VS Code freezes on pristine builds

Question

Hi. Last project was on v2.4.x and returning for a new one after loving the platform previously. However, the VS Code dev environment seems far less stable that it was 2 years ago. There are a number of small things but by far the most troublesome is that after approx 50% of pristine builds (or those after changing device tree or prj.conf) VS Code latches up and is unresponsive. Have to end task it and relaunch costing me a lot of time restarting debug sessions. Does not seem to matter if the build is launched via "Build", "Flash" or "Debug". Been using it again for about 3 months and feels like this issue has appeared in the last month or so. 
 I have deleted the build folder for a clean slate, even recloned the repo. I just have the recommended extensions all latest (list below) and SDK and toolchain 3.1.1. VS Code is latest, 
 Thanks in advance. 
 Version: 1.111.0 (user setup) Commit: ce099c1ed25d9eb3076c11e4a280f3eb52b4fbeb Date: 2026-03-06T23:06:10Z Electron: 39.6.0 ElectronBuildId: 13330601 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.0 V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0 OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200 
 ms-vscode.cmake-tools@1.22.28 ms-vscode.cpp-devtools@0.3.6 ms-vscode.cpptools@1.30.5 ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack@1.5.1 ms-vscode.cpptools-themes@2.0.0 ms-vscode.hexeditor@1.11.1 nathanj.cppcheck-plugin@0.0.3 nordic-semiconductor.nrf-connect@2026.3.1484 nordic-semiconductor.nrf-connect-extension-pack@2025.4.4 nordic-semiconductor.nrf-devicetree@2026.3.617 nordic-semiconductor.nrf-kconfig@2026.1.230 nordic-semiconductor.nrf-terminal@2026.3.273 trond-snekvik.gnu-mapfiles@1.1.0 twxs.cmake@0.0.17

geoffF · Accepted Answer

Some additional info. Given it was happening right at the end I have since disabled the OS notifications (so called "toast notifications") in both VS Code and in Win11 itself. In VS Code search for toast in settings and turn it all off. Win11 it is under Settings > System > Notifications. Fingers crossed I have done around 10 pristine builds now and not seen it again! Will report again if fully resolved after little more time.

VS Code freezes on pristine builds

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