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Startup, Environment, Options Dialog Box

Use this page to specify what content or user interface (UI), if any, is displayed when you start Visual Studio. To access this page, on the Tools menu, click Options, expand Environment, and then click Startup. If this page does not appear in the list in the Options dialog box, select Show all settings.

Note

The options available in dialog boxes, and the names and locations of menu commands you see, might differ from what is described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. This Help page was written with General Development settings in mind. To change your settings, on the Tools menu, click Import and Export Settings. For more information, see Working with Settings.

  • At startup
    You can specify what you want to view every time you start Visual Studio.

    • Open Home Page
      Displays the default Web page specified by the Home page option in Web Browser, Environment, Options Dialog Box.

    • Load last loaded solution
      Loads the last saved solution in its previous state. Any files that were open in the solution when it was last closed are opened and displayed when you start Visual Studio. If no solution is loaded when you exit the product, no solution is loaded when you return.

    • Show Open Project dialog box
      Displays the Open Project dialog box when you start Visual Studio. The dialog box uses the folder set in the Visual Studio Projects location field of the Projects and Solutions, Environment, Options Dialog Box.

    • Show New Project dialog box
      Displays the New Project dialog box when you open Visual Studio.

    • Show empty environment
      Displays an empty integrated development environment (IDE) when you start Visual Studio.

    • Show Start Page
      Displays the Start Page associated with the settings that you have currently applied when you start Visual Studio.

  • Start Page news channel
    Specifies the RSS feed used to display content in the <product> News section of the Start Page.

  • Download content every <n> minutes
    Specifies how often the IDE checks for new RSS feed content and product headlines for the Start Page. If this setting is not selected, RSS feed content and product headlines are not downloaded to the Start Page.

  • Customize Start Page
    If you have custom Start Pages installed, you can specify which Start Page to load. The Customize Start Page dropdown list includes a (Default Start Page) entry to load the default Visual Studio Start Page, and an entry for each custom Start Page on your system.

    Any .XAML file in your user start pages directory is considered a custom start page. For more information, see Custom Start Pages.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Change What Is Displayed When Visual Studio Starts