Troubleshooting and reporting a bug

What to try when something does not work, what each message means, and how to report a bug.

Try the short checklist first, check the message you see in the table below, and if you are still stuck, report it with the details listed at the end. A good report is the fastest way to a fix.

Try this first

Update the extension. Open the Extensions view, click the extension and look for an Update button. See Install. Also update VS Code if you can.
Reload the window. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P), type Reload Window and run Developer: Reload Window.
Check the file language. Look at the bottom right of the VS Code window. It must say CSS or JavaScript. If it says something else, click it, or run Change Language Mode from the Command Palette, and pick the right one. The commands and menu entries only work for these two languages.
Check the file is editable. The keyboard shortcuts only work when the cursor is in the editor and the file is not read-only.
Check the settings. Open Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+,) and search for css-js-minifier. Make sure nothing is set in a way you did not expect, and remember that workspace settings override user settings. See Configuration.
Try a tiny file. Paste the sample from the Quick start into a new file named style.css. If that works, the problem is something in your file.
Read the extension log. Open View > Output and choose CSS & JS Minifier in the drop-down on the right of the panel. If the extension started, it prints [INFO] CSS & JS Minifier extension activated successfully.

Messages you may see

Message	What it means and what to do
`File type '<language>' is not supported. Only CSS and JavaScript files can be minified.`	The file is not in CSS or JavaScript language mode. Change the language (step 3 above) or use a different file. SCSS, Less, TypeScript and JSX are not supported.
`Cannot minify empty css file. Please add some content first.` (or `javascript`)	The file has no content. Add some and try again.
`CSS minification error: ...` or `JavaScript minification error: ...`	The code has a syntax error the minifier cannot read. Your file was not changed. Fix the code at the place the message points to. See Examples.
`Please save the file to disk before using 'Minify and Save as New File'. ...`	The file is new and has never been saved, so there is no folder to put the copy in. Save the file (`Ctrl+S` or `Cmd+S`) and run the command again.
`Failed to open file: ...`	The file chosen in the Explorer could not be opened. Check that it still exists and that you can read it.
`CSS & JS Minifier failed to activate: ... Check the Output panel for details.`	The extension could not start. Open the CSS & JS Minifier output (step 7 above) and include it in a report. If you installed from a `.vsix` file, make sure it is the right one for your system, see Install.

Other things people run into

The commands are missing from the right-click menu. They only show for CSS and JavaScript files. Check the language (step 3).
Minify on save does nothing after I turned it on. Reload the window. The extension reads that setting only when it starts.
The shortcut does nothing. Check the shortcuts table for your system. Another extension may use the same keys: open the Keyboard Shortcuts editor (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S or Cmd+K Cmd+S), search for minify, and look for a conflict. You can also run the command from the Command Palette.
My file was minified and I want it back. Press Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z in the editor, then save. If that is too late, restore it from version control.
It is not installable on my system. Windows, macOS and standard Linux (glibc) are covered. Alpine Linux is not in the current release, it arrives with the next one, see Install.

Report a bug

Open a bug report on GitHub: new bug report. You need a free GitHub account. The form asks for the items below, so it helps to have them ready. The first four are required, the rest are optional but make a fix much faster.

Required:

What happened. What you expected, and what you got instead. The exact text of any error message helps most.
Steps to reproduce. What you clicked or pressed, in order, starting from opening the file. Say whether it is a CSS or a JavaScript file.
Extension and VS Code version. For the extension, click it in the Extensions view, the version is next to its name. For VS Code, use Help > About on Windows and Linux, or Code > About Visual Studio Code on macOS.
Operating system and architecture. For example Windows 11 x64, macOS 15 on Apple silicon, Ubuntu 24.04 ARM. The OS line in the About dialog shows it.

Optional:

A minimal sample file. The smallest CSS or JavaScript that shows the problem. Remove anything private first.
Your settings. Copy the css-js-minifier.* lines from your settings.json, or say that you use the defaults.
The extension log. The text from the CSS & JS Minifier output (step 7 above), if there is any.
Anything else. Screenshots, or other extensions you use.

You can also paste this into the report and fill it in:

What happened (expected, and actual with the exact message):
Steps to reproduce (CSS or JavaScript file):
1.
2.
Extension version and VS Code version:
Operating system and architecture:
Sample file (optional):
Settings, css-js-minifier.* (optional):
Extension log (optional):

Ask a question or suggest something

An idea or a missing feature: open a feature request.
A question about how to use the extension, or something wrong or missing in this guide: open a blank issue and write it in your own words. There is no form for these.

Before you open a new one, search the existing issues. Someone may have asked the same thing.

Report a security problem

Do not post it in a public issue. Use GitHub’s private reporting instead: report a vulnerability privately. Only the project maintainers can see it.

Want to help fix it?

Contributions are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md and the pages for contributors on this site, beginning with the documentation index.