Start Screen for Visual Studio

Download this extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace or get the latest CI build from Open VSIX Gallery.

Your first five seconds in Visual Studio should feel fast. Start Screen replaces the default launch experience with a clean, modern dashboard that gets you into code immediately - no clicking through menus, no waiting.

Start Screen screenshot

Get to work in one click

Open a recent solution, create a new project, open a folder, or clone a repo - all from a single, focused screen. The action bar puts every common workflow front and center so you never have to dig through File menus again.

Your recent projects, supercharged

Start Screen doesn't just list your recent files. It understands how you work:

Find anything instantly. Type a few characters and the search filter narrows your list in real time. Pin the projects you care about most so they always float to the top.

See your Git status at a glance. Every repo shows its current branch, ahead/behind counts, uncommitted changes, and the last commit time - all loaded in the background so the UI stays snappy. Hover for the full picture, or spot a detached HEAD before you accidentally commit to nowhere.

Stay organized. Projects are grouped by when you last touched them - Today, This week, This month - so yesterday's prototype doesn't bury this morning's deadline.

Right-click for power moves. Open the containing folder, launch a terminal, copy the path, pin, unpin, or remove - all from a context menu with keyboard shortcuts.

Developer news, built right in

A curated feed of engineering news from the Visual Studio Blog, .NET Blog, and more lives right next to your project list. It refreshes in the background and caches locally, so it's always ready and never slows you down.

Want different sources? Drop your own RSS or Atom feeds into a simple JSON file and Start Screen picks them up automatically - no restart needed.

%USERPROFILE%\.vs\StartScreen\newsfeeds.json

{
  "name": "My Custom Feed",
  "url": "https://example.com/feed.xml",
  "enabled": true
}

Full JSON schema validation is included so you get IntelliSense while editing.

Keyboard-first design

Every part of Start Screen is navigable without a mouse.

Recent solutions / folders

Shortcut	Action
Up / Down	Move between items
Enter	Open
Ctrl+Enter	Open in new instance
O	Open containing folder
T	Open in terminal
Ctrl+C	Copy path
P	Pin / Unpin
Del	Remove from list
Alt+`	Focus search box
Right	Jump to news feed

News feed

Shortcut	Action
Up / Down	Move between rows
Left / Right	Move between columns
Enter	Open in browser
Ctrl+C	Copy URL
Left (first column)	Jump back to recent files

Action bar

Shortcut	Action
Left / Right	Move between buttons
Down	Move focus to recent files

Looks right at home

Start Screen inherits your Visual Studio theme - Light, Dark, Blue, or whatever you're running. No jarring color mismatches, no extra configuration. It just blends in.

Install it

Grab it from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
Restart Visual Studio.
That's it. Start Screen is already waiting for you.

It works out of the box. Feed preferences and pinned items are persisted automatically.

Get involved

Found a bug? Have an idea? Head to the issue tracker - pull requests are always welcome.

Start Screen

Mads Kristensen