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Use VS Code’s sessions list to inspect old agent sessions, then archive or mark a session done if you want to keep its history. For reclaiming space used by worktrees, use Chat: Open Worktree Cleanup and review each candidate before confirming. Delete a session only after checking its changes: Microsoft warns that session deletion is irreversible.
What counts as a stale agent session?
A session is a unit of agent work that brings together a workspace, code changes, and one or more chats. The sessions list shows each session’s status, type, and file changes, so inspect those details rather than treating every old entry as disposable. See Microsoft’s Manage agent sessions in VS Code.
There are several different actions that can make a session less visible, and they do not have the same effect:
| Action | What it does | Effect on history or work |
|---|---|---|
| Close a chat tab | Hides the chat from the chat area. | Does not delete the conversation. |
| Mark a supported chat done | Removes it from the active list. | Keeps its title and transcript. |
| Archive or mark a session done | Moves the session out of the active list. | Retains the session history; worktree handling may also preserve changes on the session branch. |
| Delete a session | Permanently removes the session. | Irreversible. Work isolated in a removed worktree can be lost if it has not been preserved. |
How to inspect and safely tidy sessions
- Open the sessions list. Review the status, session type, and file changes for each candidate. Pinning, archiving, or marking a session done can organize the list without permanently deleting its history.
- Archive or mark done if you may need the session later. For a worktree session, VS Code may commit uncommitted changes to the session branch before removing the worktree. If it cannot preserve the changes or remove the worktree, the worktree remains; the branch and commits are preserved.
- Use the worktree cleanup editor to reclaim worktree storage. Open the Command Palette and run Chat: Open Worktree Cleanup. Choose an inactivity threshold—7, 15, 30, 60, or 90 days—then review the estimated size of each listed worktree. Deselect any worktree you want to keep before confirming.
- Commit or integrate important work before permanent deletion. VS Code tries to preserve uncommitted work during cleanup, but do not rely on that as your only safeguard. Files that exist only in a removed worktree can be lost.
Which worktrees appear in cleanup?
The cleanup editor selects eligible worktrees by default, marks their sessions done, and schedules worktree removal. Before removal, VS Code attempts to commit uncommitted changes to the session branch. If it cannot preserve the changes or remove the worktree, it leaves the worktree in place. The session and branch history are preserved so restoring the session can recreate the worktree.
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Age alone does not make a worktree eligible. The editor excludes sessions that are active, running, waiting for input, pinned, already done, archived, untitled, or in an error state; it also excludes sessions newer than the selected threshold and worktrees whose size cannot be measured.
How to remove synced session data
Copilot session sync has a separate deletion choice for local and cloud data. In the Command Palette, run Delete Session Sync Data, select the sessions, and choose the deletion scope:
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- Delete from local and cloud: removes the data from this machine and GitHub.com. This cannot be undone.
- Delete from cloud only: removes the cloud copy while retaining the local copy.
To keep session data local going forward, disable chat.sessionSync.enabled. Turning sync off does not remove sessions already synced to GitHub.com; delete existing cloud copies separately. See Microsoft’s session sync documentation.
What automatic cleanup does—and does not do
The VS Code settings reference describes automatic cleanup of merged sessions as preview functionality that may change before general availability. The auto-mark-done and auto-delete settings are disabled by default; Microsoft documents 15 days as the recommended value for each configured period. Automatic permanent deletion applies only to sessions VS Code automatically marked done, not sessions you marked done yourself. See the Copilot settings reference.
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- ALWAYS MAKE THE SAVE: Compact design with massive capacity; With capacities up to 4TB, save exactly what you need to your drive – from large working files to game data and everything in between
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An experimental cleanup suggestion can appear when inactive worktrees use at least 5 GiB or when 20 worktrees are eligible. The setting that enables this suggestion defaults to false. These are documented product thresholds and defaults, not guarantees that a particular machine will show a prompt.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When should you delete rather than archive?
Archive or mark a session done to declutter while keeping its history. Use worktree cleanup when the goal is to remove eligible worktree folders and reclaim their storage, after reviewing the candidate list. Choose permanent session or synced-data deletion only when you intend to remove that data and have preserved any code you need.
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