Open two instances of a file in a single Visual Studio session

Question

I have a file  xyz cpp  I want to open two instances of this file in Visual studio  BTW  I am using Visual nbsp Studio nbsp 2005   Why would I want to do so  I want to compare two sections of the same file side by side  I know workarounds such as    Make a copy of the file  But the problem is that it s not elegant  and I don t want to  make copies every time I am faced with this  I can split the window into two  The problem with split it that I can split it horizontally only  The result of a horizontal split is that the right half of my screen is white space    If I were able to split it vertically or open two instances of the same file  it would increase the number of lines of code I can compare

User · Answer

For file types  where the same file can t be opened in a vertical tab group  for example  vb files  you can   Open 2 different instances of Visual Studio   Open the same file in each instance Resize the IDE windows  amp  place them side by side to achieve your layout    If you save to disk in one instance though  you ll have to reload the file when you switch to the other  Also if you make edits in both instances  you ll have to resolve on the second save  Visual Studio prompts you in both cases with various options  You ll simplify your life a bit if you edit in only the one instance

User · Answer

Luke s answer didn t work for me  The  New Window  command was already listed in the customize settings  but not showing up in the  js tabs context menu  despite deleting the registry setting   So I used   Tools  Customize     Keyboard     Scroll down to select Window NewWindow  And I pressed and assigned the shortcut keys  Ctrl   Shift   W   That worked for me        EDIT       Well   worked  was too strong  My keyboard shortcut does indeed open another tab on the same JavaScript file  but rather unhelpfully it does not render the contents  it is just an empty white window  You may have better luck

User · Answer

You can use the Windows   New Window option to duplicate the current window  See more at  Why I like Visual Studio 2010  Undock Windows

User · Answer

I don t have a copy of Visual nbsp Studio nbsp 2005  but this process works on Visual nbsp Studio nbsp 2008    Open xyz cpp along with some other file  Right click on tab header and select new vertical tab group  Left click on that other file in the first tab group  Open xyz cpp through solution explorer again    You should now have two instances of file in separate vertical tab groups

User · Answer

For Visual Basic  HTML and JScript and RDL Expression  the Window  gt  New Window option mentioned in PaulB s answer is disabled  However an option can be changed in the Registry to enable the menu item   All other languages do not restrict to a single code window so you can use PaulB s answer without editing the registry   Enabling New Window in Windows Registry  1   2    Go to the following registry key  This example is for Basic  Visual Basic   but the key is also there for HTML  JScript and RDL Expression    64-bit OS  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Wow6432Node Microsoft VisualStudio 10 0 Languages Language Services Basic  32-bit OS  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft VisualStudio 10 0 Languages Language Services Basic  Find the value Single Code Window Only and do one of the following    Set it to 0 Rename the value Delete the value  use caution      This will enable the  New Window  menu item  but it may still not be visible in the menu     Adding Menu Item  To actually see the New Window menu item I had to add it back into the menu    Tools   Customize      Commands   Add Command    Select  Menu Bar  the select the  Window  menu in the dropdown Add Command      Window   New Window   OK   Restoring Registry Value Copy-paste this to notepad  save as a  reg file and import the file into your registry to restore the initial setting     HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Wow6432Node Microsoft VisualStudio 10 0 Languages Language Services Basic   Single Code Window Only  dword 00000001

User · Answer

to work on a two section of a one long file simply use shortcut   Ctrl       or click on split editor window while you are on selected Tab  the icon is on top-right of the VS Code

User · Answer

For newer versions  such as Visual nbsp Studio nbsp 2017    Select the window you want to duplicate  Go to the window tab and click on split at the top of the list  When you are done  click it again to toggle it off

User · Answer

I came up with a hack that might produce the result intended in the original answer   If you have the file you want in two windows in a source control  you can right-click on the file and select compare  you can compare the   If you do compare you will have a new window Called diff  showing you the contents of you file   This is of course not ideal as the diff window will have the diff colors polluting the text  Note  you can compare the file you want to open to and empty file  and then you will have the window in a very ugly green background   This is not perfect  it is a hack  but it was the only way I found to really have the same file in two windows

User · Answer

Open the file  if you are using multiple tab groups  make sure your file is selected    Menu Window   Split  alternately  there s this tiny nub just above the editor s vertical scroll bar - grab it and drag down   This gives you two  horizontal  views of the same file  Beware that any edit-actions will reflect on both views   Once you are done  grab the splitter and drag it up all the way  or menu Window   Remove Split

User · Answer

Window menu  New Horizontal Vertical Tab Group there will do  I think

User · Answer

Go to menu   Windows   New Window

User · Answer

Here s how to do it      Select the tab you want two copies of Select menu Window   New Window from the menu  Right click the new tab and select New Vertical Tab Group   If New Window is not listed in the  Window menu note that the command does exist  even as of Visual nbsp Studio nbsp 2017  Add it to the Window menu using menu Tools   Customize   Commands  At that point decide where to put the New Window command and select Add Command      UPDATED on  30 July 2018    In Visual Studio Code version 1 25 1 and later  Way 1  You can simple left click on your file in the side-panel  explorer  and press Ctrl   Enter   Way 2  Simply right click on your file in the Visual Studio Code side-panel  explorer  and select the first option open to the side

User · Answer

When working with Visual Studio 2013 and VB NET I found that you can quite easily customize the menu and add the  New Window  command - there is no need to mess with the registry   God only knows why Microsoft chose not to include the command for some languages

User · Answer

How to open two instances of the same file side by side in Visual Studio 2019   Open the file   Click Window - gt  New Window   A new window should be open with the same file   Click on Window - gt  New Vertical Document Group    Result

User · Answer

With the your file opened  go to command window  menu View   Other Windows   Command window  or just Ctrl   Alt   A   Type   Window NewWindow   And then  Window NewVerticalTabGroup   worked for me  Visual nbsp Studio nbsp 2017    Or using menus   Menu Window   New Window  Menu Window   New vertical tap group

[visual-studio] Open two instances of a file in a single Visual Studio session

Examples related to visual-studio

Examples related to editor