Friday, December 19, 2008

Why can't I see my Visual Studio 2008 Solution File in the Solution Explorer

In Visual Studio 2008 when you open your project or even open a solution file the Solution Explorer doesn't show the solution file by default. There are times that you want to see the solution file, like when you want to add multiple projects to a solution. To show the solution file in the Solution Explorer just follow the instructions below once you are have your project open in Visual Studio 2008.
  1. Go to the Tools Menu and choose the Options... menu item.
  2. In the Options window, expand the Projects and Solutions node.
  3. Click the General node (child of the Projects and Solutions node)
  4. Click the Always show solution checkbox.
  5. Click OK.
Now you should be able to see the Solution file in the Solution Explorer. If you want to add another project to the solution all you have to do is right click on the solution and choose Add | New Project...

25 comments:

Devlift Media said...

Very Helpful! Thank You

Brent V said...

Club Man,

Thank you very much for the feedback. I always appreciate knowing I helped someone.

Thank you,

Brent

Anonymous said...

Very useful. I have struggled with this before. It should be the default behavior in VS.

Anonymous said...

Very useful. Should be the default setting in VS.

Brent V said...

Anonymous,

So glad it helped, and thank you for the feedback! It is greatly appreciated. Yes, I agree, it should have been the default.

Brent

Unknown said...

Thank you very much

Brent V said...

Arvind,

Thanks for the feedback! You're welcome.

Glad to help.

Brent

Anonymous said...

Excellent, thank you!

Brent V said...

Anonymous,

Thank you for the feedback. So glad it helped.

Brent

JJ Ruescas said...

THNX VERY MUCH!!!!
Really Appreciate! :D

Brent V said...

JuanJo,

You are very welcome!

Brent

Anonymous said...

Whew! I was trying to help a colleague set the solution properties, yet there was no solution to set properties on! Your post came up first on google search, thanks so much!

Brent V said...

Anonymous,

1st of Google, AWESOME! Something so simple, but useful to so many. I love it!

Thx for letting me know.

Brent

Anonymous said...

Just what the doctor ordered, thanks!

Anonymous said...

thanks, I almost bit my fingers.

Ankan Pal said...

very short and to the point. no unnecessary crap content. I really appretiate this. Thanks a lot.

Anonymous said...

Very helpful!! Thanks a lot

Anonymous said...

GRACIAS!

hariman said...

Great stuff, thanks!

You might also want to add that there is a checkbox "show all settings" in the Options window. That checkbox has to be ticked in order for "Projects and Solutions" to show. Baffled me for a moment.

Rajkumar said...

Thanks, It was very helpful.

Anonymous said...

Thanks you VERY MUCH!

SHOULD be default just like "show all settings" in the Options window SHOULD be.

I can MAYBE see that hiding details in Windows Explorer or Microsoft Office might help non-tech Users. But this is VIS-U-AL STU-DI-O, you know for PRO-GRAM-MERS!?! Programmers would lose much more from trying to find details they might need, than benefit from details being hidden to reduce "clutter". Especially with this Solution thing. It's one - freakin'line!!! How much "clutter" is that really causing?

I'm not against encapsulation or even collapsed sub-/Trees but in both cases the "details" are much easier to find (i.e. via "Show Definition" or "+" Icon), but the "Always show solution" option is in a TOTALLY different part of the program.

Anonymous said...

thank you!!!

Anonymous said...

I have been stumped for months on this and had to revert back to VS 2005 when I had to work with a multiple project solution.

Thanks!

veshches said...

Thank you so much for posting this.

Anonymous said...

Thanks ,really it very helpful.....