Code cleanup

Last modified: 21 July 2022

ReSharper | Edit | Cleanup Code...

Control+Alt+F (ReSharper_CleanupCode)

tip

You can also run code cleanup using the command-line utility.

ReSharper allows you to apply formatting and other code style preferences in a bulk mode to instantly eliminate code style violations in one or more files, in a project or in the entire solution.

note

Fixing inconsistent naming is not included in code cleanup because when batch-applied it can lead to naming conflicts.

Code cleanup profiles

Code cleanup can have various configurations (profiles) to apply in different cases according to your needs. There are three default profiles available out of the box:

These profiles help in most cases but you cannot configure them. If you want to run code cleanup with the custom set of cleanup tasks, you need to create a custom profile and specify the set of desired tasks there.

tip

Code cleanup settings, including custom profiles, can be shared with fellow developers to ensure uniform look and feel of your code (see Manage and share ReSharper settings for details).

Create a new custom cleanup profile

  1. Select ReSharper | Options from the main menu or press Alt+R O.

  2. Go to the cleanup profiles settings page: Code Editing | Code Cleanup | Profiles.

  3. Select one of the existing profiles on the left and click Duplicate on the top of the page. ReSharper will create a new cleanup profile with the same set of tasks as in original profile.

  4. Select the newly created profile in the list of profiles.

  5. Click Configure on the top of the page.

  6. The tasks of the selected profile become editable on the right. Configure them as desired.

  7. If you want to create or edit other profiles before saving your modifications, click Done on the top of the page to temporarily remember modifications to the current profile.

  8. Click Save in the Options dialog to apply the modifications and let ReSharper choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer using the Save To list. For more information, see manage and share resharper settings.

Your newly created cleanup profile will be available in the Code Cleanup dialog when you are running code cleanup. You can also set this profile to be used for the silent cleanup.

Run code cleanup

ReSharper can apply code cleanup to an arbitrarily selected block of code, all code in the current file, all files in a directory, the current project, or even the current solution. Make sure that you select the right set of cleanup tasks by choosing the right cleanup profile.

note

Code cleanup is not applied to generated code. By default, ReSharper provides the list of file masks and regions for generated code typically produced by Visual Studio (for example, Windows Form Designer-generated code). If necessary, you can edit the list of generated items on the Code Inspection | Generated Code page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Clean up selection or file

  1. Select the scope where you want to clean up code:

    • Make a selection in the editor to clean up code in the selection.

    • Set the caret anywhere in the file to clean up code in the file.

  2. If you are cleaning up a selection, press Alt+Enter and choose Reformat and cleanup | [cleanup profile].

    Alternatively you can follow the below steps, which work for both selection and file.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Press Control+Alt+F or choose ReSharper | Edit | Cleanup Code... from the main menu .

    • Right-click anywhere in the text editor or right-click the selection and choose Cleanup Code in the context menu.

  4. In the Reformat and Cleanup Code dialog that opens, choose a cleanup profile to apply. Use the area to the right of the selected profile to check the tasks included in that profile.

  5. If none of the available profiles suits you, choose one of the existing profiles and click Duplicate to create a new custom profile.

    Note that if you create or modify cleanup profiles in this dialog, your changes will be saved using the smart save logic. If you need to save your modifications to a shared settings layer, make your modifications on the Code Editing | Code Cleanup page of ReSharper options, click Save To and then choose the desired settings layer.

  6. Click Run to clean up code in the selected scope.

  7. By default, files that are opened in the editor are not saved automatically after cleanup. If you want to enable auto-saving after cleanup, select Save after cleanup is applied to the whole file on the Code Editing | Code Cleanup | General page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

You can clean up not only an individual file, but also multiple files in a directory, project or entire solution. To do so, run code cleanup from the Solution Explorer.

Clean up multiple files, projects, or entire solution

  1. Select one or more items (files, directories, projects, or the solution) in the Solution Explorer.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Press Control+Alt+F or choose ReSharper | Edit | Cleanup Code... from the main menu .

    • Right-click the selection and choose Cleanup Code in the context menu.

