Completely remove "error list" from visual studio

Question

I want to completely remove "error list" from visual studio 2008, not disable it i want it gone. It annoys me to no end popping up endlessly, i guess i must be "doing it wrong" but w/e i just want to use VS without being alerted every other keystroke about some warning.

I've tried editing many different fields in the options (tools -> options) it has only slightly decreased the frequency of the error list popping up. I have also deselected errors, warnings, and Messages. and it pops up with nothing to display. unpinning it doesn't help either.

also upgrading to VS 2010 is not an option at this point.

Im looking for a solution something like the following: remove a dll or config file responsible for this

Also I still want the inline validation (the little squiggly marks, etc), but the error list window annoys me.

Solution 1

I think this is probably exactly what you're wanting:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/zainnab/archive/2010/05/16/hide-or-show-error-list-when-the-build-finishes-with-errors-vstiptool0022.aspx

You can change this behavior by going to Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> General and deselecting the "Always show Error List if build finishes with errors".

I'm guessing this will work with ASP.Net as well, since that's building on the fly.

Solution 2

My 'Error List' was constantly displaying also (VS2012). I also hate it. I turned it off years ago, but today it just started appearing.

It was being caused a unreadable packages.config file. For some reason that reports it's fail state through the yukky 'Error List'.

Fixing the packages.config file stopped the 'Error List' for appearing.

Solution 3

I am using Visual Studio 2017, and I also have to cope with the useless, impossible-to-disable, annoyingly-in-your-face, and outright disturbing "Error List" window.

So, here is what I did:

1. Undock the "Error List" window to make it free-floating.
2. Resize it to the smallest size possible.
3. Move it out to some remote area of the screen where it is not so annoying.

And voila, problem solved ! ^(*1)

_{*1 Well, problem mostly solved. It will be completely solved when I abandon this dinosaur of an IDE.}

Solution 4

On Error tab, you have Errors / Warnings / Info buttons. Click on Errors button (de-press).

hope it helps.

Solution 5

for VS2017, select the "Build only" value from the drop down list in Error tab. Refer to the image below:

Hope this helps!

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

Please give a specific scenario

[amuliar]

Specific scenario: i want to see all build output in the Output window below

[Owl]

I agree the Error list is totally pointless, and gets in the way. It doesn't update properly and pops up suddenly when you're trying to see the output in the output window.

[Letseatlunch]

yes i have done that: "I have also deselected errors, warnings, and Messages. and it pops up with nothing to display"

[Letseatlunch]

ok, can i get a quick link to something on how to do this, (im also googling myself too)

[Jeffrey L Whitledge]

I think it's this: "Tools" menu / "Options" menu item / "Text Editor" tree-node / "C#" subnode / "Advanced" subnode / "Editor Help" control section / uncheck "Underline errrors in the editor" and "Show live semantic errors" checkboxes.

[Katie Kilian]

That works for C# code, but it doesn't do much good with .aspx files which don't get compiled, but are interpreted at runtime.

[Jeffrey L Whitledge]

@Charlie Kilian - Haphazard aspx validation is a chronic problem for me. Sometimes some aspx files are validated, but usually they aren't. I have always wondered why it was like that. But I don't see why turning off the option for C# should even affect aspx validation, since it isn't C#!

[Jeffrey L Whitledge]

@Charlie Kilian - (continued) I actually mentioned this problem at the end of this question stackoverflow.com/questions/4565024/… . I never thought about the possiblity that aspx validation was being intertwined with C# editor validation. Interesting.

[Katie Kilian]

@Jeffrey I just meant that turning off validation in favor of seeing the errors at compile time isn't a very good answer when the code being validated doesn't get compiled. But you are probably right that you can turn them on and off independently.

[Katie Kilian]

And I see that you were not right. Crazy. I didn't know that actually. But I'm happy to accidentally help uncover a bug.

[Peder Rice]

I plus-oned you, but VS still likes to popup the errors window even if I don't have any errors.

[ebaklund]

Thank you! What a relief! Worked for VS2013. Upped one.

[Matt DeKrey]

I'm glad to hear this is still helping out with VS2013!

[Cory Nelson]

This checkbox appears to have no effect in VS2017.

[Marc.2377]

This doesn't help.

[Sunny Sharma]

@Marc.2377: If not for you, it may help someone else. It doesn't need a downvote ;-)

[Marc.2377]

Well, I was too blunt in my first comment, sorry about that. But I downvoted because this question asks how to disable the error list window entirely, and your answer instructs how to select which types of errors are shown on that window - and not how to disable the window. So, I don't think it is really an answer to this specific question.

[Track]

Thanks - this helps for me in VS 2019

[Max Play]

Can't aggree with CoryNelson, it works in VS2017 as well as VS2019.

[Dave Cousineau]

I did this and put it in the furthest corner of the furthest monitor, but it doesn't matter, because it steals keyboard focus. And now that you can't see it, you don't even know why you lost focus while typing.

[Mike Nakis]

@DaveCousineau that's strange, I never had this issue. Either I use the mouse without realizing it, or I am spared from this because I have disabled the option to "Always show Error List if build finishes with errors" under "Settings > Projects and Solutions > General". I mean, obviously, this option does not exactly work, because the damned window just won't buzz off, but perhaps it prevents it from stealing focus?

[Dave Cousineau]

I think that setting has helped, yes. I didn't really mean my comment as a criticism of your answer, because that is what I also had done for a while. Just sharing my experiences with this issue. This is a good option to avoid having the window block your view over and over if you can't get rid of it. But it does still steal input focus, even while typing code.

[Igor Levicki]

Doesn't work in VS 2022, unchecked and Error List window still pops up.

[Pedro77]

Perfect, upvoted, thanks for this. Now it seems so obvious.