Perpetually "Refreshing virtual environments"

Type: Bug

I recently got a new laptop, and, after installing VS Code, Python and the Python extensions for VS Code, using VS Code just generally doesn't work. It might be an issue with the fact that it's a new version of python?
When I'm in a python file in VS Code, there is a message at the bottom of the screen that says "Refreshing virtual environments" that won't go away, and I can't run the code. Also the formatting is off; it seems to not recognise variables, which are usually colored but now aren't, as if they aren't defined. I tried clearing my cache and even uninstalling and reinstalling VS Code and Python.
When I click on the message, there is an expantion that shows "Initializing virtual environments Source: Python Environments", "Refreshing virtual environments Source: Python Environments", and "Refreshing Global Python interpreters Source: Python Environments"
It all just keeps buffering.

VS Code version: Code 1.105.1 (7d842fb85a0275a4a8e4d7e040d2625abbf7f084, 2025-10-14T22:33:36.618Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8665U CPU @ 1.90GHz (8 x 2112)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	15.82GB (9.31GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 03a7cc8a-66c5-4140-b792-69dc20654864
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Extensions (5)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
debugpy	ms-	2025.14.1
python	ms-	2025.16.0
vscode-pylance	ms-	2025.9.1
vscode-python-envs	ms-	1.10.0
vsliveshare	ms-	1.0.5959

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
pythonvspyt551cf:31249601
binariesv615:30325510
xtab-281-v2-bs48-for-codexv2:31406627
nativeloc1:31344060
dwcopilot:31170013
dwoutputs:31242946
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythonrdcb7:31342333
aj953862:31281341
4f60g487:31327383
nes-set-on:31340697
testaa123cf:31335227
6abeh943:31336334
envsactivate1:31353494
gendocstringf:31405073
0574c672:31404437
cloudbuttont:31379625
todos-1:31405332
v66_all_req:31402695
treatment_gpt5applypatchexclusively:31398171
3efgi100_wstrepl:31403338
trigger-command-fix:31379601
auto_model_enabled:31385282
grok-v2-prompt:31401223
use-responses-api:31390855
applesignin:31399435
anonusage:31403420
ddidtcf:31399634
2a0ce269:31405347

Hi! Can you try adding this to your user settings and see if it stops occurring python.useEnvironmentsExtension: false. Thanks

Eleanor Boyd (@eleanorjboyd)

Hello!

I just reinstalled a fresh windows, Installed VS Code with python extensions, but it is just hanging during startup:

I tried Eleanor Boyd (@eleanorjboyd) suggestion:
Turning it off does in fact not lead to THIS issue, however, I am still unable to run the code from the "Run button", but the Output tab recognizes the interpreter change.

Additionally, I tried different python version (3.13 from microsoft store, 3.14 from Python website). No success.

Switched to "js" locator from "native": No success.

I tried the pre-release of the extension: No success.

I installed conda using Miniforge. Also here it cannot resolve the interpreters.

However, what I found interesting is that creating a new virtual environment via the "Python: Select Interpreter" command, Conda does work and it also sets the resulting interpreter as the new default interpreter.
On the other hand, clicking the "venv" option instead there is literally nothing happening.

So my first thought was: Conda works but venv does not and maybe therefore also "hangs" in the early stages of the process and just stalls there. But I do not know details what could he stalling at there.

Hopefully, we can find a solution :)

Best,
Thorsten

System Info:

Version: 1.105.1 (user setup)
Commit: 7d842fb85a0275a4a8e4d7e040d2625abbf7f084
Date: 2025-10-14T22:33:36.618Z
Electron: 37.6.0
ElectronBuildId: 12502201
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.19.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

What finally worked for me was uninstalling all iterations of Python and vs code and reinstalling Python 3.13

Sorry this is is happening everyone! Can someone include their latest logs? I have not hit this problem myself so it is hard to narrow down to

Because we have not heard back with the information we requested, we are closing this issue for now. If you are able to provide the info later on, then we will be happy to re-open this issue to pick up where we left off.

Happy Coding!

fix: timeout handling for JSON-RPC requests in NativePythonFinder (mi…

Hello! This fix is now out on python-environment-extension version 1.17.10341640 (the newest pre-release). To switch, go to the marketplace for this extension and either select to install the latest pre-release or click the button that says "switch to pre-release" for the extension version. We would appreciate greatly if you are able to give this a try on the pre-release version and let us know if your bug is fixed!

Eleanor Boyd (@eleanorjboyd)

Eleanor Boyd (@eleanorjboyd)
Switched to pre-release 1.17.10341639
The perpetual refreshing is resolved for me.

Fixed for me.

I upgraded ms-python.vscode-python-envs from 1.10.0 to 1.16.0 (the newest available in the Open VSX Registry as of 2026-02-19) and the problem persisted. Then, (after some wrestling against the marketplace) I updated to 1.17.10341639 and it finally started to work properly.

Thanks to the author of PR 1154 🙏

Navigation Menu

Repository navigation

Perpetually "Refreshing virtual environments" #956

11 remaining items

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

Perpetually "Refreshing virtual environments" #956

Description

Activity

eleanorjboyd commented on Oct 28, 2025

thorstenwagner commented on Nov 2, 2025

Jasperwocky commented on Nov 12, 2025

eleanorjboyd commented on Nov 14, 2025

11 remaining items

github-actions commented on Jan 25, 2026

eleanorjboyd commented on Feb 3, 2026

marinomm commented on Feb 5, 2026

hhmmjjnn commented on Feb 20, 2026

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

Issue actions