How to automatically format XAML code in Visual Studio?

Question

Here:

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/de-DE/b77c7529-298f-4b9a-874a-f94f699986ac/automatically-formatting-xaml-code?forum=vswpfdesigner

... it is written that one can use "Ctrl+K+D" ... but that didn't work.

I also tried "shift + alt + F", which was suggested here:

How do you format code in Visual Studio Code (VSCode)

... it didn't work either.

So my question is: how can you automatically format XAML code in Visual Studio?

This issue was noted here: https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/issues/16899 where it was suggested to report an issue using the VS feedback tool. I don't know if the OP of that post had done so, but FWIW I have. — StayOnTarget, Jul 09 '18 at 11:40

stanimirsp · Answer 1 · 2020-06-18T05:45:18.760

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Probably your formatting options are wrong, go to: Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> XAML -> Formatting -> Spacing and on Attribute Spacing section click "Position each attribute on a separete line" and then try "Ctrl+K+D" again.

edited Jun 18 '20 at 05:45

answered Mar 17 '19 at 08:56

stanimirsp

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Wow this is an amazing tip. I don't understand why this isn't the default though. (At least it wasn't for me). – Emperor Eto Dec 04 '21 at 19:26
This does not fix tabs – John Glen Aug 09 '23 at 02:25

David Grochocki · Answer 2 · 2017-09-11T04:09:13.897

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I would check out XAML Styler, which is a Visual Studio extension to help format your XAML source code (full disclosure, I am one of the owners on the project).

Edit: Forgot to mention that Visual Studio does not have a very rich set of XAML formatting capabilities on its own.

edited Sep 11 '17 at 04:09

answered Sep 11 '17 at 03:57

David Grochocki

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score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 11 '18 at 20:13

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Shortcut key for XAML formatting in Visual Studio for Mac machines: Ctrl+I

answered Jun 11 '18 at 20:13

Vimal Saifudin

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Wahyu · Answer 4 · 2019-07-11T12:39:24.083

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In case you guys still don't know how...

It's called 'Format Document', you can find it inside menu:

Edit => Advanced => Format Document

There is also shortcut for it:

Ctrl+E then Ctrl+D

This works for most document, including XAML.

EDIT: When this post was made, I was using VS 2017

edited Jul 11 '19 at 12:39

answered Jun 10 '18 at 14:28

Wahyu

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This does nothing in XAML VS2015 when I try it. In my menu it is shown as ^K^D which is mentioned in the original question and is noted not to work. – StayOnTarget Jul 09 '18 at 11:33
Worked for me as well. – GHauan Jul 11 '19 at 09:48
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in VS 2019 this menu option doesn't exist when in a xaml file. :( – Lucas Mar 27 '20 at 03:29
This works in VS2019 now, at least, if not before. – Sheridan Aug 04 '21 at 15:19
Does not work for me in VS2022, maybe because of configuration differences? I ended up using an extension to fill the gap. – Grault Nov 01 '22 at 20:06

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 11 '17 at 08:58

I use Xaml Formatter. Works pretty good for me. You will just have to assign code formatting with Xaml Formatter to a Ctrl+K Ctrl+D shortcut in Xaml files, since it is not done by default (it's creating Format Xaml option in Tools menu).

Also Inline Color Picker is a very simple but extremely useful extension if you are developing a lot of Xaml code.

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 17 '20 at 15:37

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Try using "XML Tools" for VS Code, the shortcut is Alt + Shift + F

edited Feb 17 '20 at 15:37

mxmissile

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answered Feb 07 '19 at 10:49

user3916810

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score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Feb 04 '22 at 05:23

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For anyone who is searching for kind of combining "Insert a single space between attributes" and "Position each attribute on a seperate line" I found this solution:

Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> XAML -> Formatting -> General -> Tag Wrapping

and tick "Wrap tags that exceed specified length".

Self-explanatory that one can adjust the length in the following input field.

edited Feb 04 '22 at 05:23

Community

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answered Jun 18 '21 at 07:40

LukeTheProgrammer

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How to automatically format XAML code in Visual Studio?

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