Visual Studio: How to Turn Off Autocomplete

The Autocomplete feature in Microsoft Visual Studio can be an annoyance at times. You can turn it off using these steps.

Option 1 – Turn Off Once

When the autocomplete window appears, press the “Escape” key to close it.

Option 2 – Disable Completely

• From Visual Studio, select “Tools” > “Options“.
• Select “Text Editor” in the left pane.
• Select the language you are using (C#, C++, Basic, etc.).
• For C# and Basic, choose “IntelliSense“. For C or C++, choose “Advanced“, then scroll to the “IntelliSense” section.
• For C# and Basic, check the “Show completion list after a character is typed” to disable it. For C/C++, you will have a few options, such as “Disable Auto Updating“, “Disable Squiggles“, and “Disable #include “Auto Complete“. Set any of these to “True” to turn them off.

Another setting to consider is brace completion:

“Tools” > “Options” > “Text Editor” > “All Languages” > “General” > “Automatic brace completion“.