How to prevent Solution Explorer to automatically open selected item in editor (VS 2015)? - visual-studio

Please note I am not talking about "Track active item in Solution Explorer".
I like that, so when I am switching editor windows, Solution Explorer automatically tracks, and made selected the item in its tree. That's cool.
Instead I am asking about the reverse automatism: When I select an item in Solution Explorer (not double click, just select), it opens and activated in the editor using a single rightest tab, in the editor pane. (usual files are stacked from left tabs).
How can I prevent this automatic opening in VS 2015?

In VS 2013 it's under Settings - Environment - Tabs and Windows - Preview Tab.

Related

Visual Studio Solution Explorer, selected file changes when I click into Main Coding View [duplicate]

In my Visual Studio 2012 Solution Explorer, when I single click a filename it opens it. This was different from Visual Studio 2010 (required a double click). Is there a way to make double-click the 'view file' command?
This is called the Preview Tab feature. To change that behavior, go to:
Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Tabs and Windows
Then look for the "Preview Tab" section, and uncheck the options therein:
Option 1: Using icon in Solution Explorer
You can enable or disable the feature in Solution Explorer using the "Preview Selected Items" button.
The icon is a Tab aligned to the right.
Option 2: Using the Options window
You can enable or disable the feature by going into Tools > Options and then Environment > Tabs and Windows.
The Single-click opens files in the preview tab text mentioned in rubber boots' answer is missing in VS 2015. Mysteriously, a search for "single click" still brings up the Environment > Tabs and Windows option.
So for VS2015 and VS2017, either click the button in Vinicius's answer, or uncheck the Preview selected files in Solution Explorer box shown in the screenshot below.
In Visual studio 12/13, easiest way is to type "single click" in quick search and than select Tabs and Windows.
And in Tabs and Windows dialogue ,uncheck "Preview selected files in solutions explorer"
Shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Home.
If you press that in a document that was just opened, it will be opened permanently.
Item -> right click -> Open With -> Source Code (Text) Editor -> press Set as Default button
It's no longer there in VS2019. You enable/disable it through "preview selected Items" in Solution Explorer.

In Visual Studio 2017 is there a way to enable the Source Control dialog from a Tab?

When working in Visual Studio 2017, it would be handy to have access to the Source Control dialog to "Undo Checkout" when you right click on the tab for an open document. We frequently work with complex solutions where files we work on concurrently reside in many different folders. Finding and opening the folder for an opened file is annoying when the task I need to perform is an "Undo Checkout".
Reviewing these preferences, I don't see anything that would enable this type of feature from opened tabs.
Tools > Options > Environment > Tabs and Windows
Tools > Options > Source Control
Is what I'm requesting an available feature, and if so how can I enable it? Thanks.
I don't know of any way of altering the tabs in VS2017 without maybe a plug-in extension.
However, you can right-click on the editor window (where the code is displayed) and in the displayed context menu is a Source Control submenu which will offer the option to "Undo" if changes are pending.
Also, You can add the "Team Explorer" window to one of the sidebars or as a tab in an existing pop-out. I like to have Properties, Solution Explorer, and Team Explorer tabbed together and displayed to the side of the editor work area.

How to stop Visual Studio from opening a file on single click?

In my Visual Studio 2012 Solution Explorer, when I single click a filename it opens it. This was different from Visual Studio 2010 (required a double click). Is there a way to make double-click the 'view file' command?
This is called the Preview Tab feature. To change that behavior, go to:
Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Tabs and Windows
Then look for the "Preview Tab" section, and uncheck the options therein:
Option 1: Using icon in Solution Explorer
You can enable or disable the feature in Solution Explorer using the "Preview Selected Items" button.
The icon is a Tab aligned to the right.
Option 2: Using the Options window
You can enable or disable the feature by going into Tools > Options and then Environment > Tabs and Windows.
The Single-click opens files in the preview tab text mentioned in rubber boots' answer is missing in VS 2015. Mysteriously, a search for "single click" still brings up the Environment > Tabs and Windows option.
So for VS2015 and VS2017, either click the button in Vinicius's answer, or uncheck the Preview selected files in Solution Explorer box shown in the screenshot below.
In Visual studio 12/13, easiest way is to type "single click" in quick search and than select Tabs and Windows.
And in Tabs and Windows dialogue ,uncheck "Preview selected files in solutions explorer"
Shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Home.
If you press that in a document that was just opened, it will be opened permanently.
Item -> right click -> Open With -> Source Code (Text) Editor -> press Set as Default button
It's no longer there in VS2019. You enable/disable it through "preview selected Items" in Solution Explorer.