  3. Choose a cleanup profile as described above.

  4. Click Run to clean up code in the selected scope.

You can run Code Cleanup every time you save changes in a file to make sure that your edits always comply with your code style.

Automatically run Code Cleanup on saving changes

  1. Select ReSharper | Options from the main menu or press Alt+R O.

  2. Go to the cleanup profiles settings page: Code Editing | Code Cleanup | Profiles.

  3. Select which Code Cleanup profile should be applied on save and click Set as default (the default profile is also used for silent cleanup).

  4. Go to the Code Editing | Code Cleanup | General options page and select Automatically run cleanup when saving a file.

    Optionally, you can restrict automatic cleanup to specific files by a file mask. You can also select Only changed parts of file to make sure that cleanup is applied to the code affected by your changes, and the rest of the code in the file is not modified.

  5. Click Save in the dialog to apply the modifications and let ReSharper choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer using the Save To list. For more information, see manage and share resharper settings.

  6. The next time you finish editing and save the file (Ctrl+S) or all files (Ctrl+Shift+S), ReSharper will clean up the affected files using the selected profile. If the default cleanup profile is not selected, ReSharper will prompt you choose one of the profiles.

You can also run code cleanup in files that you recently opened or modified.

Clean up recently modified files

  1. Expand the submenu at ReSharper | Edit | Cleanup Recent Files.

  2. Choose whether to run cleanup for all opened files or for all recently modified files.

    Cleanup... actions will prompt you to choose a cleanup profile, Silent Cleanup... actions will use the default cleanup profile selected on the Code Editing | Code Cleanup | Profiles page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

  3. If you choose to clean up recently modified files, ReSharper will apply the selected cleanup profile to all files in the solution that were edited during the last 7 days.

    You can change the number of days during which changes should be considered recent on the Code Editing | Code Cleanup | General options page.

    You can also select Only changed parts of file to make sure that cleanup is applied to the code affected by your changes, and the rest of the code in the file is not modified.

Silent cleanup

You can also run code cleanup in the silent mode - that is, without displaying the Code Cleanup dialog. Since in this case you will not be able to choose a profile explicitly, you have to assign some cleanup profile to use for the silent code cleanup.

note

ReSharper does not make a default selection of the silent cleanup profile. This means that until you select a profile by yourself, ReSharper will open the Code Cleanup dialog whenever you launch silent code cleanup.

Assign a profile for silent code cleanup

  1. Select ReSharper | Options from the main menu or press Alt+R O.

  2. Go to the cleanup profiles settings page: Code Editing | Code Cleanup | Profiles.

  3. Select a cleanup profile on the left and click Set as default at the top of the options page.

  4. Click Save in the Options dialog to apply the modifications and let ReSharper choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer using the Save To list. For more information, see manage and share resharper settings.

Run code cleanup in silent mode

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To run silent code cleanup in a specific code file, open it in the text editor or select it in the Solution Explorer.

    • To apply silent code cleanup to a set of files (directory, project, or solution), select the corresponding item in the Solution Explorer.

  2. Press Control+Shift+Alt+F or choose ReSharper | Edit | Silent Cleanup Code from the main menu . Alternatively, you can press Control+Shift+A, start typing the command name in the popup, and then choose it there.

Available code cleanup tasks

The tables below list available cleanup tasks for different languages. If you need the cleanup to perform only a part of these tasks, you can create a custom cleanup profile for that.

Reformat code

C#

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | C# | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

Reformat embedded XML doc comments

Reformats XML doc comments according to options configurable on the Code Editing | XML Doc Comments | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options .

Note that ReSharper does not reformat plain comments like:

// A plain single-line comment

or

/* A plain multi-line comment */

C++

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | C++ | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

Visual Basic .NET

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | Visual Basic .NET | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

Reformat embedded XML doc comments

Reformats XML doc comments according to options configurable on the Code Editing | XML Doc Comments | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options .

Note that ReSharper does not reformat plain comments like:

// A plain single-line comment

or

/* A plain multi-line comment */

XML

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | XML | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

HTML

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | HTML | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

CSS

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | CSS | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

JavaScript/TypeScript

Reformat code

Reformats your code according to the preferences that you can configure on the Code Editing | JavaScript/TypeScript | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options . For more information, see Apply formatting rules.

