diff --git a/pkg/gui/file_watching.go b/pkg/gui/file_watching.go
index 9ad7f68c4..9a7c8a9b2 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/file_watching.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/file_watching.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 // there's no obvious platform agonstic way to check the situation of the user's
 // computer so we're just arbitrarily capping at 200. This isn't so bad because
 // file watching is only really an added bonus for faster refreshing.
-const MAX_WATCHED_FILES = 200
+const MAX_WATCHED_FILES = 50
 
 type fileWatcher struct {
 	Watcher          *fsnotify.Watcher