Visual Studio 2013: Drag and Drop Code Onto the Toolbox

This is another feature that has been around for a while but a lot of people don’t know about. Got code you use all the time?  Start using the Toolbox for more than just controls.  When you are in the Editor the Toolbox looks like this:

 

This is a vast expanse of opportunity!  Just select some code you use often and drag it into the Toolbox and see the magic happen:

 

Now you have code ready to go at anytime!  Just place the cursor where you want the code to go:

 

And double click on the item in your Toolbox to have the code inserted:

 

You can also Click and Drag where you want the code to go:

 

 

 

Additional Actions

There are a few extra things you can do with this feature as well. Here is are a few things to consider.

 

Renaming

You can rename the code copy to whatever you would like by RIGHT CLICKING on the item and choosing Rename Item:

 

 

Additional Tabs

You can also create additional tabs beyond the General tab. To organize the code with additional tabs just RIGHT CLICK any open space in the toolbox and choose Add Tab:

 

This will produce a text box where you can type in the name of the new tab:

 

Simply enter a name and press ENTER:

 

And now you can click and drag code into the new area:

 

 

Showing the Code

You can see the entirety of any code entry by placing your mouse cursor over the item and reading the tooltip:

 

 

Deleting

You can delete any entry or any tab except the General Tab. Simply RIGHT CLICK the item or tab and choose Delete or Delete Tab respectively:

Comments

• Anonymous
  July 10, 2013
  Thank you. That is an extremely sweet function indeed.

• Anonymous
  July 14, 2013
  nice, does it work also with VS 2010?

• Anonymous
  July 14, 2013
  Yep. It's been around for a while. Z

• Anonymous
  July 17, 2013
  Can I export this to other PCs I use other than the one I created it from?

• Anonymous
  July 17, 2013
  Hey Raffy :) Currently you can't export and import these items. I'm not sure if that will change now that we have roaming profiles with VS. Z

• Anonymous
  July 18, 2013
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  October 18, 2013
  Without the ability to import and export these the feature is not valuable.   When I upgrade my PC I lose all of this.  When I upgrade from VS2010 to VS2013 I lose of of it... That's just moronic.

• Anonymous
  September 01, 2014
  how can i bring tools like button ,checkbox and all other stuff into the toolbox

• Anonymous
  December 29, 2014
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  October 04, 2015
  The comment has been removed