How can I get rid of additional files to commit after creating a virtual environment in VS Code?

I have cloned a repository from GitHub onto VS Code. I create a virtual environment using

python -m venv myenv

However the moment I do this, I get thousands of files in my source control tab, which I don't want to commit (pictured below). Am I setting up my virtual environment incorrectly? Or is there a way of getting rid of these files from here?

One solution I've read here includes setting up a .gitignore file and writing "node_modules" within it but this doesn't do anything for me. Another was to delete the .git file, this is already in my "files excluded".

Try putting /myenv/ in your .gitignore (or whatever the name of your venv directory is). See also the .gitignore docs. The leading slash anchors relative to the .gitignore file, and the trailing one limits the pattern to apply to directories. If you don't see any changes in the Source Control view immediately after that change, make sure you saved the changes and try pressing the refresh button in the Source Control view.