Visual Studio Blog
The official source of product insight from the Visual Studio Engineering Team
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Announcing a free GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio
We're excited to announce an all new free plan for GitHub Copilot, available for everyone today in Visual Studio. All you need is a GitHub account. No trial. No...
Latest posts
Your fonts are now preserved when changing theme
Do you find yourself adjusting your font settings every time you change themes in Visual Studio, We've made some changes that we think will help. The latest update in Visual Studio 2022 allows theme switching without affecting font settings. This feature maintains the selected font face and size regardless of the chosen theme, while font colors continue to adapt to the theme. Seamless integration for a better user experience This improvement is automatically enabled for all users, facilitating a consistent appearance in your coding environment. If you prefer the prior behavior, you can revert it easily. ...
Customize your AI-generated git commit messages
When it comes to collaborative software development, clear and effective communication is key. One area that often gets overlooked is the Git commit message. Poorly crafted suggestions and feedback for the AI-generated commit messages, and now you can add custom prompt instructions! This new capability enables you to tailor commit messages to fit your workflow and team's standards seamlessly. This means you have control over the number of lines, the length of the lines, and even the style of the commit message. By specifying these details, you ensure that each commit message is not only meaningful but a...
Customizing collapsed text Indicators
Visual Studio 2022 introduces new options for customizing the collapsed text indicator, which helps in distinguishing between different sections of collapsed text in the editor. This aims to make the coding environment more intuitive and easier to use by providing additional customization for visual cues. Customizing your coding environment You can now personalize the color and background of the editor’s collapsed text indicator independently by setting custom colors for both the collapsed and expanded text indicators. This feature can be accessed via the Tools > Options > Environment > Fonts and C...
Iterate across multiple files more efficiently with GitHub Copilot Edits (Preview)
GitHub Copilot Edits (Preview) in Visual Studio 2022 combines the conversational flow of chat and an inline review experience to help you iterate across your codebase with more control and efficiency. 💡 Here’s how Copilot Edits helps with iterating across multiple files: Available in Visual Studio 2022 Preview Get started with GitHub Copilot Edits in Visual Studio For more details on how to use Copilot Edits, visit our documentation. We appreciate your feedback Your feedback is invaluable for helping us improve Copilot Edits - please share with us on the...
Our Favorite NEW Visual Studio Features of 2024
Last year, the Visual Studio team delivered many new developer-focused improvements and AI integrations, many of which came directly from your feedback on Developer Community. In this post, we highlight the team’s favorite features from 2024 that boost productivity, streamline workflows, and enhance your coding experience. Let’s dive in! Image Hover Preview: See your images instantly! (Mads Kristensen 00:30) Struggling to visualize referenced images in your code? Visual Studio’s Image Hover Preview solves this by showing a quick preview of any image, complete with dimensions and file size, when you hover ...
Join us at VS Live! 2025 Las Vegas
Join Your Favorite Speakers at VS Live! Las Vegas With the new year here, many developers are looking for the best ways to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving tech landscape. That’s why Visual Studio Live! Las Vegas, March 10-14, 2025, is a must-attend event! Stay ahead of the curve with the latest enhancements in .NET, Azure, GitHub, GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio, and more. Visual Studio Live! Las Vegas is your fastest way to catch up on the innovations shaping the tech landscape. What Makes VS Live! Las Vegas a Must-Attend? From hands-on workshops to deep-dive sessions, this event is loaded with practical g...
Enhanced Change Signature in C++
Change Signature allows you to modify a function's parameters, including reordering, adding, removing, or altering them across various locations. Previously, the Change Signature feature in Visual Studio involved multiple clicks and nested pop-up windows. In Visual Studio 2022 version 17.12, we've reduced the number of clicks and eliminated these nested steps to streamline the process. Simplified Process with Intuitive Interface We have updated the user interface for the Change Signature feature based on direct feedback we received from C++ developers to reduce the number of clicks and pop-up windows. It al...
Benchmarking with Visual Studio Profiler
In Visual Studio 17.13 Preview we have released our updated BenchmarkDotNet diagnosers, allowing you to use more of the tools in the performance profiler to analyze benchmarks. With this change it is super quick to dig into CPU usage and allocations of benchmarks making the measure, change, measure cycle quick and efficient. Benchmarking a real project So, to show how we can use the tools to make things better let's go ahead and benchmark a real project. At the time of writing this article, CsvHelper is the 67th most popular package on Nuget.org with over 9 million downloads of the current version. If we can be...
Unlocking insights with Meter Histogram in the profiler
Are you struggling with performance bottlenecks in your applications? Look no further! Visual Studio 2022 introduces the Meter Histogram feature in its performance profiling suite, providing you with the tools to analyze and visualize histogram data like never before. The Meter Histogram is a key enhancement to Visual Studio's performance profiling suite. This feature enables you to capture and analyze histogram data generated by various performance instruments, offering clear insights into the distribution of your application's data. By visualizing this data, you can easily identify patterns and anomalies...