FAQ
Does Vaste change my files?
Section titled “Does Vaste change my files?”No. Vaste is a viewer: it only reads the files you open, and the title bar shows Read-only for every file. Bookmarks, settings, and indexes are saved in Vaste’s own data folder, never next to your files. See Data and cache locations.
Can I edit a file in Vaste?
Section titled “Can I edit a file in Vaste?”No. To collect lines and write notes as you read, use the scratchpad.
Does Vaste send my data anywhere?
Section titled “Does Vaste send my data anywhere?”No. The only connection Vaste makes is the license check, which sends the license key and the computer’s name to the license server. It sends no usage data, nothing about your files, and does not check for updates. Crash reports stay on your computer. See Privacy.
Do I have to pay for Vaste?
Section titled “Do I have to pay for Vaste?”Not for personal use. Work use needs a yearly license, and every feature works with or without one. See License and pricing.
How large a file can Vaste open?
Section titled “How large a file can Vaste open?”Vaste sets no maximum file size. It reads a file as you scroll instead of loading it into memory, so a file of many gigabytes opens like a small one. Some features work within set sizes and counts, such as the 10,000 matches in the search results list. See Limits.
Why is the first open of a large file slow?
Section titled “Why is the first open of a large file slow?”The first time you open a file, Vaste reads it from start to end to build its line index, which lets it go to any line at once. It keeps the index, so the next time you open the same file it opens quickly, unless the file has changed. See The first open of a large file.
How much disk space does Vaste use?
Section titled “How much disk space does Vaste use?”The line indexes take most of the space. An index is much smaller than its file, and Vaste deletes the index of a file you have not opened for 30 days. Decompressed copies of compressed files take space too, up to the Decompressed cache size setting, 10 GB by default. To free the space at once, quit Vaste and delete the indexes/ folder. See Data and cache locations.
Why does my file open in Hex view?
Section titled “Why does my file open in Hex view?”Vaste opens a file in Hex view when it finds a NUL byte near its start and its extension is not one that Vaste reads as text, CSV, TSV, or NDJSON. A UTF-16 text file opens this way, because UTF-16 text contains NUL bytes. Press Ctrl + H to show the file in Text view. See Supported formats and UTF-16 files.
Why does my .json file open as text?
Section titled “Why does my .json file open as text?”Vaste opens every .json file in Text view, even when each line is a JSON record. To read a file with one JSON record per line in NDJSON view, rename it with the .ndjson or .jsonl extension. To read the JSON inside one line, use JSON in a line.
Why do some characters show as �?
Section titled “Why do some characters show as �?”The file’s bytes are not valid in the encoding Vaste uses for it. Select the encoding in the status bar and choose the right one, for example windows-1252 for a Latin-1 file. See Encodings and line endings.
Why are long lines cut off?
Section titled “Why are long lines cut off?”Text view shows the first 2,000 bytes of each line. To copy a longer line in full, right-click it and select Copy line, or use JSON in a line for a JSON payload. See Long lines.
Why does my CSV table look wrong?
Section titled “Why does my CSV table look wrong?”Vaste may have chosen the wrong delimiter, quote, or header row, for example for a semicolon-separated file. Select the dialect item in the status bar and correct it. See CSV dialect.
Why is there no SQL button?
Section titled “Why is there no SQL button?”The SQL button shows in Table view and NDJSON view only. Switch to one of those views. See SQL queries.
Why does my checksum not match the published one?
Section titled “Why does my checksum not match the published one?”For a compressed download, such as a .zip or .gz file, Vaste computes the checksum of the decompressed content, not of the file you downloaded. Check the archive with your system’s tool instead. See Checksums.
How do I reset Vaste?
Section titled “How do I reset Vaste?”Quit Vaste and delete its data folder, or only the parts you want to reset. See Reset Vaste.
Can I use Vaste in a terminal?
Section titled “Can I use Vaste in a terminal?”Yes. vaste-tui is a separate terminal app that opens the same files in a text interface. See Terminal UI.