Fix: Disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU performance issues #267724

avarayr · 2025-09-22T00:49:21Z

Summary

macOS Darwin 26 (Tahoe) has a WindowServer bug that causes (some?) windows with shadows to consume 80%+ GPU resources. This change disables VSCode window shadows specifically for Darwin 25.x to work around the performance regression.

Changes

Added version check in defaultBrowserWindowOptions to detect Darwin 25.x
Set options.hasShadow = false only on affected macOS versions
Applied fix centrally to ensure all VSCode windows are affected consistently

Testing

Tested on macOS Tahoe - GPU usage drops significantly - from constant 80% to normal 15%

Notes

This is a temporary workaround until Apple fixes the underlying WindowServer bug in macOS Tahoe. The version check can be refined or removed once the OS-level issue is resolved.

… issues Fixes microsoft#267022 macOS Darwin 25.x (Tahoe) has a WindowServer bug that causes windows with shadows to consume 80%+ GPU resources. This change disables window shadows specifically for Darwin 25.x to work around the performance regression. The fix is applied in defaultBrowserWindowOptions to ensure all VSCode windows are affected consistently.

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR fixes severe GPU performance issues on macOS Tahoe (Darwin 26) by disabling window shadows as a workaround for a WindowServer bug that causes 80%+ GPU usage.

Adds OS version detection to identify affected macOS versions
Disables window shadows specifically for Darwin 25.x systems
Centralizes the fix in defaultBrowserWindowOptions to affect all VS Code windows

Copilot · 2025-09-22T00:49:45Z

src/vs/platform/windows/electron-main/windows.ts

 			options.acceptFirstMouse = false;
 		}
+
+		// Mac OS 26.?.? has a `WindowServer` bug that causes windows with shadows to cause 80%+ GPU load


The comment incorrectly states 'Mac OS 26.?.?' but the code checks for osMajorVersion === 25. According to the PR description, the issue affects Darwin 26 (Tahoe), but the version check targets Darwin 25. This mismatch needs to be corrected.

os.release() returns the kernel version 25.0.0, which is not the same as the marketing version - Mac OS 26.0
Since this bug is most likely in windowserver, which is a userland program, the underlying issue is likely to be fixed with a patch update to the OS version, whereas the kernel version will remain the same 25.0.0

Question: Since this is potentially unreliable, but short of running sw_vers -productVersion there is no other option, is it worth to add a check with sw_vers -productVersion for this?

Copilot · 2025-09-22T00:49:46Z

src/vs/platform/windows/electron-main/windows.ts

+		const [osMajorVersion, _osMinorVersion, _osPatchVersion] = release().split('.', 3).map(Number);
+
+		// In the future: once the bug is fixed in the OS, lock this into a specific version
+		if (osMajorVersion === 25) {


The version check targets Darwin 25, but according to the PR description and title, the issue affects macOS Tahoe which is Darwin 26. The condition should be osMajorVersion === 26 to match the intended target version.

Suggested change

if (osMajorVersion === 25) {

if (osMajorVersion === 26) {

f0rr0 · 2025-09-22T01:16:20Z

is it possible to disable this via settings by any chance for existing builds?

avarayr · 2025-09-22T01:24:08Z

✅ UPDATE — BETTER WORKAROUND ¹

launchctl setenv CHROME_HEADLESS 1

restart electron apps

(this will not survive computer reboots!)

¹ Why this works — chromium source code

Old method - patching (don't use)

~~for VSCode~~

sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js

~~for Cursor~~

sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js

You will need to re-run this on every update!

ToxicLand · 2025-09-22T04:37:12Z

is it possible to disable this via settings by any chance for existing builds?

nope, but you can run this in terminal in the meantime to patch it

for VSCode
sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js
for Cursor
sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js
You will need to re-run this on every update!

This is probably off-topic, but is there a solution like this for Discord? It uses an app.asar file.

tunglt1810 · 2025-09-23T02:04:13Z

✅ UPDATE — BETTER WORKAROUND ¹
launchctl setenv CHROME_HEADLESS 1
restart electron apps

(this will not survive computer reboots!)

