Visual Studio

Welcome to the Visual Studio UserVoice site. Let us know what you would like to see in future versions of the Visual Studio suite of products. This site is for suggestions and ideas. If you need to file a bug, visit the Visual Studio Connect site: http://connect.microsoft.com/visualstudio.

ASP.NET Runtime/Web Tooling suggestions have moved! All your ideas, including your votes, have been transferred and are searchable in the ASP.Net Uservoice forum. Please submit any new ASP.NET Runtime/Web Tooling suggestions, or vote on existing suggestions by going to http://aspnet.uservoice.com.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks – Deon Herbert
Visual Studio Team

I suggest you ...

You've used all your votes and won't be able to post a new idea, but you can still search and comment on existing ideas.

There are two ways to get more votes:

  • When an admin closes an idea you've voted on, you'll get your votes back from that idea.
  • You can remove your votes from an open idea you support.
  • To see ideas you have already voted on, select the "My feedback" filter and select "My open ideas".
(thinking…)

Enter your idea and we'll search to see if someone has already suggested it.

If a similar idea already exists, you can vote and comment on it.

If it doesn't exist, you can post your idea so others can vote on it.

Enter your idea and we'll search to see if someone has already suggested it.

  • Hot ideas
  • Top ideas
  • New ideas
  1. improve working with controls inside controls

    right now it is pretty difficult to work with controls that are inside of other controls. You have to use find control to use them which is slow and not too intuitive. It is also difficult to localize them, etc. Please improve this.

    4 votes
    Vote
    Sign in
    Check!
    (thinking…)
    Reset
    or sign in with
    • facebook
    • google
      Password icon
      I agree to the terms of service
      Signed in as (Sign out)
      You have left! (?) (thinking…)
      0 comments  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
    • Allow code clone detection to be run from command line and/or MSBuild

      The new code clone detection feature seems to be very tightly coupled to the project object model exposed by the IDE. This essentially makes it impossible to use within automated builds. Please consider changing the "innards" so that the tool can be used to break an automated build (including builds run outside the IDE) when duplicate code is found.

      38 votes
      Vote
      Sign in
      Check!
      (thinking…)
      Reset
      or sign in with
      • facebook
      • google
        Password icon
        I agree to the terms of service
        Signed in as (Sign out)
        You have left! (?) (thinking…)
        3 comments  ·  Visual Studio Ultimate  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
      • Display format for Find-all-search results

        Rather than showing the entire path of each file, the resultset can be displayed as a tree view. Considering the following results:


        Find all "view", Match case, Subfolders, Find Results 1, Current Project: CBES - Crowd Monitor\CBES - Crowd Monitor.csproj, ""

        C:\Users\ABM-7\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\CBES - Crowd Monitor\CBES - Crowd Monitor\Content\themes\base\jquery.ui.theme.css(15): * To view and modify this theme, visit http://jqueryui.com/themeroller/

        C:\Users\ABM-7\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\CBES - Crowd Monitor\CBES - Crowd Monitor\Scripts\jquery-1.5.1-vsdoc.js(2732): props: "altKey attrChange attrName bubbles button cancelable charCode clientX clientY ctrlKey currentTarget data detail eventPhase fromElement handler keyCode layerX layerY metaKey newValue offsetX offsetY pageX pageY prevValue relatedNode relatedTarget screenX screenY shiftKey…

        13 votes
        Vote
        Sign in
        Check!
        (thinking…)
        Reset
        or sign in with
        • facebook
        • google
          Password icon
          I agree to the terms of service
          Signed in as (Sign out)
          You have left! (?) (thinking…)
          2 comments  ·  Editor  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
        • Search count in Search-in-all-files

          In VS11, when we press Ctrl+F, enters the search-term and press Find All, it shows the search results but the count is displayed at the end of the results. For an instance:

          "Matching lines: 13 Matching files: 7 Total files searched: 69"

          From user experience point of view, its very inconvenient to scroll down through all the results to get to the last list. IMO, it should be displayed at the top of the result window.

          Snapshot: http://i47.tinypic.com/346kyex.png

          Also, it would be great, if in the mini-find and Find-and-Replace popups, the count like "3 of 19 records" (the same approach…

          12 votes
          Vote
          Sign in
          Check!
          (thinking…)
          Reset
          or sign in with
          • facebook
          • google
            Password icon
            I agree to the terms of service
            Signed in as (Sign out)
            You have left! (?) (thinking…)
            0 comments  ·  Editor  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
          • A small inconsistency in open-website shortcut

            In File > Open sub-menu, please rename the website shortcut to Alt+Shift+O instead of Shift+Alt+O for consistency. Thanks! :-)

            12 votes
            Vote
            Sign in
            Check!
            (thinking…)
            Reset
            or sign in with
            • facebook
            • google
              Password icon
              I agree to the terms of service
              Signed in as (Sign out)
              You have left! (?) (thinking…)
              0 comments  ·  General  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
            • Will there be a Windows SDK for Windows 8, and will it support native app development in C++?

