See the type of a var in Visual Studio

Question

Is there a way to see the type of a var within the Visual Studio 2013 code editor?

When I have a crazy linq query it would be nice to see what the resulting type will be. I don't want to replace the var keyword with the actual type, I just want to see what it is.

In some versions, mouseover the var keyword will not show anything, but in 2013 it should show the Type. You can also mouseover the variable itself. — Dennis_E, Oct 01 '14 at 08:51
[How to: Use Debugger Variable Windows](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bhawk8xd.aspx) — Tim Schmelter, Oct 01 '14 at 08:53
@TimSchmelter - Not sure if your link applies. I want to see the type during design time. — , Oct 01 '14 at 09:20

Philip Pittle · Answer 1 · 2015-11-24T18:58:18.970

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There is also a keyboard shortcut that will show you. Put the cursor over var and type:

ctrl+k, i

enter image description here

edited Nov 24 '15 at 18:58

answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:55

Philip Pittle

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That's exactly what I was looking for! – Gabrielius Aug 25 '16 at 16:05
Great ...but how did u come to know this ? – Chandra Shekhar Sep 13 '18 at 10:40
Don't recall exactly where I found it, possibly from digging through the VS Keyboard mappings – Philip Pittle Sep 14 '18 at 01:12

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 20 '22 at 11:41

For newer versions of VS (I'm not sure this applies to 2013), you have the option to go down to:

Tools > Options > Text Editor > C# > Advanced

Scroll down to the "Inline Hints' section and enable Display inline type hints to show type hints inline with the line where the var is specified. There's also an option to display parameter name hints there, also very useful.

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:52

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You can get it by Hovering on particular var keyword.

For example see in below image the tooltip shows the details.

enter image description here

answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:52

Neel

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Does anyone know how to get this to work while debugging? When debugging I can't hover over fields/methods to see their descriptions, but CTRL-K, I works when debugging. – Vapid May 12 '20 at 08:02

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 27 '21 at 11:25

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Hover your mouse over the var keyword, it will show it in a tooltip.

edited Jul 27 '21 at 11:25

Dominique

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answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:51

Fordio

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You can also use F12 to go to definition on the `var` keyword, and it'll take you to the class. – NibblyPig Oct 01 '14 at 08:52
Will it do this for the result of a `linq` query? – Oct 01 '14 at 09:19
Yes, the compiler can still infer the type from a linq query - unless you select an anonymous type, I'm not sure what it does then. – Fordio Oct 01 '14 at 09:45

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:51

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Hover on the variable... It will tell you.

answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:51

Whoami

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_variable_? or `var` keyword? – Soner Gönül Oct 01 '14 at 10:09
Both will work. On the Var keyword, it will tell you the Type var replace, on the variable, it will let you explore it as a usual variable (including the type). – Whoami Oct 01 '14 at 10:52

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 02 '14 at 10:26

The text of the type can often be obtained (using copy and paste) by temporarily changing the var to an explicit type, say int. That will force a compilation error. After doing a Build solution the type of the variable should be written in both the Error list and the Output panes.

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:51

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Move your mouse cursor hover the var keyword, a tooltip will show you the actual type.

answered Oct 01 '14 at 08:51

ken2k

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score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 31 '22 at 08:13

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For Vs 2019 or 2022 Go to visual studio Option > Text Editor > c# > Advanced > Display inline type hints

answered Dec 31 '22 at 08:13

arman

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Apr 03 '17 at 05:51

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Add a variable watch. Check the type in the watch window.

answered Apr 03 '17 at 05:51

Chris Halcrow

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See the type of a var in Visual Studio

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