VS Code blank UI when it launched on mac [os High Sierra]

Question

I have a big problem with the VS Code(v.1.30) on mac with High Sierra 10.13.6.

When I launch the app, the interface doesn't load completely. The content of VSCode window is blank.

This is a screen of the problem:

I already use the command code --disable-gpu to disable the GPU acceleration, but the situation hasn't changed.

How can I solve this problem?

Answer 1

Also see the fix suggested in issues: 1.30 crash on macOS High Sierra, a quite recent discussion of the problem.

 code --user-data-dir <some empty folder>

and

rm /Users/omerlh/Library/Application Support/Code

And then I assume you are 1.30.2?"

Answer 2

I'm currently trying to fix this issue in my own app - I came across this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8459195.

It is suggesting that you download a "Combo Update" to rectify the issue (a Google search leads me to believe they mean https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1970?locale=en_US)

Hope that helps! For people who know how to fix this from the app's code, feel free to answer my question here.

Answer 3

I was experiencing the blank screen, without any recent VSCode updates.

It was only happening with one particular project. I moved .vscode out of the project and it opened. After closing it and returning the same .vscode it is now opening fine.

All that was in .vscode was some custom cspell dictionaries & cspell configuration, and this handful of settings:

{
  "editor.renderLineHighlight": "all",
  "window.zoomLevel": -1.2,
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.formatOnSaveTimeout": 3000,
  "files.autoSave": "onFocusChange",
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "todo.file.name": "*.todo"
}

I suspect in my case the root of the problem might be the elixir language server, which has frequent problems requiring the deletion of its build directory, especially when multiple elixir projects are open simultaneously.