Visual Studio is the preferred integrated development environment (IDE) for many programmers around the world. Microsoft regularly updates this software with new functionalities to retain existing users as well as attract new users. Now, it has revealed that it is working on significantly improved search functionality for the IDE.
The new search functionality is aptly called “All-in-One Search” as it essentially combines all search features into a single interface. This includes searching for code files, classes, methods, properties, and options. The rationale behind this is that it will lead to greater productivity as developers will no longer have to search for the right search interface for what they are looking for.
That said, it’s important to note that All-in-One Search is currently in active development and is only available as a preview feature. Tools > Options > Environment > Preview Features > New Visual Studio Search Experience. You must be on Visual Studio Preview version 17.5.0 to take advantage of this capability.
Once you enable All-in-one searchit will be available in find. button on the title bar. You can also use Ctrl + T And Ctrl + Q To start code search and feature search respectively.
That’s not all, though. You can also use the “f:”, “t:”, and “m:” prefixes in the search to filter by files, types, and members. In fact, when you get a code snagged as a search result, you can edit it directly in the preview window instead of manually navigating to that specific section.
You can check it out in action below:
It is currently unknown when All-in-One Search will be generally available in Visual Studio.