When I open a code file in a new code window, I press Ctrl+M,O to collapse everything there. As far as I know this can be done by default, without need to press anything every time. I think I did it once, but can't remember where was this option located.
-
4Did you mean *expand*? I thougth the default *was* to collapse it. – Kirk Woll Jun 10 '11 at 21:30
-
If you started out with having unchecked outlining, you might find yourself in the position where you re-check it and want to test if it worked. In that situation, any files you already had open will retain its uncollapsed state. In fact, VS retains that state upon a restart, so you might think your change didn't work. However, if you open up other files you hadn't had open, it will default to collapsed. – Kirk Woll Jan 23 '14 at 03:50
4 Answers
This is possible. Go to the Tools menu, then select options.
Text Editor
\ C#
\ Advanced
The option is called "Enter outlining mode when files open." When outlining mode is enabled, your regions are collapsed by default.

- 27,335
- 5
- 52
- 79
-
1@Peter Ivanov: Right, once you've opened a file, the outlining state gets saved (in the .suo I believe). The setting only affects files without a view state cached. – Tim Sparkles Feb 10 '16 at 19:57
Have you tried Tools\Options\Text Editor\C#\Advanced and check the "Enter outlining mode" when files open?

- 9,929
- 3
- 27
- 24
As a last resort if you can't get it to work with settings, you can also write a macro to do this. Check out this link for an example on this.
Here is the main information from the link:
You can open the Macro IDE by going to Tools->Macros->Macros IDE. There should be a module called EnvironmentEvents in project MyMacros. This code should be added to the EnvironmentEvents Module:
Private opened As Boolean
Private Sub WindowEvents_WindowActivated(ByVal GotFocus As EnvDTE.Window, ByVal LostFocus As EnvDTE.Window) Handles WindowEvents.WindowActivated
If GotFocus.Document Is Nothing Then
Return
End If
If GotFocus.Document.FullName.EndsWith(".cs") And opened = True Then
DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.CollapsetoDefinitions")
End If
opened = False
End Sub
Private Sub DocumentEvents_DocumentOpened(ByVal Document As EnvDTE.Document) Handles DocumentEvents.DocumentOpened
opened = True
End Sub

- 1,253
- 19
- 21
-
3Just an addendum to this answer, Macros were removed in Visual Studio 2012. – Nick Albrecht Apr 15 '13 at 15:55
-
-
You should put the key info from the link directly in the post. I know this is an older answer, so it's technically ok, but this is low quality as far as how answers are expected now. So a update would be nice. – Broots Waymb Dec 30 '16 at 17:31
-
1@DangerZone I definitely should have added the relevant information from the link to the answer. I have updated the answer with that information now. Thanks. – nickmoriarty Jan 05 '17 at 00:13
For the record, I found unchecking the 'Enter Outlining Mode' option would disable all outlining, which was undesirable.
I did find this extension though: https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/0ca60d35-1e02-43b7-bf59-ac7deb9afbca , the "I Hate #Regions" extension. Available for VS2010-2015, and so far seems to work as advertised.

- 3,831
- 1
- 23
- 18