Can't see items in XAML Designer - dark theme (Visual Studio 2015)

Article
2015-12-31

Question

_{Thursday, December 31, 2015 6:37 PM | 1 vote}

hi,

I cannot see items (like user controls) in Visual Studio 2015 on the XAML Designer. See attached image :

What can I do to get a white background on the canvas ? I love the dark theme (or Son Of Obsidian ) but the bright theme doesn't provide a bright canvas either and I still can't see users controls either.

What can I do to get items visible like this :

I tried changing the color in Visual Studio -> Tools -> Options -> Fonts and Colors -> XAML Designer -> Artboard Background -> To same color (bright) foreground and background but it didn't work and I only got a checkerbox effect - worse and nothing visible

Please help !!

All replies (16)

_{Monday, January 4, 2016 11:54 AM}

Hi Aindriu80,

Which kind of app did you get this issue, WPF or UWP apps?

Did you install the color theme extension in your VS? If you remove/disable it, and then use the default settings, how about the result?

For example:

(1) Reset your VS settings:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms247075(v=vs.100).aspx

(2) Change the color to black under TOOLS->Options.

And then create a simple WPF/UWP app, test it again.

Like the above screen shot, it seems that it(WPF or UWP app) works well in my side, if just the specific app has this issue, please share me a simple sample using one drive, I will test it in my side.

Best Regards,

Jack

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_{Monday, January 4, 2016 6:48 PM}

Hi Jack,

I reset my settings -> it was Tools -> Import & Export Settings ->Reset all settings in Visual Studio 2015.

I then selected Dark Theme and created a new WPF application. When I went to the .xaml file it was white and I could put a button the white background and see it, Great BUT when I loaded up a previous project it was in a black background.

new project :

previous project

I tried different themes but they didn't change the background on the .xaml file - resetting the settings did.

here is a solution I have been working on :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/us4byutkmmzyboy/Web%20Service.zip?dl=0

_{Tuesday, January 5, 2016 6:22 AM}

Hi Aindriu80,

>>I then selected Dark Theme and created a new WPF application. When I went to the .xaml file it was white and I could put a button the white background and see it, Great BUT when I loaded up a previous project it was in a black background.

If the new WPF or UPW apps worked normally, I doubt that the real issue would be related to your project itself.

But if I open your project in my side, I got the result like this screen shot:

I found that it was the UWP app, not the WPF app, maybe you could create a new simple Universal App, check the background again, so we could know that whether all Universal Apps have the same issues.

>>I tried different themes but they didn't change the background on the .xaml file - resetting the settings did.

If you reset your VS settings, what is this universal app's background? Whether it is similar to the result as my above screen shot?

Could you disable/remove all extensions like the color theme extension or others?

Maybe you could run your VS in safe mode:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms241278.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

Best Regards,

Jack

_{Tuesday, January 5, 2016 1:53 PM}

Hi,

I created a UWP app :

Installed -> Templates -> Visual C# -> Windows, -> Universal -> Blank app

I got the following (same result as before, black background with black canvas, still using dark theme)

I already reset my VS settings but didn't try a second time, I made no changes since then.

I can't open universal apps in safe mode or create new ones. I get errors

_{Wednesday, January 6, 2016 6:17 AM}

Hi Aindriu80,

Maybe it is related to the Device Preview Settings like the following screen shot.

Click A, and then change the Theme, check it again.

Best Regards,

Jack

_{Wednesday, January 6, 2016 8:52 AM}

hi Jack,

I tried that, nothing changed. Its the device preview settings so wouldn't that be the device after execution ?

_{Wednesday, January 6, 2016 11:37 AM}

@Aindriu80，

If still no help, I think we would think about your VS setup.

Actually I ignored the following error before.

It seems that your VS didn't install all packages which support all project types. Actually I just test it using my VS2015 Enterprise version with update 1.

So if possible, please re-install or repair your VS, please use the custom setup option, and enable all packages which were related to the Uwp like the SDK 10240/10586 or others.

Please also disable or remove all extension tools, I didn't install other extension tools after I setup the VS IDE. So if you installed some extension tools, maybe you could remove or disable them, check the result.

Of course, if you have other VS2015 machines, please also test it again.

Best Regards,

Jack

_{Wednesday, January 6, 2016 1:24 PM}

hi Jack,

I repaired V.S and got the following message : all ok but newer version of C++ installed :

After the restart I still get the canvas color issue, it doesn't matter if its bright or dark I can't see buttons etc well, but bright is a help :

I didn't reinstall Visual Studio but I really don't want to.

_{Thursday, January 7, 2016 11:29 AM}

Hi Aindriu80,

Thanks for your friendly response.

>>I didn't reinstall Visual Studio but I really don't want to.

Re-install the VS really was not a good idea, but the real issue is that it worked well in my VS, that's the reason why I doubt that it would be related to your VS setup.

Could you tell me the detailed VS version information? Did you install the VS2015 update 1?

To make sure that it is not the setup issue, please use http://aka.ms/vscollect to gather the VS and .Net Frameowrk installation logs. After using it, you will find vslogs.cab from %temp% folder. Please upload the file to Onedrive and share the link here

In addition, did you remove/disable all extension tools in your VS IDE?

Best Regards,

Jack

_{Saturday, January 9, 2016 7:23 PM}

hi Jack,

Attached is a screen shot of my VS Version (update 1).

you can get the collect zip file here :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/38ax9s9oc7z4cap/vslogs.zip?dl=0

I think I had the black canvas problem from day 1. I can't remember changing it from white.

_{Tuesday, January 12, 2016 2:58 AM}

Hi Aindriu80,

>>Registry key not found. Key = 'SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\AuthRoot'; variable = 'DisableRootAutoUpdate'.

Based on your logs, I found the same issue like "Registry key not found".

I met this kind of error before, one community member re-install the Machine.

But You could check that whether it is related to the Registry:

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/bf316ef7-38ef-48a4-aa5c-eeb4a617bdbc/vs-2015-community-license-expired-cannot-repair-reinstall-or-uninstall?forum=visualstudiogeneral

Some members also submit a connect report even it was about the old VS2015 version:

https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/1140900/visual-studio-2015-preview-setup-installation-issues

Best Regards,

Jack

_{Friday, January 15, 2016 4:39 PM}

Thanks for the reply and the investigating. I will consider a re install ;)

_{Monday, January 18, 2016 5:25 AM}

If you get any information, please feel free to let me know. Aindriu80:)

Thanks,

Jack

_{Wednesday, February 22, 2017 5:44 PM}

Hi, I am having the same exact issue with my WPF app. Did you end up finding a solution?

_{Friday, August 11, 2017 3:30 AM}

I'm also having the exact same issue in Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise, with WPF apps.

_{Tuesday, May 29, 2018 6:20 PM}

Please try by adding "RequestedTheme="Light" at the end of the Background value , it will look Background = "{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}" RequestedTheme="Light">

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Can't see items in XAML Designer - dark theme (Visual Studio 2015)

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All replies (16)

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