Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Navigate Up
Sign In

Blog

:

Quick Launch
Blog > Posts > Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?
July 20
Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?
by  Keith CraigNo presence information  on 7/20/2007 4:34 PM

We recently upgraded to Windows Vista, using a new standardized image containing a standard set of developer tools. When I started Visual Studio the first time, I just accepted the default options. I noticed today that the Exceptions... option was missing from the Debug menu:

Debug menu without Exceptions option

Initially, I found this to be a bit of a mystery. How could an important menu item like that just not be there? Was it some sort of configuration issue? After looking into this a bit, I found a post that explained that this is usually due to Visual Studio profile issues. Using the information in this post, I was able to get the option back, as follows.

The issue is that the default profile I selected when I first started Visual Studio is different than the standard C# profile. Some non-C# profiles hide more advanced menu options to make Visual Studio appear simpler. In order to get the menu items back, I needed to change profiles.

In Visual Studio, first click Tools, then click Import and Export Settings... as shown below:

Tools Import and Export Settings option

In the Import and Export Settings Wizard, click Import selected environment settings, and click Next>:

Import and Export settings wizard

Next, tell it to save your existing settings, and click Next >:

Import and Export settings wizard step 2

Now tell it to import the Visual C# Development Settings (the post I found mentioned that everything is available in that settings configuration) and click Next >:

Import and Export settings wizard step 3 - choose new settings

The last step is to choose the settings to import--I took the defaults here, as compromising my environment, computer, or data didn't sound like good options: 

Import and Export settings wizard step 4 - choose settings to import

This completed successfully:

Import and Export settings wizard step 5 -- complete

And now, the Debug menu contains the Exceptions... menu item, as well as a few other additional items:

Debug menu WITH Exceptions option

Note that now all the fonts and other customized settings are all back to the default values, so I need to update these by hand. I could have selected only some of the items in the Visual C# Development Profile to import, but I frankly don't know what some of the items mean, so I'd rather just rebuild my settings around the C# profile.

Going forward, I've exported a copy of my settings, so that I can easily get back to a known good configuration.

Permanent Link to Post | Email Post Link | Number of Comments 32 Comment(s)

Comments

Re: Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?

Keith,

I've run across that problem myself, but learning the keyboard shortcut (ctrl-D,E) works even if the menu option isn't available.  That's come in quite handy when helping someone else debug a problem without resetting their configuration.

Adrian
 on 7/22/2007 10:57 PM

Re:  Missing menu options in VS 2005

Thanks - my problem was missing the search box and several of the handy icons (comment/uncomment), etc.  Couldn't figure it out -- this took care of the problem.

Thanks.

Jim
 on 7/28/2007 8:17 AM

Re: Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?

Much thanks for this, no doubt it saved me hours of time!
 on 8/2/2007 11:50 PM

Re: Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?

Thank you, thank you, thank you
 on 8/3/2007 12:38 PM

Re: Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?

Thank you!  In particular, I was missing the debug step-into and step-out icons.  Wierd that they would not be installed initially.
 on 8/17/2007 4:09 PM

Re: Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?

Thanks for this... It set me on the right track to fixing my problem.  However, I found you don't need to throw away your all settings if you only want the Exceptions menu item back.  Here's how:

Select Tools | Customize....  Click on the Commands tab.  Select the Debug category in the Categories box.  Find the Exceptions... command item, then drag it to the Debug menu at the top of the application, dropping it in the appropriate place in the menu.
 on 8/22/2007 12:38 PM

Saved my day

Thanks buddy
 on 8/24/2007 4:02 AM

Re: Missing menu options in Visual Studio 2005?

We've run into this with a 2005 install on an XP machine... Thanks for the work around.
JJ
 on 8/30/2007 11:15 AM

Awesome!

Thank you!
You just saved me from an entire re-install!
Very well explained.
 on 9/6/2007 1:16 AM

Toolbox tools missing?

when i click to toolbox , it shows all controls but all disalbled.
and when i click to the designer view it is not opening.


with regards
Syed asif Uddin.
 on 9/17/2007 9:32 PM
1 - 10Next

Add Comment

Items on this list require content approval. Your submission will not appear in public views until approved by someone with proper rights. More information on content approval.

Title


Body *


CommentUrl


Attachments