Reformat embedded XML doc comments

Reformats XML doc comments according to options configurable on the Code Editing | XML Doc Comments | Formatting Style page of ReSharper options .

Note that ReSharper does not reformat plain comments like:

// A plain single-line comment

or

/* A plain multi-line comment */

Syntax styles

C#

Apply 'var' style

Applies the rules for 'var' usage during the cleanup. The rules are configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Use explicit or implicit modifier definition for types

Applies the rule for type modifiers - whether on not to use the internal modifier explicitly. The rule is configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Modifiers.

Use explicit or implicit modifier definition for type members

Applies the rule for type member modifiers - whether on not to use the private modifier explicitly. The rule is configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Modifiers.

Sort modifiers

Applies the preferred order of type/member modifiers. The rule is configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Modifiers.

Apply arguments style (named vs. positional)

Applies the preferences for named/positional arguments for specific types of parameters. The preferences are configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Named/Positional Arguments.

Remove redundant parentheses

Removes redundant optional parentheses in cases specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Optional Parentheses.

Add parentheses to explicitly specify operation precedence

Adds optional parentheses to clarify precedence of operations in cases specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Optional Parentheses.

Add/remove braces around single statements

Adds or removes optional braces around single nested statements as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Braces for Single Nested Statements.

Add/remove brackets for attributes

Applies the rules for multiple attributes as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Multiple Attributes.

Apply code body style (expression body vs. block body)

Applies preferences for bodies of type members (expression body or block body) as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code syntax style: bodies of type members.

Arrange trailing commas

Applies preferences for trailing commas in declarations with multiple items and similar constructs (object, array, and collection initializers, as well as enums and switch expressions) as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Trailing Commas.

Apply object creation style ('new()' vs 'new T()')

Applies preferences for using the target-typed new operator in C# 9.0 and later as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Object Creation ('new()' vs 'new T()').

Apply default value style ('default' vs 'default(T)')

Applies preferences for using optional type specification in default value expressions as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Default Value Expressions ('default' vs 'default(T)').

Arrange namespaces (file-scoped vs. block-scoped)

Applies preferences for using file-scoped namespace declarations in files containing a single namespace as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code syntax style: file-scoped namespaces.

Arrange qualifiers

Applies the rules for qualifying type members. The rules are configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Optional Member Qualifiers.

Fix built-in type references

Applies the rule for built-in type names (C# keyword or CLR type name). The rule is configurable on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Built-In Type References.

C/C++

Add/remove braces for single statements

Apply 'auto' style

Apply function declaration style (regular vs. trailing return types)

Apply nested namespaces style

Apply type alias style (typedefs vs. type aliases)

Arrange cv-qualifiers

Arrange slashes in include directives (forward slashes vs. backslashes)

Arrange specifiers ('virtual' and/or 'override') on overriding functions

Sort include directives

Sort member initializers

XAML

Collapse empty tags

Removes the closing tag if the tag body is empty.

HTML

Normalize quotes around attribute value

Applies the preferred quote style: single quote ' or double quote ", configurable on the Code Editing | HTML | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

JavaScript/TypeScript

Normalize quotes around string literal

Applies the preferred quote style: single quote ' or double quote ", configurable on the Code Editing | JavaScript/TypeScript | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Quotes style.

Apply statement termination

Adds the optional semicolon ; at the end of statements in JavaScript, TypeScript, and JSON.

TypeScript specific

Synchronize 'public' presence with code style

This option lets you add or remove explicit 'public' modifier according to settings configurable on the Code Editing | TypeScript | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Add explicit 'any' type annotation if needed

This option lets you add explicit 'any' annotation to types according to settings configurable on the Code Editing | TypeScript | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Synchronize type annotation presence with code style

This option lets you enforce explicit/implicit type specification according to settings configurable on the Code Editing | TypeScript | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Fix relative path style in 'require' if needed

Applies the Relative file reference style in 'require' code style preference for relative paths in the require keyword. For example, import X = require("file1") or import X = require("./file1"). You can configure this preference on the Code Editing | TypeScript | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Use 'as' instead of type assertions

Replaces 

var bar = <string> foo;

with 

var bar = foo as string;

which is a recommended way to avoid ambiguity with JSX syntax.

