By default Visual Studio organizes my project like this:
However, this view is confusing to me from an organizational perspective as "Source Files" and "Header Files" appear to be folders but are not actual folders on the disk. I read online that there is supposed to be a "Show All Files" button on the Solution Explorer that changes this view but none of my buttons seemed to be labeled that. How can I enable the "Show All Files" view? Sorry if I'm missing something obvious, I'm new to using Visual Studio.
It turns out the issue was that the "Show All Files" button does not appear if you are selecting the Solution itself. If you select an underlying Project, or any of the folders/files in the project, the button will display:
And here is the Solution Explorer view after clicking the button:
Note: see also this post for a solution for Visual Studio 2012, which didn't solve my problem but is closely related.
It didn't work for me, but if it's all about including an existing file to the project, you can copy the file or folder from the Explorer and right click the parent folder (the same folder it exists in) in Visual Studio Solution Explorer and click paste.
Related
In my solution I have three projects: Console application, class library, and a website project.
The Show All Files button is visible on the console and class library project, but soon as I click on the website project the button disappears.
I am running Visual Studio 2012.
I just got the same problem "Solution Explorer toolbar missing" eg. "Show all files". Here's what I did:
Right click your "Solution".
Select "New Solution Explorer View". This will pop-up a new "Solution Explorer" window with toolbars in it.
Close you original "Solution Explorer" window.
Click on folder which must contain target file and Solution explorer properties will be changed. There you can find Refresh button and Show all files button.
Check this post:
Improved Solution Explorer in Visual Studio 2012 to Improve Productivity
"Show All Files" is not shown in a Web Site Project because it's not needed and all files are already shown in the Solution Explorer. I think that this behavior is the same for older versions of VS
In Solution Explorer, click on a project, and then the 'Show All Files' button will appear.
If you are in a WebSite project all files are shown by default. If there are some missing (added during debugging etc), just hit the refresh button on the top of the solution explorer and they should appear.
None of the above answers worked for me. If this is the case for you try right-clicking on any file in your project, then choosing "Show all files". The "Show all files" icon should now appear on this and all subsequent Solution Explorer windows.
YMMV, be kind. :-)
The "Show All Files" auto hides.
Click on the folder that has the hidden file, the button should show up.
By clicking on the project (the folder under the solution) the solution explore checks if all sub folders has hidden file, this will prompt the button to be revealed.
If you want to get Show all file menu just hide the solution explorer and open it fom view=>Other Windows=>Solution Explorer and clik it it will show all files menu
if you click on solution name in "solution explorer" maybe you will can't see "Show all files" button. because maybe added F# or website project in solution.
if you want see "Show all files" button, you must click on project name which is C# or native C++ or C++.net.
try to open any file use ctrl+alt+a . once a file will open "show all" button will appear automatically.
My friend sent me today a new .xaml pages for windows phone app. I put .xaml and .xaml.vb files inside my app folder but visual doesn't see them. What files do I need to replace so that visual could see them?
You probably need to press the "Show all files" button at the top of your Solution Explorer. Then you should see a "ghost" icon of the files you've added. Right click and "include in project".
You need to right click on the project in solution explorer - and then choose "add existing items".
Alternatively, it might be better if your friend sends you her project file - or if you use a source control system to share files - this might help you avoid future problems.
Is there any way to change the default directory Visual Studio 2010 uses when you add a source file through Add -> New Item?
Add New Item simply adds the item based on which project directory you're currently in or have selected in your Solution Explorer. If you want to change where it gets added then select the target location in the Solution Explorer first.
This behavior is obvious when right-clicking in the Solution Explorer, but it's also the same when using Project -> Add New Item....
Since my comment seems to be the actual answer, I repost:
In the toolbar of Solution Explorer, there's a button "Show all files" (or similar, I'm using the German version). This switches the view to directories, rather than filters. In this view, you can right-click on the desired target folder to add items.
This does not actually change the default directory, but since you have to click somewhere anyway to add an item, this is the easiest approach.
Note that even when only using Visual C++, I'd recommend the Productivity Power Tools extension, which comes with Solution Navigator. In C++, this is not as powerful as with .NET, but it still has several features that are useful in C++ and can fully replace Solution Explorer.
Try going to tools -> options -> Project and Solutions.
I know this post is old... but maybe someone will stumble upon it... like I did today...
I had the same "problem":
I have a dedicated directory for icons.
When I need to add an icon to the resource file, Visual studio takes me to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE"
To fix the problem, after I "browsed" to the desired folder, I right-clicked the favorites of the "open file" dialog and selected "add current location to Favorites".
Next time you will get this dialog, you simply have to look for the folder in the favorites, and click it.
Is there a way to undo the 'exclude from project' operation in Visual Studio (2008) ?
How to include files back into the project after excluding them?
Make sure you are showing all files. There is a button at the top of the Solution Explorer called "Show All Files". To see this button, make sure that your project is selected in the solution explorer.
Show All Files
When this option is active, the file should be there, just grayed out. Right click it, and select "Include In Project".
Include In Project
Visual Studio Express 2012
Select Your Project Folder Click On "Show All Files" icon to show all Excluded Folders And Files
Then Right Click on Excluded Folder or File and Click on "Include In Project"
In the absence of an actual undo option you could select Add > Existing Item... to re-add the item you've just excluded.
I couldn't find the "Show All Files" button in Visual Studio 10 when I ran into this problem.
Another way to solve it is to open the containing folder in Windows Explorer by right clicking the folder in Solution Explorer and selecting "Open Folder In Windows Explorer".
Find the folder you want to add back into the project and Drag/Drop it from the Explorer window into your Solution Explorer in Visual Studio.
Add existing will not work if it is a folder that you excluded.
I want to know where the solution/project is stored on my hard drive.
I would have thought right clicking on the project from within Visual Studio would have the information on where it is stored on my hard drive, but it doesn't.
Click on the project itself in the solution explorer and in the properties window it lists the project folder.
Only works if you've actually saved the project though. I.e. newly created projects don't have a location.
Start up Visual Studio and go to Tools->Options.
In the dialog box that opens, make sure to check the box that displays "Show All Settings."
From there, you should find a setting called "Projects and Solutions" which will have the list of default locations for projects, templates, etc.
When you have loaded you project in Visual Studio select the solution in the Solution explorer window and then select Properties window. You will see "Path" in the Properties window which points to the actual file.
Open one of the files in your Solution and hover over the tab in the code window. The full path will show up in a tooltip.
You can also go to Window | Windows... which shows you full path to all open files.
One way is to select the project in the solution explorer and then click File / Save As or press F4 and view the 'Project Folder' property.