Visual Studio: Is there a way to collapse all items of Solution Explorer?

Question

I know that I can use Arrow Keys to collapse items of solution explorer one by one, but I would like to know if there is a way to collapse all items with only one operation. I want to know it because, today I have a solution with 6 projects that have at least two hundred files and if I try to collapse them one-by-one I will have a hard time.

Tree View - Solution Explorer (Visual Studio)

FYI, * is the expand-all key (This doesn't answer the question but is related.) — Sprague, Nov 09 '12 at 09:46
@Sprague \* only works with the dedicated key on the numeric keypad. How do you expand all, in the absence of a numeric keypad? — Marco Lackovic, Apr 26 '16 at 07:31
@Marco Lackovic (late reply) My best bet is to search "expandall" in Tool>Option>Environment>Keyboard and set a hotkey. (didn't test) — javaLover, Mar 25 '17 at 03:29

Sebastian Patten · Answer 1 · 2018-05-22T19:52:12.937

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It appears to be built in by default in Visual Studio 2013 onwards.

edited May 22 '18 at 19:52

answered Jul 01 '14 at 16:04

Sebastian Patten

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Is there a hot key shortcut for this? – RayLoveless Jan 06 '16 at 18:43
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@RayLoveless no but you can set one in Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard – Adam Short Feb 29 '16 at 10:33
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@AdamShort I found it convenient to assign action "Collapse All" to "Num /" key, it makes a good match for the "Num *" (Expand All) – Varvara Kalinina May 24 '17 at 09:06
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@VarvaraKalinina How did you do that? `SolutionExplorer.CollapseAll`will only accept CTRL+something, trying to just use `\` does nothing for me – Noctis May 22 '18 at 06:29
The CTRL key requirement only exists at global scope. Under the "Use new shortcut in:" set it to something more specific -- Solution Explorer would make the most sense. – Reticulated Spline Oct 04 '21 at 18:20

Pete · Answer 2 · 2013-07-24T07:51:19.893

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If you have ReSharper installed, you can right click on the solution in the solution explorer, and select "Collapse All".

edited Jul 24 '13 at 07:51

answered Aug 31 '09 at 15:26

Pete

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Thanks Pete! I didn't know resharper did this either. Especially after hitting "*" by accident. – ThisGuyKnowsCode Jul 12 '11 at 14:36
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Request clarification or suggest improvement. Using resharper - what is the command / shortcut? – Mars Robertson Jul 23 '13 at 15:13

score 21 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 24 '22 at 15:02

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You can use PowerCommands for Visual Studio 2008

Right click on the project\solution on the solution explorer and choose Collapse Project:

edited Dec 24 '22 at 15:02

Glorfindel

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answered Aug 31 '09 at 14:36

HuBeZa

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love powercommands, except the "undo close" window that won't die. – Muad'Dib Aug 31 '09 at 14:48
I tryed to use it, but after it was installed on my machine, my vs2008 stopped to work. LOL – Cleiton Aug 31 '09 at 14:53
@Chris: I never tried it (I actually use the undo close window), but under Tools\Options\PowerCommands\Commands you can disable any feature you want. – HuBeZa Aug 31 '09 at 14:56
PowerCommands tends to break the WPF designer, unfortunately. – Ryan Lundy Sep 11 '09 at 18:17
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Power Commands doesn't collapse solution folders either and instead expands them randomly – Mario Jan 07 '13 at 22:52

score 15 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 18 '18 at 15:39

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Just use the number pad's Plus + and Minus - keys at the top-level node, to expand and collapse respectively (Note: * also expands the whole list.)

For the toolbox, you need to use * and / instead for expand/collapse. Go figure.

edited Apr 18 '18 at 15:39

Mwiza

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answered Nov 18 '09 at 15:06

AL.

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Unfortunately this only collapses/expands the current node (just like clicking on the expand/collapse icon), not any children, which I don't think is a solution for the OP: for instance if you have 3 projects, each with 2 folders, each with 10 folders. Collapsing the solution as a whole is great, but when you expand it again you're back to a list of 60 items rather than a list of 3 projects. – DaveD Jun 15 '12 at 14:14
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Num pad * expands all childrens (VS 2013) – Sel Jun 10 '15 at 06:49

score 14 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 04 '19 at 13:22

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In VS 2019 just click Collapse All

answered Dec 04 '19 at 13:22

Alan Simpson

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score 10 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 13 '21 at 15:34

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If you have Resharper installed, there is an option called Collapse All and a shortcut key next to it.

