Environment settings for Visual Studio

Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

When you open Visual Studio for the first time, you can optimize the development environment for the type of development that you do the most by choosing a collection of settings. Each collection optimizes elements such as keyboard shortcuts, window layouts, project and item templates, and command visibility.

The following settings collections are available:

  • General
  • JavaScript
  • Visual Basic
  • Visual C#
  • Visual C++
  • Web Development
  • Web Development (Code Only)

Reset settings

To change your development settings after you open Visual Studio for the first time, follow these steps:

  1. Select Tools > Import and Export Settings from the menu bar to open the Import and Export Settings Wizard.

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

    Import and Export Settings Wizard in Visual Studio

  3. On the Save Current Settings page, select either Yes or No, and then select Next.

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

    Settings collections in Visual Studio

  5. On the Reset Complete page, select Close.

See also