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You can configure Visual Studio to automatically back up files or not. You can also specify if you want to restore modified files if Visual Studio shuts down unexpectedly.
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1. To access this dialog box, go to **Tools** > **Options** > **Environment** > **AutoRecover**.
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:::image type="content" source="media/autorecover-options.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the AutoRecover section in the Options dialog box":::
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1. Select **Save AutoRecover information every [n] minutes**.
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::: moniker range=">=vs-2022"
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Use this option to customize how often a file is automatically saved in the editor. For previously saved files, Visual Studio saves a copy of the file in *%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\BackupFiles\\[projectname]*. If the file is new and unsaved, Visual Studio autosaves it by using a randomly generated file name.
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::: moniker-end
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::: moniker range="vs-2019"
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Use this option to customize how often a file is automatically saved in the editor. For previously saved files, Visual Studio 2019 version 16.2 and later saves a copy of the file in *%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\BackupFiles\\[projectname]*. If the file is new and unsaved, Visual Studio autosaves it by using a randomly generated file name.
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> [!NOTE]
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> If you're using Visual Studio 2019 version 16.1 or earlier, the file location is *%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Visual Studio [version]\Backup Files\\[projectname]*. For more information, see the [Visual Studio 2019 Release Notes History](/visualstudio/releases/2019/release-notes-history/) page.
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::: moniker-end
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1. Specify a value under the **Keep AutoRecover information for [n] days** option.
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Use this option to specify how long Visual Studio keeps files created for autorecovery.
description: Learn how to work on files that are not included in a Visual Studio project or solution.
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ms.date: 11/04/2016
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title: Work with miscellaneous files
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description: Learn how to work on files that aren't included in a Visual Studio project or solution.
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ms.date: 8/7/2025
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ms.topic: reference
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f1_keywords:
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manager: mijacobs
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ms.subservice: general-ide
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---
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# Miscellaneous files
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# Work with miscellaneous files
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You might want to use the Visual Studio editor to work on files independently from a project or solution. While you have a solution open, you can open and modify files without adding them to a solution or to a project. Files you want to work with independently are called miscellaneous files. Miscellaneous files are external to solutions and projects, are not included in builds, and cannot be included with a solution under source control.
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You might want to use the Visual Studio editor to work on files independently from a project or solution. While you have a solution open, you can open and modify files without adding them to a solution or to a project. Files you want to work with independently are called miscellaneous files. Miscellaneous files are external to solutions and projects, aren't included in builds, and can't be included with a solution under source control.
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Opening files independently from a project or solution is useful for a variety of reasons. You might have a file that you want to view while developing a project-based solution but that's not integral to the solution's development. Common examples include development notes or instructions, database schema, and code clips. In addition, you might want to create a stand-alone file.
Solution Explorer can display a **Miscellaneous Files** folder for the files if the options for the folder are enabled. The options can be set from the [Documents, Environment, Options Dialog Box](../../ide/reference/documents-environment-options-dialog-box.md). After you close a miscellaneous file, it is not associated with any particular solution or project unless an option is enabled for that as well.
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Solution Explorer can display a **Miscellaneous Files** folder for the files if the options for the folder are enabled. The options can be set from the [Documents, Environment, Options Dialog Box](../ide/reference/documents-environment-options-dialog-box.md). After you close a miscellaneous file, it is not associated with any particular solution or project unless an option is enabled for that as well.
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The **Miscellaneous Files** folder represents the files as links. Although this folder is not part of a solution, when you open a solution, some or all of the miscellaneous files that were opened when the solution was last closed are reopened, depending upon the settings for the folder.
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> [!NOTE]
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> Some of the files that do not appear in the **Miscellaneous Files** folder are files that you cannot modify within the IDE, such as .zip files and .doc files. The IDE doesn't track files that can only be modified through an external editor.
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> Some of the files that don't appear in the **Miscellaneous Files** folder are files that you can't modify within the IDE, such as .zip files and .doc files. The IDE doesn't track files that can only be modified through an external editor.
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## Commands available in the IDE
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The menus, toolbars, and the commands they contain change based on the format of the file you open. When you open a text file, for example, the Text Editor toolbar appears and its commands are available. If you then open an XML Schema file, the XML Schema toolbar appears. While editing your XML Schema, the Text Editor toolbar's commands (or the toolbar itself) are unavailable. The XML Schema is the active window and as such, has current selection context. When you switch between a project file and a miscellaneous file, all project-related commands disappear and only those that are directly related to the miscellaneous file appear.
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## Folder display options
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You can set display options for the **Miscellaneous Files** folder so that the folder appears even though you have not opened any miscellaneous files. The solution file does not permanently manage a list of miscellaneous files. It uses an optional feature that allows it to remember a per-user, most recently used (MRU) list of files.
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You can set display options for the **Miscellaneous Files** folder so that the folder appears even though you have not opened any miscellaneous files. The solution file doesn't permanently manage a list of miscellaneous files. It uses an optional feature that allows it to remember a per-user, most recently used (MRU) list of files.
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## See also
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-[Develop code in Visual Studio without projects or solutions](../develop-code-in-visual-studio-without-projects-or-solutions.md)
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-[Solutions and Projects](../../ide/solutions-and-projects-in-visual-studio.md)
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title: Understand build configurations
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description: Discover how to work with build configurations when you need to build your projects with different settings in Visual Studio.
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ms.date: 11/14/2024
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ms.date: 8/7/2025
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ms.subservice: compile-build
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ms.topic: conceptual
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:::moniker-end
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:::moniker range=">=vs-2022"
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The predefined constants for each configuration are shown underneath the textbox where you can enter your own. These predefined constants are defined by the SDK your project uses. To see where these properties are defined, you can look for how the MSBuild property `DefineConstants` is defined and modified in the .NET SDK installation folder where `.props` and `.targets` files are located. The SDKs provide MSBuild properties that you can set in the project file to disable the predefined definitions; for example, see [DisableImplicitFrameworkDefines](/dotnet/core/project-sdk/msbuild-props#disableimplicitframeworkdefines).
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## How Visual Studio associates project configurations with solution configurations
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When you define a new solution configuration and don't copy settings from an existing one, Visual Studio uses the following criteria to associate the existing project configurations with the new solution configuration. The criteria are evaluated in the order shown.
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