diff --git a/src/dataEditor/dataEditorClient.ts b/src/dataEditor/dataEditorClient.ts
index 0765a0004..e5cee31be 100644
--- a/src/dataEditor/dataEditorClient.ts
+++ b/src/dataEditor/dataEditorClient.ts
@@ -474,6 +474,37 @@ export class DataEditorClient implements vscode.Disposable {
     })
   }
 
+  private async runProfile(
+    sessionId: string,
+    startOffset: number,
+    length: number
+  ) {
+    const byteProfile = await profileSession(sessionId, startOffset, length)
+    const characterCount = await countCharacters(sessionId, startOffset, length)
+    const contentType = await getContentType(sessionId, startOffset, length)
+    const language = await getLanguage(
+      sessionId,
+      startOffset,
+      length,
+      characterCount.getByteOrderMark()
+    )
+
+    return {
+      byteProfile,
+      numAscii: numAscii(byteProfile),
+      language: language.getLanguage(),
+      contentType: contentType.getContentType(),
+      characterCount: {
+        byteOrderMark: characterCount.getByteOrderMark(),
+        byteOrderMarkBytes: characterCount.getByteOrderMarkBytes(),
+        singleByteCount: characterCount.getSingleByteChars(),
+        doubleByteCount: characterCount.getDoubleByteChars(),
+        tripleByteCount: characterCount.getTripleByteChars(),
+        quadByteCount: characterCount.getQuadByteChars(),
+        invalidBytes: characterCount.getInvalidBytes(),
+      },
+    }
+  }
   // handle messages from the webview
   private async messageReceiver(message: EditorMessage) {
     switch (message.command) {
@@ -549,53 +580,48 @@ export class DataEditorClient implements vscode.Disposable {
         })
         break
 
-      case MessageCommand.profile:
-        {
-          const startOffset: number = message.data.startOffset
-          const length: number = message.data.length
-          const byteProfile: number[] = await profileSession(
-            this.omegaSessionId,
-            startOffset,
-            length
-          )
-          const characterCount = await countCharacters(
-            this.omegaSessionId,
-            startOffset,
-            length
-          )
-          const contentTypeResponse = await getContentType(
-            this.omegaSessionId,
+      case MessageCommand.profile: {
+        const startOffset: number = message.data.startOffset
+        const length: number = message.data.length
+        const target: string | undefined = message.data.target
+
+        let sessionId = this.omegaSessionId
+        let isDiskProfile = false
+
+        try {
+          if (target === 'disk') {
+            const tempSession = await createSession(
+              this.fileToEdit,
+              undefined,
+              checkpointPath
+            )
+            sessionId = tempSession.getSessionId()
+            addActiveSession(sessionId)
+            isDiskProfile = true
+          }
+
+          const profileData = await this.runProfile(
+            sessionId,
             startOffset,
             length
           )
-          const languageResponse = await getLanguage(
-            this.omegaSessionId,
-            startOffset,
-            length,
-            characterCount.getByteOrderMark()
-          )
+
           await this.panel.webview.postMessage({
             command: MessageCommand.profile,
             data: {
-              startOffset: startOffset,
-              length: length,
-              byteProfile: byteProfile,
-              numAscii: numAscii(byteProfile),
-              language: languageResponse.getLanguage(),
-              contentType: contentTypeResponse.getContentType(),
-              characterCount: {
-                byteOrderMark: characterCount.getByteOrderMark(),
-                byteOrderMarkBytes: characterCount.getByteOrderMarkBytes(),
-                singleByteCount: characterCount.getSingleByteChars(),
-                doubleByteCount: characterCount.getDoubleByteChars(),
-                tripleByteCount: characterCount.getTripleByteChars(),
-                quadByteCount: characterCount.getQuadByteChars(),
-                invalidBytes: characterCount.getInvalidBytes(),
-              },
+              startOffset,
+              length,
+              ...profileData,
             },
           })
+        } finally {
+          if (isDiskProfile) {
+            await removeActiveSession(sessionId)
+          }
         }
+
         break
+      }
 
       case MessageCommand.clearChanges:
         if (
diff --git a/src/svelte/src/components/DataMetrics/DataMetrics.svelte b/src/svelte/src/components/DataMetrics/DataMetrics.svelte
index f54148d47..9b597a610 100644
--- a/src/svelte/src/components/DataMetrics/DataMetrics.svelte
+++ b/src/svelte/src/components/DataMetrics/DataMetrics.svelte
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 -->
 <script lang="ts">
+  let profileTarget: 'editor' | 'disk' = 'editor'
   import Button from '../Inputs/Buttons/Button.svelte'
   import { vscode } from '../../utilities/vscode'
   import { MessageCommand } from '../../utilities/message'
@@ -73,7 +74,6 @@ limitations under the License.
   let errorMessageTimeout: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null
   let asciiOverlay: boolean = true
   let logScale: boolean = false
-
   $: {
     sum = byteProfile.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0)
     mean = sum / byteProfile.length
@@ -157,7 +157,10 @@ limitations under the License.
     })
   }
 
+  let lastProfileTarget: 'editor' | 'disk' | null = null
+  let lastRequestedTarget: 'editor' | 'disk' = 'editor'
   function requestSessionProfile(startOffset: number, length: number) {
+    lastRequestedTarget = profileTarget
     setStatusMessage(
       `Profiling bytes from ${startOffset} to ${startOffset + length}...`,
       0
@@ -165,12 +168,16 @@ limitations under the License.
     vscode.postMessage({
       command: MessageCommand.profile,
       data: {
-        startOffset: startOffset,
-        length: length,
+        startOffset,
+        length,
+        target: profileTarget === 'disk' ? 'disk' : undefined,
       },
     })
   }
-
+  $: if (profileTarget !== lastProfileTarget) {
+    lastProfileTarget = profileTarget
+    requestSessionProfile(startOffset, length)
+  }
   function handleInputEnter(e: CustomEvent) {
     switch (e.detail.id) {
       case 'start-offset-input':
@@ -283,6 +290,10 @@ limitations under the License.
     window.addEventListener('message', (msg) => {
       switch (msg.data.command) {
         case MessageCommand.profile:
+          if (msg.data.data?.target && msg.data.data.target !== profileTarget) {
+            // ignore messages not for the current profile target
+            break
+          }
           numAscii = msg.data.data.numAscii as number
           byteProfile = msg.data.data.byteProfile as number[]
           language = msg.data.data.language as string
@@ -313,11 +324,19 @@ limitations under the License.
       }
     })
     endOffset = startOffset + length
-    requestSessionProfile(startOffset, length)
   })
 </script>
 
 <div class="container">
+  <div class="input-container">
+    <label>
+      Profile source:
+      <select bind:value={profileTarget}>
+        <option value="editor">Current editor</option>
+        <option value="disk">On-disk file</option>
+      </select>
+    </label>
+  </div>
   {#if title.length > 0}
     <div class="header">
       <h3>{title}</h3>