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Main vs Tool vs Dialog windows

Ignacy edited this page Dec 3, 2025 · 2 revisions

Knowing the difference between the main window, a tool window, and a dialog window in Mica Visual Studio is important when customizing and enabling separate options for each.

Main window

The main window is pretty self-explanatory: it's the main window of Visual Studio. This is where you edit your code, dock tool windows (explained later), and commit changes. This type of window always follows the settings set under the General page, regardless if separate options are enabled under the either or Tool Windows or Dialog Windows pages.

Main window

Tool windows

Tool windows are additional top-level windows, meant for tooling and options. Anything you can drag out of the main window is considered (by Mica Visual Studio) a tool window. Additionally, the start and search windows are also considered tool windows. This type of window follows the settings set under the Tool Windows page when enabled.

Solution Explorer

Dialog windows

Dialog windows are child windows, meant for responding to requests and displaying information. Any other window not considered as the main window or a tool window falls into this category. For example, the About Microsoft Visual Studio dialog is considered a dialog window. Non-WPF windows (most definitely Win32) are all dialog windows. This means that the (legacy) Options dialog is also considered a dialog window. This type of window follows the settings set under the Dialog Windows page when enabled.

About Microsoft Visual Studio

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