Visual Studio tip: edit static HTML files with a visual designer

Posted: (EET/GMT+2)

 

If you have a static HTML file in your project and miss the old visual designer, Visual Studio still includes one. It is just hidden behind the "Open With" menu.

To get back to the old editor with a visual editing mode, do the following in Solution Explorer:

  1. Right-click your .html file.
  2. Choose "Open With...".
  3. Select "HTML (Web Forms) Editor".
  4. Click "Set as Default" if you want, or just "OK".

The file opens in the old split view editor, where you can see both Design and Source. It is not a full modern page builder, but for simple layouts, forms, or quick tweaks to static pages it can be a useful option.

You can always switch back to the normal HTML editor by repeating the same steps and choosing "Source Code (Text) Editor" instead.

Happy editing!