Color-code your projects in Visual Studio so you never lose track of them again.
Working in a large solution with dozens of projects? Solution Highlighter paints each project with its own color, in both the Solution Explorer and the document tab strip, so you can tell at a glance which project you're looking at or editing.
Features
Solution Explorer row coloring
Each project row gets a subtle colored overlay, making the hierarchy instantly readable — even in solutions with 50+ projects.
Document tab coloring
Open document tabs inherit the color of their owning project, so you always know where the file you're editing lives.
Smart auto-assignment
Colors are assigned automatically from a palette, with stable mapping per project. You can also override any project's color manually.
Built-in & custom palettes
- Built-in palettes curated to look great on both light and dark VS themes.
- Custom palettes: define your own color sets in the options dialog and switch between them at any time.
Getting started
- Install the extension and restart Visual Studio.
- Open any solution — projects are colored automatically.
- Fine-tune colors under Tools → Options → Solution Highlighter → Project Colors:
- Pick a built-in palette, or create your own.
- Override specific projects with a color of your choice.
- Click Apply to see changes live.
Compatibility
- Visual Studio 2026 (17.14 or newer) — Community, Professional, and Enterprise.
- Works with any project type that appears in Solution Explorer (C#, C++, F#, SDK-style, legacy, shared projects, solution folders, etc.).
Release notes
1.0
- Initial release.
- Solution Explorer project row coloring.
- Document tab coloring.
- Built-in and custom palettes with live apply.
- Per-project color overrides.
Designed by Alessio Ragnacci
Made by Lorenzo Papini