Generating a plain GUID in Visual Studio

Question

If I try using the "Create GUID" tool using "Tool" > "Create GUID", I get a box that has six different snippets which contains GUIDs. But it doesn't offer the option of providing only the GUID. Is there any way to do this?

I'm using Visual Studio Professional 2019, version 16.1.6, and .NET version 4.8.03761.

Answer 1

Instead of installing a new extension (as mentioned in the other answers), you can just use a built-in tool in Visual Studio called "C# Interactive".

Here are the steps:

1. On VS open the "C# Interactive" window (if not opened) by
   pressing Ctrl+Q and typing "C# Interactive"
2. Type the following in the window and press enter:
   System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString()

And you'll get the result:

Note: In case you need it again, just hit Up Arrow button and the last command will reappear, so you don't need to type again.

---

P.S. Basically we just execute a C# code in the "C# Interactive" window.
You can modify the code there to whatever you want. For example, you can go further and generate a list of guids with by typing there a code like this:

> for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
    Console.WriteLine(Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
}

Answer 2

The Create UID option is available by default in Professional and Enterprise versions. To have Create GUID functionality you can add the Create GUID tool yourself by following the below steps.

1. Go to the Visual Studio menu and click on Tools then External Tools.

   

2. The below model will pop up.

   

   Title: Create GUID
   Command: Powershell.exe
   Arguments: [guid]::NewGuid()
   Use Output Window: Check/True 
   

3. Click Apply then OK.

4. Now again go to VS Menu -> Tools and you'll be able to see the Create GUID option in the Tools menu.

   

5. Click on Create GUID and check the output window.