happens

From my experience troubleshooting this issue, several things can trigger these crashes. Your graphics drivers might be outdated, causing conflicts with how VS Code renders its interface. Sometimes it's a problematic extension that's not playing nice with the latest version. Other times, VS Code's cache files get corrupted, or there's a bug in the Electron framework itself.

I've also seen cases where a specific file in your project causes the crash every time you try to open it. It's like having a bad apple that spoils the whole bunch.

Simple Solutions That Actually Work

Solution 1: Start With a Simple Restart

I know it sounds basic, but restarting your computer fixes this error more often than you'd think. When you restart, you're clearing out any frozen processes and giving your graphics drivers a fresh start. Your computer also reinitializes its memory, which helps if the crash was caused by memory issues.

Just click your Start menu, hit Power, and choose Restart.

Solution 2: Clean Out the Backup Folder

VS Code saves your unsaved work in a backup folder. Sometimes this folder gets corrupted and causes crashes when the program tries to read it. Here's how I clean it out:

1. Press Windows + R and type %appdata%
2. Go to Code > Backups
3. Delete everything in that folder
4. Restart VS Code

Warning: You'll lose any unsaved work from previous sessions, so only do this if you're okay with that trade-off.

Solution 3: Force Close Everything

Sometimes VS Code processes keep running in the background even after you close the window. I always check Task Manager to make sure everything's really closed:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc
2. Look for Visual Studio Code in the Processes tab
3. Right-click and choose End Task
4. Start VS Code fresh

Solution 4: Try the Advanced Sandbox Fix

This one's more technical, but sometimes VS Code's security sandbox conflicts with your system. You can temporarily disable it to see if that fixes the problem:

1. Close all VS Code windows
2. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
3. Type: code --disable-chromium-sandbox
4. See if VS Code works normally

Important note: This reduces security protections, so only use it temporarily and in a safe environment.

Solution 5: Complete Reinstall

When all else fails, I do a complete clean reinstall. This ensures all the Electron components are fresh and removes any corrupted files:

1. Uninstall VS Code completely
2. Delete leftover files at C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Code
3. Download the latest version from the official website
4. Install it fresh

What I've Learned From Experience

After dealing with this error countless times, I've noticed it often happens when:

• You have too many extensions installed
• Your system is low on memory
• Graphics drivers haven't been updated in months
• You're working with very large files or projects

The good news is that most of the time, a simple restart fixes it. If that doesn't work, cleaning out the backup folder usually does the trick.

Prevention Tips

To avoid this error in the future, I recommend:

• Keep your graphics drivers updated
• Regularly restart your computer
• Don't install too many VS Code extensions at once
• Close VS Code properly instead of just closing your laptop

Remember, this error is common and fixable. Don't let it derail your coding session - try these solutions in order, and you'll be back to programming in no time.