For me something is missing in the new c# Dev Kit Update with the Solution Explorer(C# Project Details)

[FirstInLineMaxim]

Hello,

Today the new change was released with the removal of the Solution Explorer.

For me, the new C# Project Details view makes little to no sense.

Here is why I believe this change is lacking:

I have a repository with multiple solutions. What was great about the old approach was that when I selected a solution, the folder structure of that solution and its included projects was clearly displayed. With the new change, I only get a folder view in the C# Project Details, but I have to use the file viewer, which contains many additional folders to start my Projects. This makes it difficult to find the projects that belong to the selected solution.

I understand that I could search for them each time, but that defeats the purpose of having a Solution Viewer.

In my opinion, one of two things should happen:

Bring back the Solution Explorer, while keeping your new change for the File Viewer context menu, or
Adjust the File Viewer so that it is in sync with the old Solution Explorer and only displays the folder structure of the currently selected solution.

I hope I was able to clearly communicate my issue. Since this is not really a bug, I decided to submit it as a feature request.

Thank you very much for your time.

Kind regards,

Alternatives considered

No response

Environment Information

Currently Rocking this versions:
C# Dev Kit v3.20.197
VsCode 1.119.0

[npnsap]

I am also facing this same issue where I also have multiple solutions in my repo. The new C# Project Details is less useful. Now there is no way to see projects and its files based on currently opened solution. Please bring the solution explorer back.

[patelJainul]

Old was good, we can use .NET files templates, in the new update, we can not

[F9R]

For me I need at least the context menu back in Project Details view. It's nice to have the build/debug menus in File Explorer but removing them from Project Details is bad. Having a compact view where I can quickly find, build and debug single projects was so nice and easy.

[claudiaregio]

@FirstInLineMaxim Could you share a bit more about your folder structure and the project you're working on building?

[GeorgievGI]

The same issue - now Project details is non-informative, non-usable and can't replace Solution Explorer... I see in C# Project detals only the list of names of the projects and Dependencies for each project... No list of files, which contains solution and respective projects and so on.. My folder structure is 'root' where solution file and list of project folders was located... In each project folder i have cproj and code - that's it.

[vanka78bg]

After the removal of Solution Explorer, having to use File Viewer instead is somewhat inconvenient, especially with multi-solution repositories. File Viewer shows all files and folders, including build output bin/obj folders, build scripts, configuration files, GitHub workflows and all other stuff not strictly related to code. These are rarely touched in a typical coding session, so they are just getting into my way most of the time.

Sure, there are workarounds. For instance, one can exclude files listed in .gitignore from File Viewer. That somewhat resolves the problem with build output files appearing there. Another option is to use VS Code workspaces to configure what to see, but that is kind of a duplicated effort, because now I have to maintain both my solution files and VS Code workspaces for the same purpose.

I do not see the value of Project Details at all. It just shows information about my projects and their dependencies, but I cannot do anything with them. Right-clicking on a project does not bring the context menu. It is just sitting there occupying some screen space. For that reason, I have just hidden that section from the side-panel, pretending it does not exist.

Something that I like is the addition of the new commands in the context menu for building projects, running tests etc. We have completely lost new file templates however, which is a bummer. Adding a new code file in a C# coding session is quite common. Having to type the .cs file extension every time is annoying and I forget to do so quite often. Then I waste a few minutes wondering why syntax highlight and auto-complete has stopped working again.

Having no file templates is also a frequent source of mistakes. For instance, every time I need to add a new class, I need to type in the namespace manually. I often forget, so I end up with many classes put in the empty namespace. Other times I misspell the namespace and I end up with many similarly spelled but different namespaces. Correcting such mistakes later on a large code base can be quite cumbersome. Of course, I can invoke the new file templates with dotnet new from the terminal, but I often forget to cd to the correct directory, then the file ends up in the wrong location and with the wrong namespace.

If you insist on dropping Solution Explorer for good, at least bring back the new file templates to the context menu! Everything else I can live with or find workarounds to deal with.

[slalithprasad]

I really hope the team considers bringing back the old Solution Explorer experience properly in C# Dev Kit.

One of the biggest reasons many of us enjoyed using VS Code for .NET development was how convenient and practical the Solution Explorer felt. It made navigating projects extremely fast and comfortable, especially when working on applications with multiple folders, layers, services, pages, APIs, models, repositories, middleware, and other components.

The previous experience felt very organized and developer-friendly. You could instantly understand the structure of a project without needing to search around manually in the file explorer. The newer “C# Project Details” view is useful for package and dependency information, but it doesn’t really replace the usability of the old Solution Explorer workflow for day-to-day development.

For many developers, especially those building larger applications, the Solution Explorer was not just a visual feature. it genuinely improved productivity. VS Code had finally reached a point where .NET development felt lightweight while still being very powerful, and the Solution Explorer experience played a huge role in that.

Would really appreciate having that experience fully available again.

[sourdenis]

This update also doesn't make any sense to me. Why fix something that works just fine.
Pretty please with sugar toppings - bring the Solution Explorer back the way it was :)

[GeorgievGI]

I think solution explorer not only need to be back... It need to be improved with functionality which Visual Studio already had ... For example - Nuget packages centralized solution updates and unifying used nuget packages and so on...

[mlancione]

This update is a major productivity regression. Please bring back the Solution Explorer.

[dmshea99]

At least you can uninstall, then Install Specific version, choose 3.10, after a restart Solution Explorer returns!

[breaker05]

I did what @dmshea99 recommended going back to 3.10 and working as I expected. I lost all context menus and do not understand what the point of this extension is anymore if we don't have the functionality we have been used to for years.

[Ivo-Eranovic]

Please bring the Solution Explorer back!!!