How can I refresh files that have been changed outside of Visual Studio?

Question

I was editing a file simultaneously in both Visual Studio & Notepad++ (I know, I know, it's a silly thing to do, I know). After saving changes made with Notepad++, how can I refresh Visual Studio to see those changes?

Answer 1

To refresh the change file automatically, we need to change a setting. Open Visual Studio, choose 'Tools' from menu bar Alt + T. Go to Options > Environment > Documents. Enable these two options

1. Detect when file is changed outside the environment
2. Reload modified files unless there are unsaved changes

The second choice is optional. Press OK. Restart Visual Studio if needed.

Answer 2

If for some reason the file doesn't automatically reload, you can close the tab and use one of these solutions to reopen it. This will refresh the file contents.

I bound Window > Restore Closed Tab to Ctrl + Shift + t, so I can close the tab and immediately reopen it quickly.

Answer 3

My setting were correct, but it still wasn't working, it came down to:

Restart Visual Studio