Open VS Code. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Command+Shift+P if you're using a Mac). Type "settings.json" and hit enter (This opens the settings.json file). Replace the file contents with the one in this gist and hit save!

settings.json

{
    // Disable native chat & AI features
    "chat.disableAIFeatures": true,
    "security.workspace.trust.untrustedFiles": "open",
    // -- Minimalistic UI 
    "window.commandCenter": false,
    "workbench.activityBar.location": "hidden",
    "workbench.layoutControl.enabled": false,
    "workbench.statusBar.visible": true,
    "workbench.startupEditor": "none",
    "workbench.welcomePage.walkthroughs.openOnInstall": false,
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Visual Studio Light", // Change to "Visual Studio Dark" if you want dark mode
    "workbench.secondarySideBar.defaultVisibility": "hidden",
    //--- Minimalistic editor
    "editor.codeLens": true,
    "editor.lightbulb.enabled": "off",
    "editor.hover.enabled": "off",
    "editor.parameterHints.enabled": false,
    "editor.quickSuggestions": {
        "other": false,
        "comments": false,
        "strings": false
    },
    "editor.suggestOnTriggerCharacters": false,
    "editor.wordBasedSuggestions": "off",
    "editor.matchBrackets": "never",
    "editor.stickyScroll.enabled": false,
    "editor.glyphMargin": false,
    "editor.folding": false,
    "editor.wordWrap": "on",
    "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
    "editor.scrollbar.vertical": "hidden",
    "editor.scrollbar.horizontal": "hidden",
    "editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled": true,
    "editor.maxTokenizationLineLength": 500000,
    // -- Extensions
    "extensions.ignoreRecommendations": true,
    // Git and Github
    "git.enabled": false,
    "git.terminalAuthentication": false,
    "git.autoRepositoryDetection": false,
    "github.gitAuthentication": false,
}