visual studio 2019 f1 help not working

Question

visual studio 2019 f1 help not working

Anthony Weathers 46 Microsoft Employee

When I use the F1 key with a function name highlighted, the web page indicates the request was blocked. The link the browser is trying to access is:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/query/dev16.query?appId=Dev16IDEF1&l=EN-US&k=k(CORECRT_WSTDLIB%2F_wtoi);k(_wtoi);k(DevLang-C%2B%2B);k(TargetOS-Windows)&rd=true

and the response is:

The request is blocked.
0YqdYYgAAAAAPocZB9/F3SrIt+RquG8VGU0pDRURHRTA1MDYANWNmZWQzYjYtMDM5Yi00NWZmLTg4ODMtNjQzZDBlYzQ5MTg2

I get the same type of response if I strip the URL down to https://msdn.microsoft.com/.

Anthony Weathers 46 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-04-14T23:10:37.827+00:00

Initially it was using the Edge browser. I manually typed in the msdn URL to the Chrome browser and the result was the same.

Accepted answer

3 additional answers

Your answer

Anthony Weathers 46 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-04-14T23:10:37.827+00:00

Initially it was using the Edge browser. I manually typed in the msdn URL to the Chrome browser and the result was the same.

Answer 1

bernard Hauzeur 91

cookie cleanup was the cure in my context

Sven Giermann 1 Reputation point

2022-04-21T10:09:38.607+00:00

This does not work for me, even in a private window and on all available browsers, I get the same error message.

Is there anything else to try?

EDIT: I'm still using VS2010 - might the help be not available anymore?
Ken Cross 6 Reputation points

2022-04-21T12:37:12.637+00:00

This seemed to fix using the browser for help, but not the Help Viewer. Better than nothing, I guess...
bernard Hauzeur 91 Reputation points

2022-05-11T06:58:28.093+00:00

Weird enough, the issue came again back twice, and once again, clearing all cookies cured the issue, but the second time, it did not! However, the NEXT DAY, just resuming from an hibernated PC, and without any new cookie clearance, it worked! I do suspect then some interference from CDN's who cache altogether pages and SSO credentials... in which case there could be also a linkage with your logged status on your Microsoft account. Very vague clues, I admit.
Tim 1 Reputation point

2022-06-17T06:49:28.253+00:00

You only need to clear the cookies for the naked domain microsoft.com , you can leave all other *.microsoft.com subdomains intact.

Answer 2

Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,456 Microsoft External Staff

Hi @Anthony Weathers ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Which version of Visual Studio 2019 are you using? I notice that this issue was reported before and was fixed in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.6. If you are using a lower version of VS 2019, I suggest you try to update to use a higher version of VS 2019.

If you are using a higher version of Visual Studio 2019, could you help to confirm whether this issue appears for other codes and other projects in VS 2019?

Best Regards,
Tianyu

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Anthony Weathers 46 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-04-15T20:33:51.753+00:00

Hello @Tianyu Sun-MSFT ,

I am using Version 16.11.12. I just updated recently and that is when I noticed the issue. Although I don't know for sure that the problem is associated with the update because I had not used the F1 key in a while.

In response to your question, I used it with other projects and the same issue occurs.
Ken Cross 6 Reputation points

2022-04-18T01:16:47.277+00:00

Same here -- both VS2019 and VS2022. And local Help Viewer has stopped working as well. ?!?
Ken Cross 6 Reputation points

2022-04-18T01:19:27.08+00:00

At the risk of TMI:

Visual Studio Professional 2019, 16.11.12
Visual Studio Professional 2022, 17.1.4

I also did a Repair on both -- same results.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,456 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-04-18T12:06:47.947+00:00

Hi @Anthony Weathers @Ken Cross , could you tell me what kind of project/programming language you are using? I tested in C# project and with some simple code like string and it(F1) worked well(Help Viewer also worked) in VS 2019(16.11.12) and VS 2022.
Ken Cross 6 Reputation points

2022-04-18T13:39:53.02+00:00

Both C++ and C# programs, both console and WPF.

I've used VS for years, including F1 and never had a problem up to the last week or so.
Ken Cross 6 Reputation points

2022-04-18T13:59:09.97+00:00

The weird part is hitting F1 with the "Launch in Browser" setting returns "The request is blocked.", e.g.,

https://msdn.microsoft.com/query/dev16.query?appId=Dev16IDEF1&l=EN-US&k=k(System.IO.Ports.SerialPort);k(DevLang-csharp)&rd=true

But this is ONLY in Edge. If I go to the same URL in, say, Chrome it works fine.
Anthony Weathers 46 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-04-18T18:54:01.337+00:00

C++ for me.
Anthony Weathers 46 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2022-04-18T18:56:25.587+00:00

For me, I get the same result with Chrome. It also gives the blocked message.
DanielF 1 Reputation point

2022-04-18T18:57:57.463+00:00

For me it's the opposite: I get "The request is blocked" in Chrome, but if I copy the URL to Edge, it works. Reproduced in VS 2015 and 2019. Languages are C# and T-SQL.
Mike Schlueter 1 Reputation point

2022-04-18T21:10:48.037+00:00

F1 is broken for both C++ & C# for me.
VS 2019 16.11.12 (just updated and the problem still occurs.)
VS 2022 17.1.4 (just installed, has same problem.)
Hyunjin Lee 1 Reputation point

2022-04-19T03:05:33.897+00:00

same problem....

Visual Studio Professional 2022 17.1.4

Language : C#
Target Framework : .NET core 3.1
Application Type : Class Library

browser URL : https://msdn.microsoft.com/query/dev16.query?appId=Dev16IDEF1&l=KO-KR&k=k(System.Security.Cryptography.RSACryptoServiceProvider.%23ctor);k(DevLang-csharp)&rd=true

OS : Windows 11 21H2, 22000.613

Chrome(100.0.4896.127, 64bits) browser Result :
The request is blocked.
0TCVeYgAAAAA9zIiZCzf+Rrh1GC9JZTa7UFVTMDNFREdFMDMxOQA1Y2ZlZDNiNi0wMzliLTQ1ZmYtODg4My02NDNkMGVjNDkxODY=

Microsoft Edge(100.0.1185.44, 64bits) it works fine.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,456 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-04-19T06:37:57.197+00:00

Thanks all for your report.

Could you kindly help to confirm if this issue is caused by browser’s cookies and site data? For Chrome, you can go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data > see all site data and permissions > remove all Microsoft related website cookies. For Edge, you can go to Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies and site data > See all cookies and site data > remove all Microsoft related website cookies. (Note: If the cookies and site data are important for you, please don’t remove them)

Besides, there's a similar issue reported before, here is the link, I suggest you vote up for that thread and add comments to help Product Team locate the cause of this issue.

Regards,
Tianyu
DanielF 1 Reputation point

2022-04-19T14:18:41.957+00:00

Removing the Microsoft cookies fixed the issue for me. Thanks.

Answer 3

Eric Beaudry 1

same problem here too.

Had that problem a week ago and removing cookies (or using an InPrivate session with the link) worked for a couple days. The issue studently returned moments ago and now even InPrivate is not working.

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 (Pro) (64-bit) - Preview Version 17.2.0 Preview 3.0
Edge Version 100.0.1185.44 (Official build) (64-bit)

Answer 4

Wilbert Verhoeven 1

For me the same problem, clearing all cookies works for mee
it has nothing to do with Visual Studio, it has to do with cookies / login info edge is sending clearing the cookies (all sites) helps

I had this problem using ipv6.. Has it to do with country's blocking ?

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