Skip to content
C# Dev Tools

Solution Explorer

Recent Solutions

Quickly access and reopen recently used .NET solutions.

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

The Recent Solutions feature maintains a history of solutions you’ve worked with, allowing you to quickly reopen them without navigating the file system.

Accessing Recent Solutions

Section titled “Accessing Recent Solutions”

From Solution Explorer

Section titled “From Solution Explorer”
  1. Open the Solution Explorer
  2. Look for the “Recent Solutions” section or dropdown
  3. View your recently opened solutions
  4. Click to reopen a solution

From Command Palette

Section titled “From Command Palette”
  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
  2. Type “C# Solution Explorer: Open Recent Solution”
  3. Select from the list of recent solutions
  4. The solution opens immediately

Recent Solutions List

Section titled “Recent Solutions List”

The list shows:

  • Solution Name: Display name of the solution
  • Path: Full path to the solution file
  • Last Opened: When you last worked with the solution
  • Workspace: Workspace folder if in multi-root workspace

Features

Section titled “Features”

Quick Reopen

Section titled “Quick Reopen”
  • One-click access to recent solutions
  • Faster than browsing file system
  • No need to remember file paths
  • Organized by recency

Automatic Tracking

Section titled “Automatic Tracking”

Solutions are automatically added when:

  • Opening a solution file
  • Loading a workspace with a solution
  • Creating a new solution
  • Switching between solutions

List Management

Section titled “List Management”

The recent solutions list:

  • Maintains order by last access time
  • Automatically removes deleted solutions
  • Limits to a configurable number of entries
  • Persists across VS Code sessions

Clearing Recent Solutions

Section titled “Clearing Recent Solutions”

Clear Single Entry

Section titled “Clear Single Entry”
  1. Hover over a recent solution entry
  2. Click the “Remove” icon (X)
  3. Entry is removed from the list

Clear All Recent Solutions

Section titled “Clear All Recent Solutions”
  1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
  2. Type “C# Solution Explorer: Clear Recent Solutions”
  3. Confirm the action
  4. All recent solutions are cleared

Configuration

Section titled “Configuration”

Configure recent solutions behavior:

  1. Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,)
  2. Search for “csharp-dev-tools.recentSolutions”
  3. Adjust settings:
    • Maximum number of recent solutions
    • Auto-remove deleted solutions
    • Sort order preference

Settings

Section titled “Settings”

Maximum Recent Solutions

Section titled “Maximum Recent Solutions”

csharp-dev-tools.recentSolutions.maxCount

  • Default: 10
  • Range: 1-50
  • Controls how many solutions to remember

Auto-Remove Invalid

Section titled “Auto-Remove Invalid”

csharp-dev-tools.recentSolutions.autoRemoveInvalid

  • Default: true
  • Automatically removes solutions that no longer exist

Use Cases

Section titled “Use Cases”

Project Switching

Section titled “Project Switching”

Quickly switch between multiple active projects:

  1. Work on Project A
  2. Switch to Project B via recent solutions
  3. Return to Project A later
  4. No file browsing needed

Client Projects

Section titled “Client Projects”

Manage multiple client solutions:

  • Each client has their own solution
  • Quick access to any client project
  • Easy context switching
  • Maintain work history

Learning and Experimentation

Section titled “Learning and Experimentation”

Jump between tutorial solutions:

  • Multiple practice projects
  • Sample code repositories
  • Proof of concept solutions
  • Quick access for reference

Integration

Section titled “Integration”

Recent solutions integrate with:

  • Solution Explorer tree view
  • File > Open Recent menu
  • Workspace management
  • Multi-root workspaces

Best Practices

Section titled “Best Practices”

Organization

Section titled “Organization”
  • Use descriptive solution names
  • Keep solutions in organized folders
  • Group related solutions together
  • Clean up old entries periodically

Performance

Section titled “Performance”
  • Limit maximum recent solutions
  • Remove invalid entries
  • Use for frequently accessed solutions
  • Archive old projects

Team Collaboration

Section titled “Team Collaboration”
  • Solutions in shared network locations appear
  • Team members see their own recent list
  • No conflicts with version control
  • Workspace-relative paths work better

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

Solution Not Appearing

Section titled “Solution Not Appearing”

If a solution doesn’t appear in recent list:

  1. Ensure solution was actually opened
  2. Check it wasn’t removed
  3. Verify solution file still exists
  4. Try opening the solution again

Wrong Solution Opens

Section titled “Wrong Solution Opens”

If wrong solution opens:

  1. Check solution path in the list
  2. Verify file hasn’t been moved
  3. Remove stale entry
  4. Add correct solution again

List Not Persisting

Section titled “List Not Persisting”

If recent solutions don’t persist:

  1. Check VS Code workspace storage
  2. Verify extension is activated
  3. Check for storage permissions
  4. Try clearing and rebuilding list

Too Many Entries

Section titled “Too Many Entries”

If list is too long:

  1. Reduce maximum count in settings
  2. Clear old entries manually
  3. Remove unused solutions
  4. Set auto-remove invalid to true
Section titled “Related Features”