A “VS file” is commonly taken as a file ending with `.vs`, though the same term is used informally for Visual Studio’s `.vs` folder, so the real meaning depends on its actual source; when it’s a real `.vs` file, it’s usually a vertex shader text file for graphics pipelines and opens cleanly in editors, containing HLSL-like syntax such as `float4x4` with semantics like `POSITION`, or GLSL-style code with `uniform` and assignments to `gl_Position`.
Because the `.vs` extension isn’t bound to one official format, 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 user workspace settings, 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 window arrangements.
“.vs” can mean something else because file extensions don’t impose universal structure, and Windows interprets them purely to decide what software should open them, allowing totally different programs to reuse `. If you liked this write-up and you would like to obtain much more facts relating to file extension VS kindly go to our web-page. vs` freely, so you shouldn’t assume every `.vs` file is a vertex shader even if that’s a common graphics pattern; another application may treat `.vs` as its own script format, and Windows will still list it as a “VS file” unless an installed program has claimed it.
A `.vs` file can also be “something else” because the project environment determines what the extension actually signals; in graphics work `.vs` typically hints at a vertex shader due to its placement beside `.ps` or `.fs` files under shader directories, but another tool might adopt `.vs` for text-based configs or scripts that remain readable yet have none of the HLSL/GLSL structure—showing JSON instead—and it may also be binary, displaying gibberish because it’s a compiled or cached asset, meaning the safest clues come from where the file originated and which program opens it correctly.
If you want to quickly determine what your `.vs` file means, think of the extension as a non-binding label and confirm by evidence: look at its folder neighbors, inspect the file properties for “Opens with,” and open it in a text editor to check whether it’s shader code, some other readable syntax, or binary junk—usually enough to identify it in under a minute.



