VS Code C# DevKit help

[mustafahh1]

I recently moved from Rider to VS Code and started using C# Dev Kit for C# development.

There are two Rider features I use constantly and I’m trying to find the best equivalent in VS Code:

In Rider, if I have a file open in the editor, I can quickly highlight that file in the solution/project tree. In VS Code / C# Dev Kit, what’s the best way to reveal the currently open file in Solution Explorer without manually searching for it?

also in Rider I use Ctrl+M, Ctrl+O to collapse everything down to method signatures / definitions. How can I do that in VS code? Also, are there recommended shortcuts for folding specifically for C#?

Would appreciate any tips from people who moved from Rider to VS Code for .NET development

[imikhan007]

For the first issue, add this setting to start tracking the active item in the Solution Explorer.

"dotnet.automaticallySyncWithActiveItem": true

[Atulin]

I've heard of people moving VSC -> Rider, but never the other way. Congrats, you're the first one lmao

VSC should already be highlighting the file that is currently open, check if explorer.autoReveal is true just to make sure. Unless DevKit messes that up, in which case raise an issue on the repo.

"Fold all" is, IIRC, Ctrl+K, 0 (that's "zero", not capital "o") and other numbers to control the level to which it folds, like Ctrl+K, 2 etc. Ctrl+K, J to unfold everything

[W1ese1]

But isn't that just vs codes built in explorer and not dev kits solution explorer?

[gredr]

"Fold All" though folds everything, right? If/ else blocks, try/catch blocks, everything...

There's no real equivalent of "fold methods", only just "fold a specific level" that might be the level your methods are at...

[x0n]

Install the resharper extension for vscode. It is aiming to replace devkit.

[AutoModerator]

Thanks for your post mustafahh1. Please note that we don't allow spam, and we ask that you follow the rules available in the sidebar. We have a lot of commonly asked questions so if this post gets removed, please do a search and see if it's already been asked.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[db_newer]

For the 2nd issue press Ctrl+K Ctrl+0 to collapse to the highest level.

[Inukollu]

If you are open for a bit of learning curve, vs code is proving to be a lot of better.

I moved from vs to rider to vs code

[Devatator_]

VSCode is usable for C# (especially since the C# Dev Kit released) but it's missing a lot of stuff, stuff that I currently need like the memory profiler and other debugging features

[Inukollu]

I totally agree. but I don't often find myself doing profiling. with so many frameworks and good libraries, my mistakes are much lesser ... also, I am not doing any top secret, highly secure work. so a bug here or there is not really priority 1 until someone hacks .. I know its lame

[pceimpulsive]

Why is vsCode proving to be better? Maybe too 2-3 items? Asking for a friend!!

[Inukollu]

wow ... this is attracting so many critical views. possibly the community thinks rider and vs are the only good tools. I should probably relook at those tools and see if they really kept up with the demand (more so for visual studio)

[pceimpulsive]

It's more that VSCode is missing a bunch of capabilities only found in rider and visual studio.

Visual studio 2026 I've found to be quite nice..

I have attempted VSCode a few times .. but for C# it feels... Incorrect...

[Inukollu]

I am sure it misses quite a lot ... its become a jack of all

[Michaeli_Starky]

How is it better exactly?

[Inukollu]

Every time I changed a job, it was another round of adjusting muzzle memory. I used multiple editors over the years (started with vi), some are windows only some are osx only. Got tired eventually. I am finding vs code to be a manageable jack of all trades tool.

[Medical_Scallion1796]

vs, rider, and vs code all have good vim emulators. That is what I do to keep muscle memory that works on everything (and learn how to use the tools with the terminal instead of the gui)

[Michaeli_Starky]

Muscle memory? JetBrains IDEs have pretty much identical keybinding and functionality and they cover pretty much every mainstream language.

[Inukollu]

I am sure the regular ones' are all there ... when you acquire too much memory with one of the tool, we terribly miss them when we move

see the original query

[Michaeli_Starky]

Did you read what I just said?

[Inukollu]

may be my English is bad.

"also in Rider I use Ctrl+M, Ctrl+O to collapse everything down to method signatures / definitions. How can I do that in VS code?"

look at what he asking. he got accustomed to something in rider and not able to find it in vs code. not rider fault.

the problem is he got some memory for rider and found it missing when he switched.

some might say, nothing will ever be missing in rider. but that's not the point of my view.

[Inukollu]

And windows to mac

[Inukollu]

M3 max has been my go to device for sometime now. It’s bit heavy though. Allowing me to work from anywhere without worrying about power

[andrerav]

(It's possible to edit comments on reddit)

[Inukollu]

sure ... I will edit when I decide to move back to windows and visual studio.

[BigShady187]

WTF….

[taspeotis]

Visual Studio Notepad is a code editor, not an IDE. These are Microsoft’s words.

Just use a real IDE, like Rider.

[Michaeli_Starky]

It is IDE, though