Question

We have some xml files in projects that have another extension becouse of the program that uses them, so we cannot change the extension.

How can we force visual studio to open it always like the xml editor instead of a long line of text? (Not anything like rename it temporaly or copypaste to an xml file please…)

Answer 1

You can tell Visual Studio to always open files with a certain extension in a particular editor:

1. From the “Tools” menu, select “Options”.
2. Expand the “Text Editor” heading, and click “File Extension”.
3. In the pane to the right, type the extension you want Visual Studio to associate with the XML editor, and pick the “XML (Text) Editor” option from the combo box.
4. Click the “Apply” button.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each additional file extension you want to associate.
6. Click the “OK” button.