diff --git a/src/vs/platform/windows/electron-main/windowsMainService.ts b/src/vs/platform/windows/electron-main/windowsMainService.ts
index 5553baaf07dd2..001025ed63f7f 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/windows/electron-main/windowsMainService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/windows/electron-main/windowsMainService.ts
@@ -72,11 +72,37 @@ interface IOpenBrowserWindowOptions {
 }
 
 interface IPathResolveOptions {
+
+	/**
+	 * By default, resolving a path will check
+	 * if the path exists. This can be disabled
+	 * with this flag.
+	 */
 	readonly ignoreFileNotFound?: boolean;
+
+	/**
+	 * Will reject a path if it points to a transient
+	 * workspace as indicated by a `transient: true`
+	 * property in the workspace file.
+	 */
+	readonly rejectTransientWorkspaces?: boolean;
+
+	/**
+	 * If enabled, will resolve the path line/column
+	 * aware and properly remove this information
+	 * from the resulting file path.
+	 */
 	readonly gotoLineMode?: boolean;
+
+	/**
+	 * Forces to resolve the provided path as workspace
+	 * file instead of opening it as a file.
+	 */
 	readonly forceOpenWorkspaceAsFile?: boolean;
+
 	/**
-	 * The remoteAuthority to use if the URL to open is neither file nor vscode-remote
+	 * The remoteAuthority to use if the URL to open is
+	 * neither `file` nor `vscode-remote`.
 	 */
 	readonly remoteAuthority?: string;
 }
@@ -209,9 +235,12 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 
 		const foldersToAdd: ISingleFolderWorkspacePathToOpen[] = [];
 		const foldersToOpen: ISingleFolderWorkspacePathToOpen[] = [];
+
 		const workspacesToOpen: IWorkspacePathToOpen[] = [];
-		const workspacesToRestore: IWorkspacePathToOpen[] = [];
-		const emptyToRestore: IEmptyWindowBackupInfo[] = [];
+		const untitledWorkspacesToRestore: IWorkspacePathToOpen[] = [];
+
+		const emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore: IEmptyWindowBackupInfo[] = [];
+
 		let filesToOpen: IFilesToOpen | undefined;
 		let emptyToOpen = 0;
 
@@ -235,7 +264,7 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 				}
 				filesToOpen.filesToOpenOrCreate.push(path);
 			} else if (path.backupPath) {
-				emptyToRestore.push({ backupFolder: basename(path.backupPath), remoteAuthority: path.remoteAuthority });
+				emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore.push({ backupFolder: basename(path.backupPath), remoteAuthority: path.remoteAuthority });
 			} else {
 				emptyToOpen++;
 			}
@@ -257,19 +286,19 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 		if (openConfig.initialStartup) {
 
 			// Untitled workspaces are always restored
-			workspacesToRestore.push(...this.workspacesManagementMainService.getUntitledWorkspacesSync());
-			workspacesToOpen.push(...workspacesToRestore);
+			untitledWorkspacesToRestore.push(...this.workspacesManagementMainService.getUntitledWorkspacesSync());
+			workspacesToOpen.push(...untitledWorkspacesToRestore);
 
 			// Empty windows with backups are always restored
-			emptyToRestore.push(...this.backupMainService.getEmptyWindowBackupPaths());
+			emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore.push(...this.backupMainService.getEmptyWindowBackupPaths());
 		} else {
-			emptyToRestore.length = 0;
+			emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore.length = 0;
 		}
 
 		// Open based on config
-		const { windows: usedWindows, filesOpenedInWindow } = this.doOpen(openConfig, workspacesToOpen, foldersToOpen, emptyToRestore, emptyToOpen, filesToOpen, foldersToAdd);
+		const { windows: usedWindows, filesOpenedInWindow } = this.doOpen(openConfig, workspacesToOpen, foldersToOpen, emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore, emptyToOpen, filesToOpen, foldersToAdd);
 
-		this.logService.trace(`windowsManager#open used window count ${usedWindows.length} (workspacesToOpen: ${workspacesToOpen.length}, foldersToOpen: ${foldersToOpen.length}, emptyToRestore: ${emptyToRestore.length}, emptyToOpen: ${emptyToOpen})`);
+		this.logService.trace(`windowsManager#open used window count ${usedWindows.length} (workspacesToOpen: ${workspacesToOpen.length}, foldersToOpen: ${foldersToOpen.length}, emptyToRestore: ${emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore.length}, emptyToOpen: ${emptyToOpen})`);
 
 		// Make sure to pass focus to the most relevant of the windows if we open multiple
 		if (usedWindows.length > 1) {
@@ -300,8 +329,8 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 					for (let i = usedWindows.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
 						const usedWindow = usedWindows[i];
 						if (
-							(usedWindow.openedWorkspace && workspacesToRestore.some(workspace => usedWindow.openedWorkspace && workspace.workspace.id === usedWindow.openedWorkspace.id)) ||	// skip over restored workspace
-							(usedWindow.backupPath && emptyToRestore.some(empty => usedWindow.backupPath && empty.backupFolder === basename(usedWindow.backupPath)))							// skip over restored empty window
+							(usedWindow.openedWorkspace && untitledWorkspacesToRestore.some(workspace => usedWindow.openedWorkspace && workspace.workspace.id === usedWindow.openedWorkspace.id)) ||	// skip over restored workspace
+							(usedWindow.backupPath && emptyWindowsWithBackupsToRestore.some(empty => usedWindow.backupPath && empty.backupFolder === basename(usedWindow.backupPath)))							// skip over restored empty window
 						) {
 							continue;
 						}
@@ -810,7 +839,7 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 
 					// Workspaces
 					if (lastSessionWindow.workspace) {
-						const pathToOpen = this.resolveOpenable({ workspaceUri: lastSessionWindow.workspace.configPath }, { remoteAuthority: lastSessionWindow.remoteAuthority });
+						const pathToOpen = this.resolveOpenable({ workspaceUri: lastSessionWindow.workspace.configPath }, { remoteAuthority: lastSessionWindow.remoteAuthority, rejectTransientWorkspaces: true /* https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/119695 */ });
 						if (isWorkspacePathToOpen(pathToOpen)) {
 							pathsToOpen.push(pathToOpen);
 						}
@@ -850,7 +879,7 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 		return restoreWindows;
 	}
 
-	private resolveOpenable(openable: IWindowOpenable, options: IPathResolveOptions = {}): IPathToOpen | undefined {
+	private resolveOpenable(openable: IWindowOpenable, options: IPathResolveOptions = Object.create(null)): IPathToOpen | undefined {
 
 		// handle file:// openables with some extra validation
 		let uri = this.resourceFromOpenable(openable);
@@ -927,6 +956,16 @@ export class WindowsMainService extends Disposable implements IWindowsMainServic
 				if (!options.forceOpenWorkspaceAsFile) {
 					const workspace = this.workspacesManagementMainService.resolveLocalWorkspaceSync(URI.file(path));
 					if (workspace) {
+
+						// If the workspace is transient and we are to ignore
+						// transient workspaces, reject it. Also remove traces
+						// in the history if any.
+						if (workspace.transient && options.rejectTransientWorkspaces) {
+							this.workspacesHistoryMainService.removeRecentlyOpened([URI.file(path)]);
+
+							return undefined;
+						}
+
 						return { workspace: { id: workspace.id, configPath: workspace.configPath }, remoteAuthority: workspace.remoteAuthority, exists: true };
 					}
 				}