I must have pressed a wrong keyboard combo and got this little arrow sign in my Visual Studio 2019, left of the code, where breakpoints reside. Could not find any way to identify it. Google image search and Bing Visual Search could not find anything.
So, what is this, please?
Ok, a broader view in context:
Restarting VS made is disappear, but now I am so curious, what feature is this?
This is a task list shortcut. You can toggle it with Ctrl+K, Ctrl+H. You can open a task list window with Ctrl+\, T
Its a Task List Shortcut
Task List Shortcut Visual Studio
My question is there code completion for Visual studio like in Netbeans where you cycle the buffer with ctrl+k, when you type something?
There's now a nice extension called Simple Autocomplete which adds one command simpleAutocomplete.next that you can map to a shortcut of your choice.
No, there isn't a similar feature in Visual Studio.
The traditional Visual Studio autocomplete is using intellisense.
When you start typing, intellisense may bring up a drop down with suggestions. In that case you can tab to complete using the current suggestion or use the arrow keys to choose another.
Ctrl-Space (or Alt-Right arrow) will bring up this intellisense menu if it's not up.
I find it does a pretty good job overall.
Some extensions like Resharper or Visual Assist offer their own code completion or other similar features (like Suggestion List for Visual Assist).
I know it's been ages since I asked this question but I found the next best thing to do this. What I would suggest is to use VsVim extension and to use Vim's anyword completion; however, in order for this work, what must be resolved is the keyboard shortcuts that conflict:
Go to "Tools options" in Visual Studio.
Then go to VsVim category(alternatively you can search "VsVim" and
should bring the options) and click keyboard.
As far as I know vim deals with this type of completion with these keys
CTRL+P and CTRL+N so what we do is to let Visual Studio give up
these keybindings and let VsVim deal with it by Selecting from the drop
down of the keys(CTRL+P and CTRL+N) and let it be "Handled by VsVim".
I hope this has helped someone out.
I am having trouble finding the right-click context menu in Visual Studio 2015. I know that nothing is wrong with my project or the file I am working. I can find the right-click context refactor menu in Visual Studio 2013. However, in Visual Studio 2015 there isn't a refactor context menu in the right-click context menu.
Where did it go? How do I get it back?
Your suggestion cannot include menu Edit → Refactor.
I have tried to reset my Visual Studio settings back to default using menu Tools → Import and Export Settings and that didn't bring the menu back either.
Some of the refactoring tools have been relocated or are at least accessible in a different manner than they were previously.
Using the extract method refactor as an example, you can still use this function; it is just not done the same as before:
Right click
Quick actions
Click extract Method
I think they've changed it to feel more "ReSharper"ey. All of the functionality should still be there however.
Here's more information on refactoring in Visual Studio 2015 - hopefully this helps! Refactoring (C#)
You no longer need to access the refactoring using the mouse right click.
It is recommended that you use the keyboard shortcut keys within Visual Studio.
For all possible shortcut keys, see Default Keyboard Shortcuts in Visual Studio, Refactor.
You might need to build the project to get it to work.
See Code Editing ASP.NET Web Forms in Visual Studio 2013 | Microsoft Docs. (If it is missing then the point is that I am using an example provided by Microsoft.). In Refactoring and Renaming see To extract a method in a C# page. When I follow the instructions I cannot find the feature to extract the code to a method. When I tried the Edit menu it said I did not have valid code. Then I built the project and the feature to extract the code was available and worked.
If you change the name of the object you are refactoring, the light bulb then appears to the left which asks if you wish to change the name of the object (i.e. refactor) or generate a new constructor for the new named object.
Ctrl + . is the shortcut key for extracting a method in Visual Studio 2015 and onward.
Ctrl+M, R does not work anymore in new versions.
When I'm debugging in Visual Studio (up to 2012) and hovering over a variable to explore all the properties, I explicitly need to press the Expanding the Results View will enumerate the IEnumerable button on IEnumerables.
As I am inherintly lazy a superefficient coder I was hoping there was some kind of shortcut, like double clicking or a hotkey. Is there any?
Update
#Alex Essilfie has created a suggestion on Uservoice. Follow this link to vote it up before the VS2013 release!
You could install a commercial extension I created for Visual Studio called OzCode, which enhances the VS debugging experience and replaces Visual Studio's UI for the on-hover DataTip, and since I'm also a super-lazy coder, I decided not to require the user to click a separate button before he/she can expand the "Results View" node.
Another solution, which is not really more efficient but does not require using the mouse, is to hit Shift+F9 (to pop up the QuickWatch window) and then type in "cats,results" and then hit enter.
There may not be a default keyboard shortcut for this in VS, but if you go to Tools/Options then Environment/Keyboard, you can add a shortcut of your own for any command - if you can figure out which one you need...
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