Diagnose Slow Solution Loading in Visual Studio 2019 and 2022

Visual Studio can appear to freeze while opening a solution: the title bar shows Not Responding, Solution Explorer lists projects as loading, and the interface stays blocked for 30 to 60 seconds or longer. The useful takeaway is to isolate extensions first by launching Visual Studio in Safe Mode, then check solution load behavior, per-user data, source control binding, and antivirus exclusions before repairing workloads.

Recognizable condition

• Solution open takes roughly 30 to 60 seconds or more.
• devenv.exe displays Not Responding in the title bar.
• Solution Explorer shows projects in a loading state after the shell appears.
• Menus and toolbars remain blocked even after the solution tree is visible.

Cause and first-check table

Observation	Likely cause	First check
Solution opens quickly in Safe Mode but slowly in normal mode	Startup extension or package	Compare normal versus Safe Mode load time
Activity Log shows repeated extension or package errors at open	Faulty extension	Review Activity Log around solution open
Load behavior set to load every project	Large solution loading all projects	Check Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > General
Solution bound to an unreachable source control server	Source control retry delays	Check source control binding status
Antivirus scanning build or output folders during load	File I/O scanning	Test with a solution folder exclusion

Ordered checks

Check 1: Compare normal mode with Safe Mode

Launch Visual Studio in Safe Mode so extensions and third-party packages do not load. Safe Mode temporarily disables extensions and may reset some UI behavior; retest in normal mode afterward.

Where to run: Windows Run dialog, Command Prompt, or PowerShell.

Required permissions: standard user account; administrator rights are not required to launch.

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\\\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" /SafeMode

Replace <Year> with 2019 or 2022, and <Edition> with Community, Professional, or Enterprise as installed. Open the same solution and time it with a stopwatch.

Expected check: if the solution opens materially faster in Safe Mode, an extension or package is the likely cause. If Safe Mode is still slow, proceed to per-user data and source control checks.

Check 2: Review the Activity Log

Visual Studio writes an Activity Log that records extension and package load errors. Open the version-specific log file in a text editor or XML viewer.

Path: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\\ActivityLog.xml

Use 16.0 for Visual Studio 2019 and 17.0 for Visual Studio 2022. Look for error entries clustered around the time you opened the solution, especially messages mentioning extension IDs, package load failures, or unhandled exceptions.

Required permissions: standard user read access to the AppData folder.

Check 3: Confirm solution load behavior

Go to Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > General. The project load option controls whether Visual Studio loads every project immediately or only the startup project. Solutions with many projects can stall when set to load all projects up front.

Expected check: if the option is set to always load all projects, change it to load only the startup project or prompt, then reopen the solution and compare load time.

Check 4: Check source control binding

Go to File > Source Control > Advanced > Change Source Control. If the solution is bound to a server that is unreachable, Visual Studio may block while retrying the connection.

Risk: unbinding or repointing affects team members. Confirm the server is unreachable or migrate the binding with the team before changing it.

Check 5: Test antivirus exclusions

Antivirus software can scan solution output, bin, or obj folders while Visual Studio loads projects. Add the solution folder to the antivirus exclusion list only if it contains trusted code and corporate policy permits it.

Expected check: after adding the exclusion, reopen the solution multiple times to confirm the improvement is repeatable.

Fixes tied to findings

• Extensions: In Safe Mode, open Extensions > Manage Extensions and disable or uninstall recently installed extensions. Restart in normal mode and retest.
• Per-user data: Close Visual Studio, then delete the solution’s .vs folder. This folder stores per-user window layouts, solution user options, and IntelliSense caches. It does not delete source code or project files. Deletion is not reversible without a backup, and window layouts reset.
• Source control: Unbind or repoint to a reachable server after team confirmation.
• Workloads or SDKs: Open Visual Studio Installer, choose Modify for the installed edition, and add any missing workloads required by the solution.
• Antivirus: Add trusted solution directories to the exclusion list following corporate policy.

Verification

• Measure solution open time with a stopwatch in normal mode, then repeat in Safe Mode and compare.
• Open Activity Log from the version-specific AppData folder and filter for errors during the same solution open.
• Verify the load behavior setting in Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > General before and after changing it.
• After deleting .vs or changing exclusions, reopen the same solution several times to confirm repeatable improvement.
• Record Visual Studio edition and version, operating system, project count, and whether the issue reproduces on a clean clone or another user profile before escalating.

Escalation criteria

• Escalate if Safe Mode still loads slowly, or if a clean clone on another machine reproduces the delay. Include the Activity Log, a process dump, and a minimal reproducible solution.
• If only one machine is affected, suspect the user profile, antivirus configuration, disk performance, or network source control binding.

Limitations and version assumptions

This guide applies to Visual Studio 2019 (16.x) and Visual Studio 2022 (17.x) on Windows. It does not cover C++ build-specific hangs, Azure DevOps server connectivity beyond binding, or hangs caused by third-party build tools. Because current verification is required, test Safe Mode, .vs deletion, and antivirus exclusions in your environment before applying them to team machines.