Products · Product
WSL2
Raised as a usability problem by 179 people on Hacker News over 11 years (2016–2026), in 137 threads.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Every issue, all time, most people first
Accessing Windows files from WSL2 is very slowUnreviewed
20162026- WSL running in background slows the laptop so much the user avoids it2026-10-10
- Git and npm install are downright unusable due to slow file access2026-06-05
- Files inside the WSL2 VHD are slow and awkward to reach from Windows2026-06-05
Setting up WSL is unintuitive and its relation to Windows is confusingUnreviewed
20162026- New WSL users get tripped up because Windows path is included in Linux PATH by default2026-03-08
- Filesystem boundary between Windows and WSL2 is painful and confusing to work across2024-09-10
- Configuring a shared directory between WSL2 and Windows is painful2024-07-13
Accessing Linux files from Windows is very slowUnreviewed
20162026- Shared filesystem is incredibly slow and USB passthrough doesn't work out of the box2026-05-24
- Must set up everything twice and file system access is slow across Windows and Linux2023-11-27
- Accessing files across Windows and Linux is so slow it forces duplicate repo checkouts2023-09-19
SSH into WSL unexpectedly opens a cmd.exe promptUnreviewed
20162026- Running services in WSL is a disaster; exposing ports to the host is hard2026-10-10
- Docker installed in WSL2 still looks for a Windows .exe, and systemd-dependent tools break unexpectedly2021-01-21
- Case sensitivity between Windows and WSL2 causes confusing, weird error messages2021-01-02
Using WSL with VS Code and Windows tools is cumbersome and siloedUnreviewed
20162026- Zone identifier files are annoying, VS Code takes much longer to start when connecting via WSL2026-06-02
- WSL gets stuck so VS Code can't connect, pegging CPU and forcing restarts2025-08-06
- Getting WSL to work with VS Code and Windows tools is cumbersome and siloed2018-11-24
Memory compaction causes crashes and hangs despite tuning memory useUnreviewed
20162026- WSL hogs memory, making the machine sluggish for the user2024-02-22
- Memory leak makes WSL machines unresponsive when running many Docker containers2022-12-05
- Docker eats all WSL memory and never releases it2022-09-04
File operations are so slow that diagnosing them wastes daysUnreviewed
20162026- Slow performance with many files and frequent system breakage2022-11-16
- File operations are so slow the user wasted a day diagnosing it2021-01-02
- File system has quirks that come up every once in a while2020-06-01
Copy and paste shortcuts are inconsistent in the WSL terminalUnreviewed
20162026- Cannot do mouse select/paste easily inside the WSL2 terminal2022-04-07
- Default WSL terminal is unusable for anything beyond simple commands, like vim and tmux2020-07-04
- Copy and paste shortcuts are inconsistent and annoying to use in WSL terminal2019-09-25
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Neovim and tmux run very slowly, making Neovim barely usable under WSL2026-10-19
- Running services in WSL is a disaster; exposing ports to the host is hard2026-10-10
- WSL running in background slows the laptop so much the user avoids it2026-10-10
- Files inside the WSL2 VHD are slow and awkward to reach from Windows2026-06-05
- Git and npm install are downright unusable due to slow file access2026-06-05
- Shell window captures keys like Ctrl-V, making SSH sessions awkward2026-06-05
- Zone identifier files are annoying, VS Code takes much longer to start when connecting via WSL2026-06-02
- Shared filesystem is incredibly slow and USB passthrough doesn't work out of the box2026-05-24
- Windows Subsystem for Linux is frustratingly slow a lot of the time2026-03-27
- Debian in WSL ships without man pages, leaving no built-in help2026-03-21
- New WSL users get tripped up because Windows path is included in Linux PATH by default2026-03-08
- Opening folders with hundreds of images is very slow and clunky2026-03-02
- WSL hangs after computer sleeps, forcing user to save work and reboot2026-01-28
- Installed under a different admin user, so the original user's \\WSL$ shares don't appear2025-12-02
- Git status takes seconds on large codebases; IDE cannot watch files over network share2025-12-01
- Blurry windows, oversized cursor, and clicks landing offset from the cursor2025-11-11
- WSL gets stuck so VS Code can't connect, pegging CPU and forcing restarts2025-08-06
- Company security software makes HyperV-enabled systems effectively unusable2025-06-22
- Git status on repos shared with Windows IDE takes tens of minutes due to permission changes2025-05-20
- Running it feels like managing a VM, which the commenter found a constant pain2025-05-20
- Linux filesystem cannot reclaim space, forcing manual zeroing and compacting of the WSL disk2025-05-20
- Graphical and interactive apps are miserable to use, with X11 window management and GPU features broken2025-05-19
- Simple packages fail to install in the official Ubuntu distro, and it feels slow and glitchy2025-05-19
- Opening the shell and running ssh fails, so the user won't use that computer2025-05-19
- Networking breaks after sleep, and slow filesystem forces users to track two home directories2025-05-19
- Constant networking, VPN and display problems take more time than actual development2025-05-19
- Copying files between Windows and WSL is extremely slow2025-05-19
- New terminals are delayed for a long time after closing one, forcing users to disable systemd2025-05-19
- Ends up in unrecoverable state, forcing full uninstall and reinstall weekly2025-03-28
- Accessing Windows files from within WSL2 is surprisingly slow2025-02-14
- Developers find WSL disk performance too slow to work with2024-10-18
- Filesystem boundary between Windows and WSL2 is painful and confusing to work across2024-09-10
- Using non-VS Code editors through the network share is not great and causes compatibility problems2024-09-02
- Large file transfers cache in RAM and slow the whole machine to a halt2024-07-24
- Configuring a shared directory between WSL2 and Windows is painful2024-07-13
- Getting a high-resolution Ubuntu desktop requires searching forums and running scripts that go stale2024-05-14
- Hardware, networking and filesystem inconsistencies make WSL less usable than macOS's native Unix2024-04-08
- WSL makes server starts, deployments and git operations noticeably slow2024-02-27
- System becomes unresponsive and commands hang with no visible explanation of what's happening2024-02-27
- Rough edges make daily use frustrating despite long-term use2024-02-27
- WSL hogs memory, making the machine sluggish for the user2024-02-22
- Struggled to install and use WSL, eventually gave up2023-12-28
- Must set up everything twice and file system access is slow across Windows and Linux2023-11-27
- Copying lots of data first buffers files in RAM, making it unusable2023-10-09
- WSL session takes 10+ seconds to boot the first time2023-10-08
- Slow disk IO, high CPU use, and no internet over VPN persist for years2023-10-06
- Host GUI tools can't work on files in the Linux filesystem, and inotify can't cross the boundary2023-09-19
- Accessing files across Windows and Linux is so slow it forces duplicate repo checkouts2023-09-19
- Confusing version history: WSL2 is 1.0.0 on the Microsoft Store, unclear which version is which2023-09-19
- Git commands on Windows-mounted repos take multiple seconds to run2023-08-30