Microsoft is working on a better search functionality for Visual Studio

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 customers as well as entice new ones. Now, it has revealed that it is working on a significantly better search functionality for the IDE.

The new search functionality is aptly being called "All-in-One Search" because it basically combines all search functionalities in a single interface. This includes searching for code files, classes, methods, features, and options. The rationale behind this is that it will lead to more productivity as developers will no longer have to look for the correct search interface for whatever it is they are looking for.

That said, it is important to note that All-in-One Search is currently in active development and is only available as a preview feature through Tools > Options > Environment > Preview Features > New Visual Studio Search Experience. You need to be on preview version 17.5.0 of Visual Studio to leverage this capability.

Once you enable All-in-One Search, it will be available in the Search button on the title bar. You can also use Ctrl + T and Ctrl + Q to launch Code Search and Feature Search respectively.

That's not all, though. You can also use "f:", "t:", and "m:" prefixes in the search to filter by files, types, and members. In fact, when you get a code snipped as a search result, you can even directly edit it in the preview window instead of manually navigating to that specific section.

You can check it out in action below:

It's currently unknown when All-in-One Search will become generally available in Visual Studio.

Microsoft is working on a better search functionality for Visual Studio