gemini-cli takes 60+ seconds to start on Windows: known bug or fix?
Gemini CLI 0.8.1 on Windows (win32, Node v22.20.0) started taking up to 60 seconds to launch, whereas it was previously near-instant. A complete reinstall did not help, and later versions still show slow startup and slow
gemini --version. Is this a known issue, and is there a fix or workaround?Originally asked on GitHub: https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/10726
5 answers
The GitHub issue was closed as NOT_PLANNED without a shipped fix, and reports of slow startup continued through February 2026. A maintainer later said the problem appears to be worst on Windows, that work is underway internally, and pointed to tracking epic #10168. The thread does not contain a confirmed user-side fix.
What the thread shows:
- Reinstalling the CLI did not help; startup stayed slow.
- One user reported startup taking over 1 minute in WSL2 Ubuntu bash but being instant in native PowerShell 7+ on the same machine. Another commenter suggested cross-filesystem operations between Windows and WSL as a possible cause, but noted codex and claude did not have the same problem in the same project.
- A benchmark on Debian 13 with gemini 0.20.2 showed
geministartup around 6 seconds andgemini --versionaround 2 seconds. - On another machine, after upgrading, the first
gemini -vcall took about 36 seconds and the second about 3 seconds, which suggests some kind of one-time cache warm-up. - One user said the issue disappeared for them, but gave no steps or details.
- On Windows PowerShell 7.5.4 with Node v24.12.0 and Windows Terminal,
gemini --versionstill took about 33 seconds; the user could not rule out corporate antivirus interference.
General advice: measure
gemini --versionseparately from a full interactive startup withtime gemini --versionto see where the delay is, and if you use WSL2, try the same command from native PowerShell to check whether the slowness is filesystem-related.Did this work for you?What a GitHub user tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
Reporter performed a complete reinstallation of Gemini CLI, but startup remained slow.
Source: https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/10726 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @sascharo tried on GitHub (Outcome unclear)
User compared the same setup in WSL2 Ubuntu bash and native PowerShell 7+; startup took over 1 minute in WSL2 bash and was instant in PowerShell.
Did this work for you?What @ttk tried on GitHub (Outcome unclear)
User benchmarked
gemini -vafter upgrading: the first run took about 36 seconds and the second about 3 seconds, suggesting possible cache warm-up.Did this work for you?What @sascharo tried on GitHub (Worked)
User reported that the issue disappeared for them, without providing any details or steps.
Did this work for you?
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