              With VC++ 2010 Express I needed to also install the Windows SDK to develop native apps in C++. Will there be a Windows SDK for Windows 8, and will it enable native app development in C++?

              1 vote
              Vote
              Sign in
              Check!
              (thinking…)
              Reset
              or sign in with
              • facebook
              • google
                Password icon
                I agree to the terms of service
                Signed in as (Sign out)
                You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                0 comments  ·  General  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
              • Slider missing in Test Manager

                Working with Test Maager version:10.0.30319.1

                When working with Test Cases, Missing Slider between "Steps" and "Parameter Values:" windows.

                16 votes
                Vote
                Sign in
                Check!
                (thinking…)
                Reset
                or sign in with
                • facebook
                • google
                  Password icon
                  I agree to the terms of service
                  Signed in as (Sign out)
                  You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                  1 comment  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                • Improve Dataset Designer Syntax Analyzer Speed

                  Frequently, when you change and save a table adapter in the dataset designer, the debugger lists hundreds of errors.
                  When you look at the errors, it is clear that the syntax analyzer has not caught up with the new file, and is reporting errors where there are none. You can wait about 15 minutes (yeah, as if!) for the syntax analyzer to catch up with itself, or you have to force a rebuild.
                  This is NOT a PC performance issue - it is the awful syntax analyzer!
                  Please speed it up, so we don't have to divert and do a…

                  4 votes
                  Vote
                  Sign in
                  Check!
                  (thinking…)
                  Reset
                  or sign in with
                  • facebook
                  • google
                    Password icon
                    I agree to the terms of service
                    Signed in as (Sign out)
                    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                    0 comments  ·  Performance  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                  • Silverlight for Android Tablets

                    My ambulance service uses an online patient care report system by ImageTrend which requires Silverlight. We recently purchased Toshiba Thrive tablets to carry on the ambulances but since Silverlight isn't available for Android, we can't begin our reports utilizing these tablets. It would make our lives MUCH better if we could. Plus, it would be time-saving for my crews. Please consider and Android Silverlight!

                    4 votes
                    Vote
                    Sign in
                    Check!
                    (thinking…)
                    Reset
                    or sign in with
                    • facebook
                    • google
                      Password icon
                      I agree to the terms of service
                      Signed in as (Sign out)
                      You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                      1 comment  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                    • Provide "And" logic for Claims or provide support for Nested Claims

                      Provide support for combining Claims to assign security permissions through SharePoint or provide support for nesting Claims information to provide security permissions. For example, a resident of U.S. and a resident of California and a resident of Beverly Hills and a U.S. Citizen should be valid for providing restrictive security permissions in SharePoint with SAML based Claims Authentication.

                      1 vote
                      Vote
                      Sign in
                      Check!
                      (thinking…)
                      Reset
                      or sign in with
                      • facebook
                      • google
                        Password icon
                        I agree to the terms of service
                        Signed in as (Sign out)
                        You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                        0 comments  ·  Office/SharePoint  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                      • Provide a Function-Programming-Style in C# and VB.NET as F#

                        Provide a Function-Style programming in C# and VB.NET as F#

                        (A Linq-completly-integrated-functions-programming for all operations)

                        Where all operations on variables are put in the variables and computed only when a result is required.

                        1 vote
                        Vote
                        Sign in
                        Check!
                        (thinking…)
                        Reset
                        or sign in with
                        • facebook
                        • google
                          Password icon
                          I agree to the terms of service
                          Signed in as (Sign out)
                          You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                          1 comment  ·  Languages - F#  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                        • Provide a Function-Style programming in C# and VB.NET as F#

                          Provide a Function-Style programming in C# and VB.NET as F#

                          0 votes
                          Vote
                          Sign in
                          Check!
                          (thinking…)
                          Reset
                          or sign in with
                          • facebook
                          • google
                            Password icon
                            I agree to the terms of service
                            Signed in as (Sign out)
                            You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                            0 comments  ·  Languages - C#  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                          • 1 vote
                            Vote
                            Sign in
                            Check!
                            (thinking…)
                            Reset
                            or sign in with
                            • facebook
                            • google
                              Password icon
                              I agree to the terms of service
                              Signed in as (Sign out)
                              You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                            • Allow a 'null behaviour' in the ?? operator as an alternative to a 'null value'

                              Allow a behaviour as an alternative to a value, when using the null operator. Thus code changes from the following two lines...

                              var field = GetFieldOrNull(key);
                              if (field == null) continue;

                              to the following one line...

                              var field = GetFieldOrNull(key) ?? continue;

                              Therefore, any of the following would be valid.

