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Customize the Visual Studio IDE

You can customize Visual Studio IDE settings in various ways to best support your own development style and requirements. Many of your settings roam with you across Visual Studio instances. See Synchronized settings. This article briefly describes different personalizations and where you can find more information.

Export and import Visual Studio environment settings

Visual Studio lets you export and import your personal environment settings (such as themes, keyboard shortcuts, window layouts, templates, and other preferences) into a new installation. This makes it easy to recreate your previous customized environment when setting up a new Visual Studio instance. You can use the wizard, by selecting Tools > Import and Export Settings, to import or export specific categories of setting, or to reset the environment to one of the default collections of settings.

Export settings

Tip

Each time you close Visual Studio, a backup of your settings is saved automatically as a .vssettings file.
You can find this file at: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\<version>\Settings\
Each version has its own folder. To reuse your settings, copy the file from the version you want and then follow the steps in the Import settings section.

You can manually export your settings from inside Visual Studio using the wizard:

  1. Open the Visual Studio instance that contains the settings you want to export.
  2. Select Tools > Import and Export Settings.
  3. In the wizard, select Export selected environment settings, then choose Next.
  4. Select which settings you want to export, then choose Next.
  5. Enter a filename and location for your .vssettings file, then select Finish.

Import settings

To manually import your settings:

  1. Open the Visual Studio instance you want to import your settings into.
  2. Select Tools > Import and Export Settings.
  3. In the wizard, select Import selected environment settings, then choose Next.
  4. Select No, just import new settings, overwriting my current settings, then choose Next.
  5. Select Browse, then select your saved .vssettings file, then choose Next.
  6. Select which settings you want to import, then select Finish.

Reset all settings

You can also use the wizard to reset the environment to one of the default collections of settings.

  1. From the menu bar, select Tools > Import and Export Settings.

  2. In the Import and Export Settings Wizard, select Reset all settings, and then select Next.

    Screenshot of the 'Import and Export Settings Wizard' in Visual Studio 2022.

  3. On the Save Current Settings page, select either Yes, save my current settings or No, just reset settings, overwriting my current settings, and then select Next.

  4. On the Choose a Default Collection of Settings page, select a collection, and then select Finish.

    Screenshot of the default collection of settings in Visual Studio.

  5. On the Reset Complete page, select Close.

Settings in Visual Studio

To access Visual Studio settings (options), select Tools > Options from the main menu. The settings are organized into categories, shown in a tree on the left side. Find the setting in the tree, or use the search box to search for a setting by name, category, or keyword. You can also filter settings in certain ways, for example, you can filter to see only settings for Accessibility or settings you've modified from the defaults.

For more information, see Visual Studio settings.

General environment options

Many personalization options are exposed through the Environment Options UI. There are two ways to access these options:

  • On the menu bar, select Tools > Options. In the Options pane, expand the All Settings > Environment section.

  • Press Ctrl+Q and enter environment in the search box. Double-click the All Settings > Environment > General entry in the results list.

  • On the menu bar, select Tools > Options. In the Options dialog, expand the Environment section.

  • Press Ctrl+Q and enter environment in the search box. Double-click the Environment > General entry in the results list.

Tip

When the Environment options open, you can select F1 for help on the various settings on that page.

Environment color themes

You can change the color theme between Dark, Light, and other colors. Visual Studio 2026 introduces new color themes, including Cool Breeze, Spicy Red, Bubblegum, and more. If you enter theme in the search box, you can quickly set the theme to your preferred color. To apply the Dark theme, double-click Tools > Theme > Dark in the results list. In the Tools > Options pane, the Color theme option is located in the All Settings > Environment > Visual Experience > General section.

To change colorization options in the editor, enter fonts in the search box. Double-click the All Settings > Environment > Fonts and Colors entry in the results list to open the Options pane. For more information, see Change fonts, colors, and themes.

You can also use the Tools > Options pane, All Settings > Environment > Fonts and Colors options to establish a custom font and color scheme for various user interface elements in the integrated development environment (IDE). For more information, see the reference page on Fonts and Colors, Environment, Options dialog box.

You can change the color theme between Dark, Light, Blue, and Blue (Extra Contrast). Enter theme in the search box, and double-click Environment > General in the results list. In the Options dialog, change the Color theme option.

To change colorization options in the editor, enter fonts in the search box. Double-click the Environment > Fonts and Colors entry in the results list to open the Options dialog. For more information, see Change fonts, colors, and themes.

You can also use the Tools > Options dialog, Environment > Fonts and Colors options to establish a custom font and color scheme for various user interface elements in the integrated development environment (IDE). For more information, see the reference page on Fonts and Colors, Environment, Options dialog box.

Customize menus and toolbars

To add or remove menu or toolbar items, see Customize menus and toolbars.

You can change the main menu casing between Title Case ("File") and All Caps ("FILE").

Enter title case in the search box and double-click the Apply title case styling to menu bar entry in the results. In the Options pane, select or clear the Apply title case styling to menu bar option.

Enter title case in the search box and double-click the Environment > General entry in the results. In the Options dialog, select or clear the Apply title case styling to menu bar option.

Window layouts

You can define and save multiple window layouts and switch between them. For example, you can define one layout for coding and one for debugging. To arrange window positions and behavior and save custom layouts, see Customize window layouts and personalize tabs.

External tools

You can customize the Tools menu to launch external tools. For more information, see Manage external tools.

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