Show space, tab, CRLF characters in editor of Visual Studio
Visual StudioVisual Studio Problem Overview
Where are the settings to show a space, tab, paragraph, CRLF, etc. (extended) characters?
Visual Studio Solutions
Solution 1 - Visual Studio
Edit > Advanced > View White Space. The keyboard shortcut is CTRL+R, CTRL+W. The command is called Edit.ViewWhiteSpace.
It works in all Visual Studio versions at least since Visual Studio 2010, the current one being Visual Studio 2019 (at time of writing). In Visual Studio 2013, you can also use CTRL+E, S or CTRL+E, CTRL+S.
By default, end of line markers are not visualized. This functionality is provided by the End of the Line extension.
Solution 2 - Visual Studio
Edit -> Advanced -> View White Space or Ctrl+E,S
Solution 3 - Visual Studio
Display white space characters
Menu: You can toggle the visibility of the white space characters from the menu: Edit > Advanced > View White Space.
Button:
If you want to add the button to a toolbar, it is called Toggle Visual Space in the command category "Edit".
The actual command name is: Edit.ViewWhiteSpace.
Keyboard Shortcut:
In Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 the default keyboard shortcut still is CTRL+R, CTRL+W
Type one after the other.
[All default shortcuts][1]
End-of-line characters
Extension:
There is a minimal extension adding the displaying of end-of-line characters (LF and CR) to the visual white space mode, as you would expect. Additionally it supplies buttons and short-cuts to modify all line-endings in a document, or a selection.
[VisualStudio gallery: End of the Line][2]
Note: Since Visual Studio 2017 there is no option in the File-menu called Advanced Save Options. Changing the encoding and line-endings for a file can be done using Save File As ... and clicking the down-arrow on the right side of the save-button. This shows the option Save with Encoding. You'll be asked permission to overwrite the current file.
[1]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/default-keyboard-shortcuts-in-visual-studio#text-editor "Default Keyboard Shortcuts in Visual Studio" [2]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rolfwr.EndoftheLine "End of the Line"
Solution 4 - Visual Studio
My problem was hitting CTRL+F and space
This marked all spaces brown. Spent 10 minutes to "turn it off" :P
Solution 5 - Visual Studio
The correct shortcut is CTRL-R-W like you don't have to release CTRL button while pressing W. This worked for me in VS 2015
Solution 6 - Visual Studio
The shortcut didn't work for me in Visual Studio 2015, also it was not in the edit menu.
Download and install the Productivity Power Tools for VS2015 and than you can find these options in the edit > advanced menu.
Solution 7 - Visual Studio
To see the CRLF you can try this extension: End of the Line
It works for VS2012+
Solution 8 - Visual Studio
For those who are looking for a button toggle:
The name of this command is View white space in GUI menu (Edit -> Advanced -> View white space).
The name of this command in the Add command popup is Toggle Visual Space.
Solution 9 - Visual Studio
For Visual Studio for mac, you can find it under Visual Studio -> Preferences -> Text Editor -> Markers and Rulers -> Show invisible characters
Please note you may need to restart Visual Studio for the changes to take effect
Solution 10 - Visual Studio
In the actual version this Option ist under Editor: Render Whitespace