Optimize imports

C#

Optimize 'using' directives

  • Removes unused namespace import directives by implementing the rules that you can configure on the Code Editing | C# | Namespace Imports page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O)

  • Applies preferences for arranging namespace import directives and fully-qualified names when importing types, as specified on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style and Code Editing | Type Import options pages.

  • Sorts the namespace import directives: all System.* namespaces go first, sorted alphabetically by the second word after the dot; all other namespaces go next, in alphabetical order. .

For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Namespace Imports.

Embrace 'using' directives in region

If this checkbox is selected, a new region for wrapping all namespace import directives is created during cleanup.

Region name

Allows specifying a name for the region wrapping namespace import directives.

Shorten qualified references

Replaces fully qualified names with short names when possible by importing namespaces, according to the preferences configured on the Code Editing | C# | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O)

Visual Basic .NET

Optimize 'import' directives

  • Removes unused namespace import directives by implementing the rules that you can configure on the Code Editing | Visual Basic .NET | Namespace Imports page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O)

  • Applies preferences for arranging namespace import directives and fully-qualified names when importing types, as specified on the Code Editing | Visual Basic .NET | Syntax Style and Code Editing | Type Import options pages.

  • Sorts the namespace import directives: all System.* namespaces go first, sorted alphabetically by the second word after the dot; all other namespaces go next, in alphabetical order. .

For more information, see Code Syntax Style: Namespace Imports.

Embrace 'using' directives in region

If this checkbox is selected, a new region for wrapping all namespace import directives is created during cleanup.

Region name

Allows specifying a name for the region wrapping namespace import directives.

Shorten qualified references

Replaces fully qualified names with short names when possible by importing namespaces, according to the preferences configured on the Code Editing | Visual Basic .NET | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O)

XAML

Remove redundant namespace alias

Remove all redundant namespace aliases in the scope of cleanup. Redundant aliases are also detected with the code inspection and can be removed with a quick-fix.

TypeScript specific

Optimize 'import' statements

Use this option to remove redundant 'import' statements or fully-qualified names according to the settings configurable on the Code Editing | TypeScript | Syntax Style page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O).

Optimize reference comments

Use this option to remove redundant reference comments.

ASP.NET

Optimize @Register directives

Removes unused @Register directives.

Rearrange code

C#

Apply file layout

Reorders type members in files according to the rules configurable on the Code Editing | C# | File Layout page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). For more information, see Rearrange members with file and type layout patterns.

CSS

Alphabetize properties

Rearranges CSS properties in the alphabetical order.

Remove redundancies & apply optimizations

C#

Remove code redundancies

On the Code Inspection | Inspection Severity page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O), in the Redundancies in Code categories of most languages, ReSharper lists dozens of cases that have associated code inspections. Some of them require special attention, and you cannot process them in the batch mode, but most of them can be fixed automatically whenever you select Remove code redundancies in your cleanup profile.

Use auto-property, if possible

Replaces simple properties and corresponding backing fields with auto-properties. For more information, see Use auto-properties.

Make field read-only, if possible

Adds the readonly keyword to fields that are assigned in the declaration or in a constructor and only have read usages. For more information, see Make fields readonly.

Make auto-property get-only, if possible

Removes the redundant set accessor on auto-properties that are initialized from the constructor/initializer and have no write usages.

By default, ReSharper automatically detects C# version based on the associated compiler. However, you can specify the target C# version explicitly for a project — right-click the project in the Solution Explorer, choose Edit project item properties from the context menu and use the C# Language Level selector .

To set the C# version for all projects in your solution, specify it in a Directory.Build.props file in your solution directory as described here.