¹ Why this works — chromium source code

~~Old method - patching~~

for VSCode
sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js
for Cursor
sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js
You will need to re-run this on every update!

you are god, my battery loves you

merlinaudio · 2025-09-23T18:38:22Z

@f0rr0 You may be able to use the "Custom UI" extension (or anything like it) to remove window shadows/window decorations. Alternatively, I think you can just fullscreen your vscode (cmd+ctrl+f) and the GPU usage issue should no longer occur

Manouchehri · 2025-09-24T12:49:52Z

For the lazy copy/paste people like myself, here's the command for VS Code Insiders:

sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code\ -\ Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js

deepak1556

Thanks for investigating the bug in upstream and creating this PR!

…formance issues (#267724)" This reverts commit e278d3a.

* Revert "Fix: Disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU performance issues (#267724)" This reverts commit e278d3a. * chore: bump electron@37.6.0 * chore: update build

jorgegarba · 2025-10-24T15:02:24Z

✅ UPDATE — BETTER WORKAROUND ¹
launchctl setenv CHROME_HEADLESS 1
restart electron apps

(this will not survive computer reboots!)

¹ Why this works — chromium source code

~~Old method - patching (don't use)~~

~~for VSCode~~
sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js
~~for Cursor~~
sed -i '' 's/experimentalDarkMode:!0}/experimentalDarkMode:!0,hasShadow:false}/g' /Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/main.js
You will need to re-run this on every update!

Thank you from Perú 🇵🇪
I was close to downgrading the OS I thought my line codes were inefficient; I mean, it is possible, but not in that way Lol.
Regards

claytonolley · 2025-10-24T15:14:24Z

@jorgegarba this is fixed in the latest vs code release. Also, I'm not sure if Apple has changed anything about this issue in particular but I'm having far fewer problems in macos 26.1 beta.

jorgegarba · 2025-10-24T15:18:14Z

@jorgegarba this is fixed in the latest vs code release. Also, I'm not sure if Apple has changed anything about this issue in particular but I'm having far fewer problems in macos 26.1 beta.

TY sir!, Actually I have the latest version about VScode, yesterday night my laptop was burning, with this line today morning , I started the work and so far it is stable 😃

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings September 22, 2025 00:49

avarayr changed the title ~~fix: disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU performance issues~~ Fix: Disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU performance issues Sep 22, 2025

Copilot AI reviewed Sep 22, 2025

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avarayr mentioned this pull request Sep 22, 2025

Electron-based apps cause a huge system-wide lag on macOS 26 electron/electron#48311

Closed

3 tasks

chore: clarify comment

21c7328

vs-code-engineering bot assigned deepak1556 Sep 22, 2025

This was referenced Sep 22, 2025

macOS 26 - Slows down entire system when open ferdium/ferdium-app#2253

Closed

High GPU Usage by WindowServer When Opening Projects in VS Code After macOS 26 Update #267022

Closed

avarayr mentioned this pull request Sep 22, 2025

fix: MacOS 26 Tahoe gpu bug pear-devs/pear-desktop#3927

Closed

chore: cleanup

815a9bd

deepak1556 approved these changes Sep 24, 2025

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deepak1556 added this to the September 2025 milestone Sep 24, 2025

deepak1556 enabled auto-merge (squash) September 24, 2025 17:11

rzhao271 approved these changes Sep 24, 2025

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deepak1556 merged commit e278d3a into microsoft:main Sep 24, 2025
17 checks passed

deepak1556 mentioned this pull request Sep 25, 2025

VSCode on macOS no longer has shadows for macOS 26.0 #268328

Closed

deepak1556 added a commit that referenced this pull request Oct 1, 2025

Revert "Fix: Disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU per…

85db8c5

…formance issues (#267724)" This reverts commit e278d3a.

vs-code-engineering bot locked and limited conversation to collaborators Nov 8, 2025

Fix: Disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU performance issues #267724

Fix: Disable window shadows on macOS Tahoe to prevent GPU performance issues #267724

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✅ UPDATE — BETTER WORKAROUND ¹

Old method - patching (don't use)

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ToxicLand commented Sep 22, 2025

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tunglt1810 commented Sep 23, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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✅ UPDATE — BETTER WORKAROUND ¹

Old method - patching

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merlinaudio commented Sep 23, 2025

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jorgegarba commented Oct 24, 2025

✅ UPDATE — BETTER WORKAROUND ¹

Old method - patching (don't use)

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claytonolley commented Oct 24, 2025

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jorgegarba commented Oct 24, 2025

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