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Find references in your code

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You can use the Find All References command to find where particular code elements are referenced throughout your codebase. The Find All References command is available on the context (right-click) menu of the element you want to find references to. Or, press Shift+F12.

The results appear in a tool window named <element> references, where element is the name of the item you're searching for. A toolbar in the references window enables you to do the following:

  • Change the scope of the search in a drop-down list box. You can choose to look only in open or changed documents, all the way up to the entire solution.
  • Copy the selected referenced item(s) by choosing the Copy button. All the values in all the columns for all selected rows are copied to the clipboard, preceded by the column headings. This makes it easy to paste into a spreadsheet.
  • Choose buttons to go to the next or previous location in the list, or press the F8 and Shift+F8 keys to do so.
  • Remove any filters on the returned results by choosing the Clear All Filters button.
  • Change how returned items are grouped by choosing a setting in the Group by: drop-down list box.
  • Keep the current search results window by choosing the Keep Results button. When you choose this button, the current search results stay in this window, and new search results appear in a new tool window.
  • Search for strings within the search results by entering text in the Search Find All References text box.

You can also hover the mouse over any search result to see the reference in the context of the surrounding code.

Screenshot of the Find All References tool window.

You can use the following methods to navigate to references in the references window:

  • Press the Enter key on a reference, or double-click it, to go to it in code.
  • On the right-click menu (context menu) of a reference, choose the Go To Previous Location or Go To Next Location commands.
  • Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.

Change reference groupings

By default, references are grouped by project, then by definition. However, you can change this grouping order by changing the setting in the Group by: drop-down list box on the toolbar. For example, you can change it from the default setting of Project then definition to Definition then project, as well to other settings.

Definition and Project are the two default groupings used, but you can add others by choosing the Grouping command on the selected item's right-click or context menu. Adding more groupings can be helpful if your solution has numerous files and paths.

Filter by reference type in .NET

In C# or Visual Basic, the Find References window has a Kind column where it lists what type of reference it found. You can use this column to filter by reference type. Select the filter icon that appears when you hover over the column header. You can filter references by Read, Write, Reference, Name, Namespace, and Type.

Screenshot of the Find References window that highlights the Kind column.

After you apply a filter or a filter set, you can easily remove it by using the Clear All Filters button.

Customize the experience

To customize the experience, on the menu bar, choose Tools > Options > Environment > Tabs and Windows, and then in the Preview Tab section, if you select the Allow new files to be opened in the preview tab checkbox, you can select or unselect the Preview selected files in Find Results checkbox. When selected, the file is opened in the editor at the place where the reference occurs. When unset, the file is only opened if you explicitly press Enter or double-click on the row.

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