What Happened to the Property Menu Item in Visual Studio 2017?

Question

Visual Studio 2017 used to allow me to see a source file's property (e.g., file name, path, etc.).  I would right-click on the source file in the Solution Explorer window, select Property and a property window would appear in the lower half of the Solution Explorer window.

 

The Property menu item no longer appears in the context menu when I right-click on the source file in the Solution Explorer window.

 

Was this feature removed in a recent release?...  Did something change in my Visual Studio 2017 settings?...  Other?

 

Please advise.

Answer 1

VS 2017 has been out of mainstream support since 2022. There are no updates being made to it. The option is still there in all versions of VS.

I'm not aware of a single case where the option would not be available in Solution Explorer. However you can get to it without using the context menu. The hotkey is Alt+Enter. Select the file and use the hotkey to open it. Alternatively it is also tied to F4. Press that key and the window will pop up. Then select the file in Solution Explorer.

Answer 2

@Julio Bello,

In addition to @Michael Taylor’s suggestions, here are some additional workarounds or methods that you can try, to make the option and the Property window display.

1. View > Properties Window. Also check View > Other Windows.
2. Reset VS general settings by clicking Tools > Import and Export Settings… > select Reset all settings > Next > No, just reset…/Yes, save my current settings > Next > choose General > Finish > check if the option and the Property window display. Another way to reset VS settings is running devenv /ResetSettings in Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio 2017.
3. Check the installed extensions(disable them temporarily to test if possible), make sure that no extensions interfere VS from showing the Property window.
4. Tools > Customize… > switch to Commands tab > select View(Menu bar) > click Reset All.
5. Restart VS and create a new simple project, see if the same issue appears.
6. Besides, repairing VS 2017 maybe also work(VS Installer > More > Repair).
7. Reinstall VS 2017 as the last resort if it’s necessary.

BTW, the latest version of VS 2017 is version 15.9.67. I guess you are using the latest version of VS 2017. No updates are available.

Please feel free to let us know the results.

Happy coding!

Tianyu

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