{"id":3751,"date":"2026-02-16T15:57:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codingfix.com\/?p=3751"},"modified":"2026-04-04T19:05:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T19:05:34","slug":"ddev-vs-code-integration-disk-cleanup-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codingfix.com\/ddev-vs-code-integration-disk-cleanup-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"DDEV for Dummies 3: VS Code Integration, Troubleshooting, and Disk Cleanup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

DDEV: VS Code integration, edit config end disk cleanup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that your DDEV environment is humming along, it\u2019s time to optimize. Local development on Windows with WSL2 is powerful, but it requires knowing a few “under-the-hood” tricks to keep things fast and clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Precision Editing with Nano<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes you need to tweak the DDEV global settings (like changing ports or default behavior). While you could<\/em> open these files with a Windows editor, you risk messing up the line endings (LF vs CRLF), which Linux hates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The safest way is to use Nano<\/strong>, the built-in Linux text editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to edit global_config.yaml<\/code>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Open your Ubuntu terminal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Type: nano ~\/.ddev\/global_config.yaml<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Navigation:<\/strong> Use the arrow keys<\/strong> to move around. There is no mouse support here!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Editing:<\/strong> Just start typing. To delete, use Backspace or Delete.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Saving:<\/strong> Press Ctrl + O<\/code> (Write Out), then hit Enter<\/strong> to confirm the filename.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Exiting:<\/strong> Press Ctrl + X<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    2. The “Spring Cleaning” Protocol (Recovering GBs of Space)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Deleting a folder in Windows doesn’t always give you your disk space back because WSL2 uses a virtual disk that expands but rarely shrinks. Use this “Definitive Cleanup” when you finish a large project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Inside Ubuntu:<\/strong>\n