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Blog entry by Angela Warfield

Instant VS File Compatibility – FileMagic

Instant VS File Compatibility – FileMagic

A "VS file" most often means something ending in the `.vs` extension, though the term can also describe Visual Studio’s `.vs` folder, so the meaning depends on the context you found it in; if it’s truly a `name.vs` file, it’s most often a vertex shader script used in graphics pipelines, typically written as plain text that opens fine in editors like VS Code or Visual Studio, and its contents may resemble HLSL with elements like `float4x4` and semantics such as `SV_Position`, or GLSL with items like `#version` and assignments to `gl_Position`.

Because the `.vs` extension has no single enforced definition, a `.vs` file may be plain text or binary depending on the software, and if it appears unreadable the right approach is checking its origin; but a folder named `.vs` next to a `.sln` file is Visual Studio’s cache directory containing IntelliSense/browsing data, not actual source files, and should be excluded from Git, with deletion generally safe since Visual Studio rebuilds it—though this resets local preferences such as open file lists.

boxshot-filemagic-bronze.png".vs" can mean something else because file extensions are simply open labels, with Windows relying on them only to match files to programs, letting different developers adopt `.vs` for various internal purposes, so assuming that all `.vs` files are vertex shaders isn’t reliable even though it’s common in graphics; another application might use `.vs` for its own script file, and Windows will still list it as a "VS file" unless some installed software has taken over the association.

A `.vs` file can also be "something else" because context decides what it really signals; in game engines it often corresponds to a vertex shader as seen alongside `.ps` or `.fs` in shader folders, but other systems may treat `.vs` as a text config or script with JSON-like formatting instead of shader syntax, and in certain cases it’s binary, unreadable in editors because it holds compiled or cached data, making the file’s true identity dependent on its source and the application that successfully opens it.

If you liked this article so you would like to receive more info concerning advanced VS file handler kindly visit the web-site. If you want a fast way to figure out what your `.vs` file actually is, treat the extension as a loose signal and verify it by checking the folder and nearby files, reviewing its "Opens with" info, and opening it in a text editor to see if it looks like shader code, another text format, or binary—these three checks typically answer the question quickly.

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