How to locate a file in Solution Explorer in Visual Studio 2010?

I have a huge solution with multiple projects. Sometime I need to navigate to a file in Solution Explorer. Using the VS 2010 'Navigate To' feature I can open any file by name in Visual Studio 2010 but I want to be able to select the file in Solution Explorer as well?
There's an option to track the active (open and viewed) item in the solution explorer. If the file is in view, the file in the solution explorer will be selected.
Tools->Options->Projects and Solutions->Track Active Item in Solution Explorer
VS2012 added a new command called SolutionExplorer.SyncWithActiveDocument. The default shortcut for c# is Ctrl+[,S
This command will navigate to the active file in the Solution Explorer.
Also, it seems that you need to have the "Track Active Item in Solution Explorer" option turned off.
With ReSharper installed Shift+Alt+L will find the current file in Solution Explorer in Visual Studio 2008+.
I found the track option to be a little annoying.
I prefer to use DPack. It contain "Locate In Solution Explorer" operation, plus many other features (some are less powerful in VS2010, like their browsers), and it's free.
Note that ReSharper also have the locate feature that works batter than DPack's (in some cases, DPack's locate won't work if the file is collapsed behind folders), but you don't want to buy ReSharper only for this feature.
Brian Schmitt has a great Locate File in Solution Explorer – Visual Studio Macro post for this. The macro is extremely simple and quick. Basically it toggles the setting
Tools->Options->Projects and Solutions->Track Active Item in Solution Explorer
so that the current file ends up selected in the Solution Explorer but, because it is not left on, you don't get irritated by Solution Explorer nodes being expanded for all the files you access.
Public Sub LocateFileInSolutionExplorer()
DTE.ExecuteCommand("View.TrackActivityinSolutionExplorer")
DTE.ExecuteCommand("View.TrackActivityinSolutionExplorer")
DTE.ExecuteCommand("View.SolutionExplorer")
End Sub
Bind a Keyboard ShortCut to this custom macro to effectively create what should be a built-in Visual Studio feature.
If you have ReSharper and want to add "Locate in Solution Explorer" to the tab's context menu:
Go to Tools -> Customize -> Commands -> Context Menu
Select "Other Context Menus | Easy MDI Document Window".
Click "Add Command".
Choose "Resharper" -> "ReSharper_LocateInSolutionOrAssemblyExplorer" (in VS2019, the category name was changed to "Extensions")
"OK" -> "Close"
Now, when right click on any tab and you'll see a new option: Locate in Solution Explorer.
UPDATE:
Following the comment from #jeremy-paskali, you can set a keyboard shortcut for this command:
Go to Tools -> Customize -> "Keyboard..."
Search for "ReSharper.ReSharper_LocateInSolutionOrAssemblyExplorer" in the "Show commands containing" field and select it.
Review the currently assigned shortcuts in the drop down below.
Make any changes, if needed.
"OK" -> "Close"
Visual Studio 2012 has a new shortcut Ctrl [, S. Yes you have to type Ctrl [ and then release and then immediately type S (or click the little sync icon at the top of Solution Explored). It will synchronize to the item.
Of course you can change the shortcut. I think I'll try Alt+L for locate.
If you want to change the shortcut, it's command name under Options\Environment\Keyboard is SolutionExplorer.SyncWithActiveDocument.
Usually this is more useful than always tracking, which in older versions always was a disaster because it would track 100 items in a row and then be jumping all over the place...
I know its little too late, but hope it helps someone else. The best option now is to install Microsoft Visual Studio add on called - Productivity Power Tools.
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/d0d33361-18e2-46c0-8ff2-4adea1e34fef
With this comes "Solution Navigator" (alternative to Solution Explorer, with a lot of benefits) - which then you can use to filter the files to only show "Open". You can even filter files to show "Edited" and "Unsaved".
In the event you want to only track the current file through a
keyboard shortcut - the activity is
"View.TrackActivityinSolutionExplorer" (assign keys here -> Tools -
Options - Environment - Keyboard)
Credit (James' comment)
This worked for me
There are several build-in ways you can accomplish this nowadays:
Configure VS to track the active item in Solution Explorer: This can be accomplished by selecting "Track active item in Solution
Explorer" at
Tools > Settings > Projects and Solutions > General
Use "Sync with active document": This can be accomplished in 2 ways.
Firing the SolutionExplorer.SyncWithActiveDocument command by using the default key combination CTRL+]+S
CTRL+)+S if you happen to be using an AZERTY keyboard like me.
By using the "Sync with active document" button on top of the Solution Explorer. The button looks like 2 apposing arrows on top of each other.
If you're version is older then VS2019 Version 16.10.2 then this button looks like this:
From VS2019 Version 16.10.2 onwards this button will look like this:
And yet again Microsoft has changed the button icon in more recent versions of VS 2022:
In Visual Studio 2010 you can turn on the "Track Active Item in Solution Explorer" option. This will mean whenever you switch between documents the new document gets selected in Solution Explorer. This can be irritating if your solution has lots of folders, because as you move around files in your solution all the folders will be left open.
Visual Studio 2012 introduced the new "Sync with Active Document" feature. Three is a button for it at the top of Solution Explorer, or you can use the shortcut Ctrl + [, S.
This is actually built in to visual studio without the need for ReSharper (which I love BTW).
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/zainnab/archive/2010/03/29/track-active-item-in-solution-explorer-vstipproj0011.aspx
If you want to select the file in the solution explorer on command and don't want to install anything then I would recommend this macro.
I've tested it, setting the shortcut to Alt+T, and I can confirm that it works with VS 2010.
Thanks to Dan Vanderboom for writing it.
For Visual Studio 2017 using a French AZERTY keyboard the command is the same as stated by Aaron Carlson but the keyboard shortcut is different.
The AZERTY keyboard shortcut to navigate to the active file for c# is Ctrl+),Ctrl+S
I checked the shortcut hadn't changed for QWERTY users in VS2017 on this page
http://visualstudioshortcuts.com/2017/
Visual Studio doesn’t offer an easy way to locate the current file you’re editing in the Solution Explorer on demand. You can set the solution explorer to always stay in sync with this simple setting:
Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > General. Check “Track active item in Solution Explorer”.
Thanks to Cory House

