diff --git a/packages/filesystem/src/browser/filesystem-preferences.ts b/packages/filesystem/src/browser/filesystem-preferences.ts
index 2a363946610b1..27a35de410054 100644
--- a/packages/filesystem/src/browser/filesystem-preferences.ts
+++ b/packages/filesystem/src/browser/filesystem-preferences.ts
@@ -46,8 +46,7 @@ export const filesystemPreferenceSchema: PreferenceSchema = {
             },
             default: {
                 '**/.git/objects/**': true,
-                '**/.git/subtree-cache/**': true,
-                '**/node_modules/**': true
+                '**/.git/subtree-cache/**': true
             },
             scope: 'resource'
         },