Resetting Visual Studio
The initial configuration of the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE) is determined by the user when they start the IDE for the first time. A list of possible usage scenarios is displayed for the user to select. When the selection is made, the IDE settings are optimised for the preferred scenario before Visual Studio is opened.
There are hundreds of settings that may be adjusted by the user to suit their preferences. These include colour schemes, project folder locations and default project settings. Sometimes it is desirable to reset the settings to their defaults, with those defaults based upon one of the standard usage scenarios.
To reset Visual Studio, you can use the Import and Export settings wizard. To begin, select "Import and Export Settings..." from the Tools menu. Choose "Reset All Settings" from the first page of the wizard and click the Next button to continue.
The second page allows you to specify whether you wish to save your existing settings so that they can be recovered later. If you do, ensure that the "Yes, save my current settings" radio button is chosen and then enter a name for the settings file and specify the folder where the file should be stored. If you do not wish to save your previous settings, select the "No, just reset my settings, overwriting my current settings" option. Click the Next button to continue.
The final step in the wizard allows you to choose a usage scenario, which will determine the new settings to use after resetting Visual Studio. Select the option most appropriate to your scenario and then click Finish to complete the wizard. After a short delay the process of resetting will be complete and you can click the Close button to exit the wizard.
NB: There are some settings that are not affected by the reset process. These must be reset manually. A good tip is export all of your settings when you first run Visual Studio so that they can be imported to reset the IDE completely at a later date.
31 January 2010