Auto select file in Solution Explorer from its open tab

Normally, many files in Visual Studio 2010 are opened in many tabs, while massively working on a project. Many times, I find myself right-clicking on a tab title and searching for Show/Select/Scroll-to this file in Solution Explorer, and I can't find it.
Is there a way to automatically select an opened file in Solution Explorer?
Another option is to bind 'View.TrackActivityInSolutionExplorer' to a keyboard short-cut, which is the same as 'Tools-->Options-->Projects and Solutions-->Track Active Item in Solution Explorer'
If you activate the short-cut twice the file is selected in the solution explorer, and the tracking is disabled again.
Visual Studio 2013+
There is now a feature built in to the VS2013 solution explorer called Sync with Active Document. The icon is two arrows in the solution explorer, and has the hotkey Ctrl + [, S to show the current document in the solution explorer. Does not enable the automatic setting mentioned above, and only happens once.
I don't know if you can do it on-demand, but you can enable the option "Track Active Item in Solution Explorer" (Tools->Options->Projects and Solutions->General) which will always select the active tab item in the solution explorer.
If you're using the ReSharper plugin, you can do that using the Shift + Alt + L shortcut or navigate via menu as shown.
This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it would automatically select the "active" file in the Solution Explorer:
Tools-->Options-->Projects and Solutions-->Track Active Item in Solution Explorer.
simply Tools--> Options--> Projects and Solutions--> Track Active Item in Solution Explorer
The best option now is to install the Microsoft Visual Studio add on called Productivity Power Tools.
With this comes "Solution Navigator" (alternative to Solution Explorer, with a lot of benefits) - which then you can use to filter the files to only show "Open". You can even filter files to show "Edited" and "Unsaved".
It's in VS2012 - Specifically the 2-Arrow icon at the top of the solution explorer (Left/Right arrows, one above the other). This automatically jumps to the current file.
This icon is only visible if you've got Track Active Item in Solution Explorer disabled.
In Visual Studio 2012, the same can be done using the "Sync With Active Document" option in Solution Explorer
In VS 2019 select Tools > Options and then tick "Track Active Item in Solution Explorer"
The Tab Studio plugin adds "select in solution explorer" to the right click menu on tabs.
I've put in a feature request for this very feature. Although I know this isn't an answer in itself it is a step in the direction of being able to get this feature implemented. Any votes it it may help to get Microsoft's attention.
As far as I'm aware of though there is no way to do this other than possibly writing a macro or creating your own add-in/extension to Visual Studio.
There's a very nice extension to VS2010, which does exactly this: Solution Explorer Tools.
This extension adds a button which selects the current file in the solution explorer, as well as convenient buttons for collapsing and expanding projects.
That's the screenshot of the answer for your question.
In visual studio 2022
Similar to this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/8473574/13275637
You need to tick Track Active Item in solution Explorer

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