                              var field = GetFieldOrNull(key) ?? return;
                              var field = GetFieldOrNull(key) ?? X();

                              where

                              void X() { }

                              1 vote
                              Vote
                              Sign in
                              Check!
                              (thinking…)
                              Reset
                              or sign in with
                              • facebook
                              • google
                                Password icon
                                I agree to the terms of service
                                Signed in as (Sign out)
                                You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                0 comments  ·  Languages - C#  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                              • AutoComplete IntelliSense should ignore the letter casing.

                                When we use Visual Studio IDE we observe that whenever we type a word and press Crtl + . (i.e options to help bind the selected item), we observe that IDE IntelliSense would not recognize that word as valid if our word does not match the case of the actual word, which is sort of inconvenience.

                                1 vote
                                Vote
                                Sign in
                                Check!
                                (thinking…)
                                Reset
                                or sign in with
                                • facebook
                                • google
                                  Password icon
                                  I agree to the terms of service
                                  Signed in as (Sign out)
                                  You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                  1 comment  ·  IDE  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                                • 2 votes
                                  Vote
                                  Sign in
                                  Check!
                                  (thinking…)
                                  Reset
                                  or sign in with
                                  • facebook
                                  • google
                                    Password icon
                                    I agree to the terms of service
                                    Signed in as (Sign out)
                                    You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                    1 comment  ·  LightSwitch  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                                  • Implement IsCancel and IsDefault properties on Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Button

                                    In WPF, buttons on a form or popup can be specified as IsCancel to close the control with the Esc key or IsDefault to close the window with the Enter key. This ability has been around in Windows UI frameworks for some time, but it is not present in Metro style apps. I would like to see this common pattern implemented so that developers won't feel the need to roll their own version of it.

                                    54 votes
                                    Vote
                                    Sign in
                                    Check!
                                    (thinking…)
                                    Reset
                                    or sign in with
                                    • facebook
                                    • google
                                      Password icon
                                      I agree to the terms of service
                                      Signed in as (Sign out)
                                      You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                      1 comment  ·  Windows 8 Apps  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                                    • null-non-coalescing operator

                                      Introduce a new operator which allows a method to return null if the object is null, or some value where it's not. This is a common use case.

                                      e.g. currently you often see code such as below:

                                      string GetZipCode(Person person)
                                      {
                                      return person == null ? null : person.homeAddress == null ? null :
                                      person.homeAddress.postcode;
                                      }

                                      A better approach would be

                                      string GetZipCode(Person person)
                                      {
                                      return person?.homeAddress?.postcode;
                                      }

                                      I've found other users looking for the same; this is also where I got the Groovy syntax from:
                                      http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2929836/is-there-an-opposite-to-the-null-coalescing-operator-in-any-language

                                      27 votes
                                      Vote
                                      Sign in
                                      Check!
                                      (thinking…)
                                      Reset
                                      or sign in with
                                      • facebook
                                      • google
                                        Password icon
                                        I agree to the terms of service
                                        Signed in as (Sign out)
                                        You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                        3 comments  ·  Languages - C#  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                                      • Implement 'var' type inference for lambda expressions in C# similar to equivalent functionality in VB.Net

                                        VB.Net allows local variables to be initialized with a lambda expressions using type inference, as long as the parameter types are specified. For example:

                                        Dim f = function(x as Integer) x = 1

                                        In this case 'f' is inferred to have an anonymous function type described as "<Function(Integer) As Boolean>" that can be implicitly cast to any matching delegate type, such as Predicate(Of Integer) or Func(Of Integer, Boolean).

                                        Currently C# does not support this functionality. That is to say, the line:

                                        var f = (int x) => x == 1;

                                        results in a compile error (Cannot assign lambda expression to…

                                        8 votes
                                        Vote
                                        Sign in
                                        Check!
                                        (thinking…)
                                        Reset
                                        or sign in with
                                        • facebook
                                        • google
                                          Password icon
                                          I agree to the terms of service
                                          Signed in as (Sign out)
                                          You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                          2 comments  ·  Languages - C#  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                                        • Methods returning arrays should return an empty array instead of null

                                          Introduce a new standard whereby any methods returning an array result return an empty array rather than null if no items exist.

                                          An example where this does not happen is the System.IO.DirectoryInfo.GetDirectories() method.

                                          I've included below code for an extension method which works around this issue to illustrate the behaviour I'd expect.

                                          public static class DirectoryInfoExtensions
                                          {
                                          public static DirectoryInfo[] GetDirectoriesX(this DirectoryInfo item)
                                          {
                                          return item.GetDirectories() ?? new DirectoryInfo[0];
                                          }
                                          }

                                          1 vote
                                          Vote
                                          Sign in
                                          Check!
                                          (thinking…)
                                          Reset
                                          or sign in with
                                          • facebook
                                          • google
                                            Password icon
                                            I agree to the terms of service
                                            Signed in as (Sign out)
                                            You have left! (?) (thinking…)
                                            0 comments  ·  .NET  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
                                          • Don't see your idea?

                                          Feedback and Knowledge Base