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Why doesn't Visual Studio have any way of showing line numbers in a source file? Is there any way to enable it, or a plugin for it? I know that the number of lines of code in a program doesn't matter, but sometimes it is nice to know how long a program is or the number of a particular line for reference.

Though I tried, I can't seem to find a way to enable line numbering and I find that surprising.

This is Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate. (If you have read my older questions, I've been using 2008 Express until now.)

DavidRR
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Cyclone
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15 Answers15

241

Visual Studio has line numbering:

Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages -> check the "Line numbers" checkbox.

James McNellis
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    You should check "Show All Settings" check box at the bottom of options window to see "line number" check box – Janaka R Rajapaksha May 21 '14 at 16:28
  • Still hidden for SCSS files?! – Ben Racicot Nov 25 '14 at 15:22
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    If the "Line numbers" check box is checked and you still don't see the lines, uncheck the check box, click OK, the go back to Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages, now check the "Line numbers" check box again and the lines should appear. – TH Todorov Jan 28 '15 at 15:28
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    in VS 2017 my line numbers disappeared at some point, even though the tools/options check showed them selected. As @TH Todorov stated, I had to go back, uncheck, then recheck them and save for them to reappear. – BentChainRing Oct 04 '17 at 18:49
  • In VS 2017 settings the square filled checkbox indicates partial application of a setting. It wasn't until I toggled the line numbers setting off and back on that it showed a normal checkmark and line numbers actually engaged for *all* languages. – Reticulated Spline Jan 24 '22 at 17:06
46

As of Visual Studio 2015, you can find the option under:

Tools-> Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages-> General -> Line Numbers

Visual Studio 2013 Line Numbers Option Menu

Or simply go to tools -> options and type on the search bar: "Numbers".

0x6C38
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Tools -> Options -> Show All Settings -> Text Editor -> All Languages -> Line Numbers

Brian Webster
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Cyclone
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19

In Visual Studio 2013 & 2015 :

Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages -> check Line Numbers enter image description here

Abdessamad Doughri
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8

It's not enabled by default but you can enable it by going to:

  1. Click Tools
  2. Options
  3. Text Editor (expand)
  4. All Languages
  5. Line Numbers (Checkbox)
  6. Click Ok

settings

davejal
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Dmitri Larionov
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5

In VS 2010:

Tools > Settings > Expert Settings

Then:

Tools > Options > Show all settings > Text editor > C# > General > Check Line Numbers (checkbox)

Community
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Ya Basha
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Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages -> Line Number checkbox enter image description here

Wesam
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3

Visual studio 2015 enterprice

Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages -> check Line Numbers

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165340.aspxenter image description here

Sherif Hamdy
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Line numbers are not on by default. To turn on line numbers just go to Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> All Languages -> General -> Display and check Line numbers:

http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/zainnab/WindowsLiveWriter/TurnonLineNumbers_A5E7/image_thumb.png

User001
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For me, line numbers wouldn't appear in the editor until I added the option under both the "all languages" pane, and the language I was working under (C# etc)... screen capture showing editor options

Crux161
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Are you talking about seeing the line numbers or knowing the total number of lines in a project? Here is the 1st one

Martin Marconcini
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1

Type 'line numbers' into the Quick Launch textbox (top right VS 2015), and it'll take you right where you need to be (tick Line Numbers checkbox).

Seba Illingworth
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You should edit "settings.json". In that add, "editor.lineNumbers":"on", . You can check comments for various options you have.

In Visual Studio Code - 2017, you can also directly go to a given line number. There are following three ways to do that.

  1. Directly use keyboard shortcut - Ctrl + G.
  2. Under menu Go, use Go to Line - Go > Go to Line
  3. Search for Go to Line in Command Pallete (Cmd + Shift + P).
Saurabh Verma
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For MS Visual Studio 2015 type "Text" in Quick Launch (Ctrl+Q) of top right corner. 1) quicklaunch

2) In the list select Text Editor->All Languages->General select_allLanguages

3) Now check on "Line Numbers" and click OK to get the line numbers.

Finally we get the line number in text editor.

user337826
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  • You can also just type 'Line Numbers' in the quick launch to go directly to the right screen – asidis Jan 02 '19 at 15:31
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In Visual Studio 2010 Express, there is an option called "Show all Settings". Located at "Tools > Options", window.

enter image description here

If this option is not checked, the line number option will not be available. Make sure this option is checked like shown below. This will make lot of additional settings visible in the tree view to the left.

enter image description here

Now this will make the option "Tools > Options > Text Editor > C# > General > Line Editor" available. Check the "Line Number" option to make line numbers visible on Visual Studio 2010 Express.

enter image description here

Ganesh Kamath - 'Code Frenzy'
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