Now this shortcut key will not work for you ! Unless you set it up using Tools > Options > Keyboard.

The command name is ReSharper_CollapseInSolutionExplorer.

Search using this command name and assign a shortcut key of your choice.

and you now have a shortcut key ready to use to collapse all items in your solution explorer.

I know I am a little late to this discussion, but this surely gonna help some one or other.

edited Jan 13 '21 at 15:34

Madis Otenurm

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answered Oct 29 '12 at 09:21

Yasser Shaikh

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It should be mentioned that this is not default VS functionality (pre 2012), but, in this instance, the additional context menu item and shortcut is provided by Resharper. – kodjeff1 Jul 30 '13 at 18:36
In VS2015 with ReSharper 2016.1 this is now just `CollapseInSolutionExplorer`. – absynce Jun 02 '16 at 16:19

score 6 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 08 '19 at 06:41

Using Visual Studio 2017 and above

use shortcut

Open Tools > Options or press Alt + T + O
Under Environment tab > Keyboard (Also, you can create a shortcut for Tools.CustomizeKeyboard to open it directly)

To Collapse All

Search for "SolutionExplorer.CollapseAll"
Add a new shortcut for example Ctrl+Left Arrow,Ctrl+Left Arrow

To Expand All

Search for "SolutionExplorer.Folder.CollapseAll"
Add a new shortcut for example Ctrl+Right Arrow,Ctrl+Right Arrow
Assign > OK

Is it really correct? SolutionExplorer.Folder.CollapseAll to expand all? — M. Koch, Mar 25 '23 at 10:50

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 11 '12 at 07:15

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The VisualStudio extension CodeMaid provides collapsing.

Download from VisualStudioGallery.

The current version only supports VS2010 or higher, but you can install older versions side-by-side.

answered Jul 11 '12 at 07:15

Em1

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score 4 · Answer 9 · edited Dec 24 '22 at 15:02

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There's a macro at Link for Visual Studio 2005.

edited Dec 24 '22 at 15:02

Glorfindel

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answered Aug 31 '09 at 14:32

TLiebe

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I'm sorry, but how do I run that macro into VS2008? – Cleiton Aug 31 '09 at 14:36
go to Tools -> Macros -> Macro IDE, and paste the macro code in a module – Thomas Levesque Aug 31 '09 at 14:38

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 06 '12 at 15:29

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Visual Studio 2012 is out on 8/15/2012, so I suggest upgrading to that to get a fast "Collapse All" toolbar button previously available only in the Productivity Power Tools' Solution Navigator, which was sometimes too slow to be usable.

answered Aug 06 '12 at 15:29

Patrick Szalapski

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score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 04 '10 at 15:12

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take a look on this
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/7272073b-32d4-4a84-93f7-77d09fb16f01

answered Nov 04 '10 at 15:12

DMSQLO

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Aug 15 '23 at 18:32

It’s very simple now in visual studio 2022 17.7 version. It’s easier and more flexible.

When you right-click on a node in Solution Explorer. You can use this to collapse the selected node as well as its descendent nodes. We've also mapped this as a shortcut via the Ctrl+Left arrow keys.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/releases/2022/release-notes#collapse-all-descendants-for-solution-explorer

score -1 · Answer 13 · edited Dec 24 '22 at 15:02

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Use the Visual Studio extension that fits your version of Visual Studio. In my case (I use Visual Studio 2012) I use the extension Productivity Power Tools, but, unfortunately this exist only for VS 2010 and latter... For VS 2008 there is a similar extension: Power Commands.

edited Dec 24 '22 at 15:02

Glorfindel

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answered Sep 16 '13 at 12:13

serge

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Can you elaborate more please? – Rahul Patel Sep 16 '13 at 12:31
Go to Tools => Extensions in Visual Studio and Install the specified add-ins to have the desired functionnality. – serge Sep 17 '13 at 16:12

score -4 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 31 '09 at 14:46

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Delete the *.suo and *.csproj.user files, and reopen the solution/projects.

answered Aug 31 '09 at 14:46

Cecil Has a Name

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What preferences? The projects will still compile the same. – Cecil Has a Name Aug 31 '09 at 15:11
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It will compile, but you will loose currently opened tabs, startup projects (painful if you have multiple), as well as other per-user settings. – Dav Nov 22 '12 at 08:55

Visual Studio: Is there a way to collapse all items of Solution Explorer?

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