Auto Minify Web Files
Minify CSS, JavaScript, HTML, JSON, SVG, and XML in Visual Studio Code.
Creates a sibling minified file next to each source (for example app.js → app.min.js). Processing is 100% local — nothing is uploaded.
Features
- Minify the current file (Command Palette or editor context menu)
- Minify a file or whole folder from the Explorer
- Minify the entire workspace
- Optional minify on save
- Skips already-minified files (
*.min.js, etc.)
- Safe writes: temp file + replace; never overwrites the source by default
- Configurable exclusions, concurrency, and max file size
- Status bar toggle for minify-on-save
- Output channel: Auto Minify Web Files
Quick start
- Install the extension from the Marketplace.
- Open a supported file (for example
styles.css).
- Run Auto Minify: Minify Current File from the Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).
- A sibling file is created:
styles.min.css.
To minify automatically when you save:
- Click the status bar item Auto Minify: Off → On, or
- Set
autoMinifyWebFiles.minifyOnSave to true in Settings.
Supported file types
| Type |
Extensions |
Engine |
| JavaScript |
.js, .mjs, .cjs |
Terser |
| CSS |
.css |
Clean CSS |
| HTML |
.html, .htm |
html-minifier-terser |
| JSON |
.json |
Native JSON.parse / JSON.stringify |
| SVG |
.svg |
SVGO (conservative) |
| XML |
.xml |
fast-xml-parser |
Output naming
assets/css/style.css → assets/css/style.min.css
assets/js/app.js → assets/js/app.min.js
vendor.bundle.js → vendor.bundle.min.js
theme.dark.css → theme.dark.min.css
index.html → index.min.html
config.json → config.min.json
Already minified files are detected case-insensitively and skipped so you never get app.min.min.js.
Commands
| Command |
Description |
| Auto Minify: Minify Current File |
Minify the active editor document |
| Auto Minify: Minify File |
Explorer context menu on a supported file |
| Auto Minify: Minify Folder |
Recursively minify supported files in a folder |
| Auto Minify: Minify Workspace |
Process all workspace folders |
| Auto Minify: Toggle Auto Minify on Save |
Turn on-save minification on or off |
Settings
Open Settings and search for Auto Minify.
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
autoMinifyWebFiles.enabled |
true |
Master switch |
autoMinifyWebFiles.minifyOnSave |
false |
Minify on save |
autoMinifyWebFiles.exclude |
(sensible defaults) |
Glob patterns to skip |
autoMinifyWebFiles.include |
[] |
Force-include patterns (override exclude) |
autoMinifyWebFiles.outputSuffix |
.min |
Suffix before the extension |
autoMinifyWebFiles.showNotifications |
true |
Success toasts for manual commands |
autoMinifyWebFiles.preserveComments |
license |
all | license | none |
autoMinifyWebFiles.minifyInlineJavaScript |
false |
Minify inline JS in HTML |
autoMinifyWebFiles.minifyInlineCss |
false |
Minify inline CSS in HTML |
autoMinifyWebFiles.folderConcurrency |
4 |
Parallel files for folder/workspace |
autoMinifyWebFiles.maxFileSizeMB |
10 |
Skip larger sources |
Default exclusions
node_modules, .git, dist, build, .next, vendor, coverage/cache folders, and *.min.* files are excluded by default. Customize with autoMinifyWebFiles.exclude.
Privacy and security
- All minification runs locally in the VS Code extension host.
- No analytics, telemetry, or remote upload of file contents.
- Source files are never executed (
eval / shell minification are not used).
- Workspace content is treated as untrusted input.
- Destination paths are validated (same directory only; no path traversal).
Known limitations
- JSON with comments (JSONC) is not supported.
- Inline HTML JS/CSS minification is off by default (safer).
- SVG/XML minification prioritizes correctness over maximum size reduction.
- Source maps are not generated in this version.
Troubleshooting
- Open View → Output and select Auto Minify Web Files.
- Confirm the extension is enabled:
autoMinifyWebFiles.enabled.
- Confirm the file type is supported and not already
*.min.*.
- Check exclude patterns if folder minify skips expected files.
License
MIT — see the LICENSE file in the extension package.
