Settings for Disabled Persisted Undo

[calendee]

Version Info:
Version: 1.44.0
Commit: 2aae1f2
Date: 2020-04-08T08:23:56.137Z
Electron: 7.1.11
Chrome: 78.0.3904.130
Node.js: 12.8.1
V8: 7.8.279.23-electron.0
OS: Darwin x64 19.3.0

Hello,

The newest release of VS Code has a "persisted undo stack". It would be great to have a setting to disable this. In my workflow, I frequently close files for the specific purpose of disabling the undo stack. When I reopen files, I would not find it useful to be able to undo in them.

Thanks!

[calendee]

FYI: Completely closing VS Code seems to be a temporary workaround to bust this persisted undo cache.

[mmghv]

Also adding an option to clear the undo stack for the current file would be useful.

When do I need that? for example when I commit some changes, I need to clear the undo stack so when I do some experiments I can spam Ctrl + Z to get to the initial state, and then maybe go couple of steps forward (redo).

I usually did this "clear undo" by reopening the file, now it won't work, don't get me wrong, this new "persisted undo" feature is great, but it needs a way to clear the undo to go with it.

[leosdad]

Yes, please expose this as an option. In my case, I keep internal backups and I want the Undo/Redo history to be gone as soon as I close the file. In fact I'd also like to have the option to clear it at will, like some old-style code editors did (it was called Clear Undo history, I believe).

[esd3v]

I frequently close files for the specific purpose of disabling the undo stack. When I reopen files, I would not find it useful to be able to undo in them.

Same. Add an option for this, please.

[ghost]

I work around the lack of this option by binding a shortcut to the Developer: Reload window command, so I can clear the undo history whenever I want. (This is what I do normally anyway, when I want to clear the undo history without closing all my files and reopening them.)

However, i'd much prefer to have an option to disable the new behavior for the times where I want to clear the undo history of a given file by simply closing it. Alternatively, I'd like a command to clear the undo history for the current document as well as a specific command to clear the undo history for the whole workspace.

My own concern is for same reason stated by @mmghv - so can spam Ctrl+Z when I'm prototyping. Aside from that, the behavior is uncommon and unexpected.

[khanakia]

I am having the same issue. I do not want to undo files once the tabs are closed. Please add an option to disable persistent undo.

[ehaynes99]

This is particularly nefarious if you just happen to have a file open during an external change (e.g. a git pull or git checkout). Days later you can accidentally "revert" individual files from those commits. I realize that this is technically possible prior to this feature, but it's far more likely now.

[alexdima]

Starting with the next Insiders build, this can be effectively turned off via "files.maxMemoryForClosedFilesUndoStackMB": 0. I will bring up the name in tomorrow's stand-up meeting and keep you posted if we rename the setting.

[mmghv]

@alexdima Great, thank you.
Do you think it's possible to add a command to clear undo history for current file/session? that would honestly be very useful and would allow for more control while trying benefiting from the "persist undo" feature, should I open a new issue for that?

[aeschli]

Verified that setting to 0 will no longer remember undos for closed editor

[mmghv]

Opened issue #96601 to add a command for clearing undo history.

[alexdima]

I have received feedback in the standup and the setting will now be replaced by files.restoreUndoStack which can be set to true or false, starting with the next insiders build.