ResX Editor Pro
The .resx editor VS Code was missing.
Edit, translate, and manage .resx resource files without ever touching raw XML. Built for .NET developers on VS Code — especially those who moved from Visual Studio for Mac after its 2024 deprecation.
Why ResX Editor Pro?
The most-installed .resx extension (39k installs) has been dead since 2020. Every alternative has a critical flaw:
| Extension |
Problem |
| DominicVonk ResX Editor |
Dead since Sep 2020 — no updates, no translation, no sort |
| Tim Heuer resx-editor |
Rewrites entire file on save — Git diffs show every line changed |
| ResXpress |
No translation, no multi-file view, no Excel support |
| VS 2024 Resource Explorer |
Deletes .Designer.cs files, corrupts ResXFileRef encoding |
ResX Editor Pro fixes all of this.
Features
Free
- Visual grid editor — click, type, Tab to next field. No raw XML.
- Lossless saves — only the changed
<data> node is written. Git diffs show exactly what changed.
- Inline CRUD — add, edit, delete, duplicate. Comment field optional.
- Duplicate key detection — inline error badges block save until resolved.
- Sort & filter — A→Z, Z→A, filter by key, value, or comment.
- Toggle comment column — hide/show per preference, persisted across sessions.
- New file wizard — creates a properly-formed
.resx with correct Microsoft ResX 2.0 headers.
- File nesting — offers to nest
Strings.fr.resx, Strings.de.resx under Strings.resx in Explorer.
- Git diff fix — auto-configures
editorAssociations so .resx files show as text in Git diffs.
- Merge conflict detection — safe error state with "Open as Text" button instead of silent corruption.
Pro — £29.99/year · £79.99 lifetime
🌍 Translate missing strings
Connect your own DeepL or Google Translate API key. Detect missing strings per culture, translate in one click, preview before applying. Your API key is stored in VS Code's SecretStorage — never sent to our servers.
📊 Multi-culture grid
All culture files side-by-side. Strings.resx, Strings.fr.resx, Strings.de.resx — one grid, all cultures, inline editing. Missing values highlighted amber. Values identical to base highlighted yellow.
📋 Excel round-trip
Export all cultures to .xlsx: Key | Comment | EN | FR | DE. Send to translator, receive back, import. Every .resx file updated atomically.
🔍 Missing keys sidebar
Explorer panel showing per-culture completion. Click a missing key to open that culture file. One-click translate all missing.
⚙️ Auto-generate .Designer.cs
Regenerates the strongly-typed resource class on every save — in-process, no resgen.exe required. Includes the OmniSharp .csproj fix VS Code skips by default.
Quick Start
- Install ResX Editor Pro
- Open any
.resx file — the grid activates automatically
- Click any cell to edit inline. Tab moves between fields. Ctrl+Enter adds a new row.
To activate Pro features, run ResX: Enter Licence Key from the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).
Translation Setup (Pro)
DeepL (recommended):
- Sign up at deepl.com/pro-api — generous free tier (500k chars/month)
- Run ResX: Translate Missing Strings — you'll be prompted for your key on first use
- Your key is stored in VS Code SecretStorage (OS keychain). It never leaves your machine.
Google Cloud Translation:
- Enable Cloud Translation API and create an API key in Google Cloud Console
- Set
resxEditorPro.translationProvider to google in Settings
Free vs Pro
| Feature |
Free |
Pro |
| Visual grid editor |
✅ |
✅ |
| Lossless Git-friendly saves |
✅ |
✅ |
| Inline add / edit / delete |
✅ |
✅ |
| Sort & filter |
✅ |
✅ |
| Duplicate key detection |
✅ |
✅ |
| New file wizard |
✅ |
✅ |
| File nesting auto-config |
✅ |
✅ |
| Git diff compatibility fix |
✅ |
✅ |
| Translate missing strings (DeepL/Google) |
— |
✅ |
| Multi-culture side-by-side grid |
— |
✅ |
| Excel round-trip (export + import) |
— |
✅ |
| Missing keys sidebar panel |
— |
✅ |
| Auto-generate .Designer.cs |
— |
✅ |
→ Get Pro — £29.99/year · £79.99 lifetime
Known Limitations
.resx files containing only image/file references (ResXFileRef) are read-only in the grid — these entries are never modified to prevent corruption- XLIFF (
.xlf) support is not included in v1.0 — planned for v1.1
.Designer.cs auto-generation must be enabled manually in Settings (resxEditorPro.generateDesignerOnSave)
Support & Feedback
- Issues & feature requests: GitHub
- Licence support: support@gingerturtle.dev
Built by Ginger Turtle — developer tools that fill the gaps.
