Limits

Vaste sets no maximum file size: it reads a file as you scroll instead of loading it into memory. The limits below apply to what Vaste shows, copies, or keeps at one time. Each row links to the page that explains the limit.

Viewing

Limit	Value	Details
Part of a line shown in Text view	First 2,000 bytes, about 1,000 characters in UTF-16 files	Long lines
Columns shown in Table view	1,000	Table view
Column width	8 to 60 characters	Arrange columns
Cell value shown in the popover	40 lines	Read a cell
NDJSON row preview	120 characters	NDJSON view
Expanded NDJSON record	300 lines	NDJSON view
JSON in a line	Lines up to 4 MiB, 300 lines shown	JSON in a line

Search

Limit	Value	Details
Matches in the results list	10,000	The 10,000-match limit
Text around each match in the list	50 bytes on each side (50 characters in UTF-16 files)	Working with results
Capture group text	4,096 bytes, 20 groups listed	Capture groups
Finished searches kept for combining	Up to 100	Combining searches
Saved filters	100	Saved filters and alerts
Text checked by an alert after a reload	Up to 64 MiB of new text	Saved filters and alerts
Pinned result tabs	10, with names shortened to 30 characters	Pinned results
Grep view context lines	0 to 10	Grep view
Find in files matches	10,000	Find in files
Find in files recent searches	8, until you quit Vaste	Find in files

Copying

Limit	Value	Details
Line range copy	100,000 lines, each cut after 2,000 bytes	Selecting and copying
Block copy	10,000 lines, each cut after 2,000 bytes	Selecting and copying
Copy line	One line of up to 4 MiB	Copy a single line
Copy matching lines	10,000 lines. Export… has no limit.	Copy or export matching lines
Hex view copy	64 KiB	Select and copy bytes
Scratchpad	1,048,576 characters	Scratchpad

Tables

Limit	Value	Details
Rows used to find column types	First 1,000 data rows	Table view
Sortable file	10,000,000 data rows	Sort by a column
Distinct values counted	100,000	Column statistics
Sample values in column statistics	20	Column statistics
Rows checked for duplicates	First 50,000,000	Data quality
Rows in one copy or scratchpad send	10,000	Copy formats
CSV dialect preview	10 rows	CSV dialect
Schema panel sample	10,000 lines, until you select Analyze all lines	The Schema panel
Schema panel key paths	10,000	The Schema panel
SQL results shown	10,000 rows. Export has no limit.	SQL queries
SQL query memory	2 GB	SQL queries

Logs

Limit	Value	Details
Where Vaste looks for a log level	First 256 bytes of a line	Log levels and highlighters
Where Vaste looks for a timestamp	First 160 bytes of a line	Timestamps and go to time
Timestamp format detection	First 200 lines, 80% of which must match	Set the timestamp format
Delta-t look-back	64 lines	Time between lines
Highlighter rules	200, in 8 colors	Highlighters
Highlighter matches per rule and line	64	Highlighters

Files

Limit	Value	Details
Compressed file confirmation	Decompressed size unknown, over 1 GiB, or over 80% of the free space	The size prompt
Decompressed cache size	1 to 500 GB, 10 GB by default	The decompressed cache
Text added at once for a quick reload	64 MiB	Live reload
Recent files	20	Opening files
Last session	Windows closed within 5 minutes of the last one, and files closed in the last 30 days	Sessions and windows
Unused line indexes	Deleted after 30 days	Data and cache locations

Hex view

Limit	Value	Details
Bytes read by the data inspector	8	Data inspector
Strings minimum length	2 to 256 characters, 4 by default	Printable strings
Text shown per strings result	200 characters	Find strings
Entropy strip	At most 16,384 parts, each at least 4 KiB	Entropy strip

Other

Limit	Value	Details
Viewer font size	10 to 24 pixels	Settings
Interface font size	10 to 20 pixels	Interface font
Imported theme file	2 MiB	Import a VS Code theme
Notifications	3 at once, each for 5 seconds	Interface tour
Long tasks at the same time	4 across all windows, such as searches, sorts, and checksums. Others wait for one to finish.	Troubleshooting

Next steps

Supported formats: which files Vaste recognizes and how
FAQ: answers to common questions