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When I click on a C++ project in Visual Studio, I get this menu:
And so I can quickly press Alt+F,F(Command ProjectandSolutionContextMenus.Project.OpenFolderinFileExplorer) to open the folder of the project.
I also found that I can open containing folder if I open the file in the Text Editor in Visual Studio:
I bound it to Alt+F,F as well. I set it to only be active in Text Editor, it's the File.OpenContainingFolder command.
But when I click on files inside the project in the Solution Explorer, there is no context menu:
I tried to make the File.OpenContainingFolder command global, but it still doesn't work in the Solution Explorer when I just click on a file once. If I double click it and open it in the text editor, it works.
And I can't find a command in the Keyboard section in options of Visual Studio to open containing folder of a file selected in the Solution Explorer.
Maybe someone knows how to do it?
You can create an external tool menu item, and then bind a shortcut to that item.
Go to Tools > External Tools.
Click Add.
In Title edit box type Show in Explorer.
In Command edit box type explorer.exe.
In Arguments edit box type /select, $(ItemPath). There is a space between a comma and a dollar sign.
Click OK.
Make note at the position of the new command in the list. It could be first, it could be fifth, or something else. Let's assume it's the fifth one.
Assign a shortcut to the command Tools.ExternalCommand5. Restrict the shortcut to Solution Explorer.
That's it.
I wish to open multiple instances of VS for Mac. I used to be able to do this with Xamarin studio using the Xamarin launcher.
How to do this with VS for Mac?
Open a terminal window, and then issue the following command:
open -n -a "Visual Studio"
Alright, at last!, Microsoft has just implemented the simplest solution of all in Visual Studio 2019: just right click on its icon on the launch bottom bar, and choose "New instance":
See the details of the feature in the release notes of VS2019 for Mac Preview.
There is also the option of opening multiple solutions in the same Visual Studio instance.
From Recent list: Hold Ctrl while clicking the solution name
From File -> Open: Single click the .sln file, click Options and uncheck Close Current Workspace.
Credit: https://www.jimbobbennett.io/opening-multiple-solutions-in-visual-studio-for-mac/
Note. the active project(For run/debug) changes depending on which file you have marked/selected/editing.
If you don't want to daily search for this specific terminal command, create a script as below:
Open "Script Editor" in Mac
Paste: do shell script "open -n -a 'Visual Studio'"
Save this file somewhere (On Desktop)
Whenever need to launch another instance, simply open this file and
click on "Run the Script" button
Screenshot Here
Visual Studio Code
Version: 1.39.2
Official documentation: How do I open multiple solutions or instances of Visual Studio for Mac?
Open a second solution inside a single instance
To open a second solution alongside your first solution, use the following steps:
With your first solution already open, select File > Open.
Select the solution and press the Options button.
Uncheck the Close Current Workspace button:
Press the Open button to open the second solution in the Solution Pad.
Alternatively, if you have recently opened the solution, you can do the following:
Go to the File > Recent Solutions menu item:
Hold down the Ctrl key and select the solution. This combination opens the second Solution in the Solution Pad
Open a second instance
To open a second instance of Visual Studio for Mac, open the Terminal application and enter
open -n "/Applications/Visual Studio.app"
Based on #moke and #MilanG answers, I created a bash file on my desktop with this content:
#!/bin/bash
open -n -a "Visual Studio"
osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to close first window' & exit
I named this file "Visual Studio".
Then I made the file executable on double-click by following this procedure https://stackoverflow.com/a/5126052/3819725
As a last step, I re-used the Visual Studio icon for the bash file on my desktop so that I instantly know what to click on. I did this:
Right click on the bash file you just created and select "Get Info". An information panel opens with an icon in the top-left corner.
Open a new Finder window and position it next to the "Get Info" panel you just opened
In the Finder window, navigate to "Applications" and select "Visual Studio" from the list of applications.
Right click on the "Visual Studio" application icon and select: "Show Package Contents".
Navigate to "Contents" -> "Resources" and select the "VisualStudio.icns" file.
Drag this file to the icon in the top-left corner of the "Get Info" window you opened in step (1)
Voila - you now have a clickable desktop icon with the visual studio icon that opens a new instance of Visual Studio for Mac and does not leave a Terminal window open.
I am using MSSolutionLauncher for opening multiple instances of Visual studio for Mac. The github page of the project is Here. Download latest release and double click to unzip. Now keep the app in desktop and click on it to open new instance of the Visual studio for mac as many times as you want.
EDIT
Starting from Visual Studio for Mac 2019, MSSolutionLauncher is not required. Keep the VSMac Shortcut in Dock. Right Click the Dock Icon and select New Instance.
Clone the Application!
Open Finder
Navigate To Applications
Select Visual Studio
Edit > Copy
Edit > Paste
Open the copy
Posted my solution here:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/62831584/2621976
just do
open -a "Visual Studio" \
"path to first sln" \
"path to second sln" \
...
Just hit Shift+Command+N (Or go to "File > New Window" and it will open a new window. You can then drag files from one to the other.
I was trying to do the same thing which led me here. I didn't have luck with the highest-rated solution and then the above occurred to me. Unless I'm missing something more to the original request? Seems like the most obvious solution.
This is VS code (not VS4Mac as per comment below). But found this forum in my own search so might be useful.
open -n -a "Visual Studio" gave error "Can't Find Application Visual Studio", so I just did:
Open a visual studio project
To get another, right click (two finger press) on visual studio docked icon
Click "New Window", and now you have two instances
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
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
Is there any way to set up external editor integration for VS2008?
By this I mean when I double-click on a .CPP file in the Solution Explorer, it should open in the external editor, not the internal VS one.
To keep it simple let's say I want it to open the file in Notepad++ (or how about Notepad to make it even simpler).
Right click on the type of file you want in the Solution Explorer,
Then choose Open With...
Pick your program, and choose "Set as Default"
Right click on any file and choose open with..
Then click on add to browse to the program of you choice for this file type and having added it to the list, select "set as default"
From now on when you double click on this file type it will open in the editor of your choice.
(In VS2008)
You can goto: Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> File Extension. Put a file extension in and choose a program to launch with it