C/C++

Add required 'typename' and 'template' keywords

Join declarations and assignments

Make local variables const

Make member functions 'const' when possible

Make member functions 'static' when possible

Remove redundant casts

Remove redundant 'else' keywords

Remove redundant elaborated type specifiers

Remove redundant lambda parameter lists

Remove redundant member initializers

Remove redundant parentheses

Remove redundant qualifiers

Remove redundant specifiers

Remove redundant statements

Remove redundant template arguments

Remove redundant 'typename' and 'template' keywords

Remove unreachable code

Remove unused #include directives

Remove unused lambda captures

Replace C-style and functional-style casts with static casts

Replace constants in boolean context with boolean literals

Replace if statements with constant conditions with 'if constexpr'

Replace postfix operators with prefix variants

Replace smart pointer constructors with make functions

Replace throw expressions with rethrow where possible

Replace type traits with corresponding template aliases or variable templates

Replace zero valued expressions in pointer context with nullptr

Replace 'tie(..)' with structured binding declarations

Use 'contains' for associative containers wherer possible

Use 'std::erase'/'std::eraseif' instead of remove-erase idiom

Visual Basic .NET

Remove code redundancies

On the Code Inspection | Inspection Severity page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O), in the Redundancies in Code categories of most languages, ReSharper lists dozens of cases that have associated code inspections. Some of them require special attention, and you cannot process them in the batch mode, but most of them can be fixed automatically whenever you select Remove code redundancies in your cleanup profile.

XAML

Remove redundant 'Freeze' attribute

Removes Freeze attributes that are redundant in their context.

Remove redundant modifiers attribute

Removes modifiers attributes that are redundant in their context.

Remove redundant name attribute

Removes name attributes that are redundant in their context.

Remove redundant resource

Removes resource references that are not used

Remove redundant empty collection property setter

Remove redundant attached property setter

Removes unused setters for the attached properties.

Remove redundant style property setter

Removes unused setters for the style properties.

Remove forbidden name attribute

Removes name attributes that are not allowed in their context.

Remove redundant definitions

Removes definitions if they are redundant in the context.

Remove redundant UpdateSourceTrigger attribute

Removes UpdateSourceTrigger attributes that are redundant in their context.

Remove redundant Mode attribute

Removes Mode attributes that are redundant in their context.

Remove redundant span attribute

Removes span attributes that are redundant in their context.

JavaScript/TypeScript

Correct 'var' to 'let'/'const' where possible

let and const are supported in the following cases:

  • In JavaScript code, if the target JavaScript language level is ECMAScript 6 (you can choose it on the Code Editing | JavaScript | Inspections page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O))

  • In TypeScript 1.4, if the target ECMAScript 6 is selected in the project properties.

  • In TypeScript 1.5 or later.

Move let/const to most possible inner scopes

Moves variables defined outside of a function/compound statement, and so on closer to their usages if there are no other usages in outer scopes.

Convert string concatenations to template strings

In JavaScript code, if the target JavaScript language level is ECMAScript 6 (you can choose it on the Code Editing | JavaScript | Inspections page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O)) , as well as in TypeScript 1.4 or later, this option will convert string concatenations to template strings. For example: 

var str1 = "Hello,";
var str2 = "Test: " + str1 + " World1";

will be converted to 

const str1 = "Hello, ";
const str2 = `Test: ${str1} World1`;

TypeScript specific

Remove redundant qualifiers

Use this option to remove redundant type name qualifiers.

Update file header (copyright)

C#

Update file header

Inserts or updates the file header comment that you can configure on the Code Editing | File Header Text page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O) or using the file_header_template EditorConfig property. For more information, see File header style.

C/C++

Update file header

Inserts or updates the file header comment that you can configure on the Code Editing | File Header Text page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O) or using the file_header_template EditorConfig property. For more information, see File header style.

Run external cleanup tools

C/C++

Apply Clang-tidy fix-its

In this node, you can choose all or specific fixes that will be applied according to the Clang-Tidy checks.

The selected fixes will be applied even if the corresponding inspections are turned off on the Code Inspection | Inspection Severity page of ReSharper options (Alt+R, O). Be careful when enabling too many checks at once — code cleanup runs Clang-Tidy only once for a given file, so if multiple fixes touch the same block of code, the changes might conflict with each other.

See also

Procedures

External Links