Code Syntax Style: Namespace Imports

Configuring namespace imports preferences

Your namespace imports preferences are saved using the mechanism of layer-based settings. Among other things, this mechanism allows you to maintain different preferences for different solutions as well as to keep these preferences under a VCS and automatically share them with your team members.

To configure namespace imports preferences

1. Open the Code Editing | C# | Namespace Imports page of ReSharper options.
2. On this options page, you can specify namespaces that should never be removed and/or namespaces that should be always imported.
3. Open the Code Editing | C# | Code Style page of ReSharper options.
4. Use the options in the Reference qualification group to fine-tune namespace import style.
5. Click Save 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 drop-down list. For more information, see managing and sharing resharper settings.

Importing missing namespaces

ReSharper helps you detect symbols with missing namespace imports and add proper imports automatically. An unresolved symbol is immediately highlighted in the editor and the corresponding fix is suggested:

If there are several unresolved symbols in the file, the fix adds imports for all of them. The imports are added according to the configured preferences of namespace imports. For more information, see Importing Missing Namespaces.

Removing redundant namespace imports and optimizing existing ones

Any imported namespace becomes redundant in your code if you remove usages of namespace symbols. Without ReSharper, you have to scroll to the top of every file, find unused namespace import directives, and remove them. ReSharper makes life a lot easier by allowing you to automatically remove unused namespace import directives from your file, project or solution. Besides removing redundant namespace imports, ReSharper can optimize them in several ways according to your namespace imports preferences.

All redundant namespace imports are highlighted are the editor and the corresponding quick-fixes are suggested including fix in scope:

By applying suggested fixes you can remove redundant namespaces instantly in the desired scope.

Another option to remove redundant namespace imports in a bulk mode is code cleanup. You can either run code cleanup with the default profile Default: Full Cleanup or run the cleanup with a custom profile solely targeted at your specific task as described below.

In contrast to quick-fixes, code cleanup not only removes unused imports but also optimizes existing imports according to your preferences. For example, using the code cleanup you can replace fully qualified type names with plain type names by adding the corresponding namespace imports.

To optimize namespace imports using Code Cleanup

1. Select ReSharper | Options in the main menu.
2. Go to the Code Cleanup settings page: Code Editing | Code Cleanup.
3. Create a new profile as described in the Code Cleanup section. In the Selected profile settings for the new profile:
   • Select Optimize 'using' directives.
   • Optionally, to embrace unused using directives in a region, select Embrace 'using' directives in region and specify the name of the region in the Region name field.
4. Click Save 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 drop-down list. For more information, see managing and sharing resharper settings.
5. Select the scope where you want to optimize namespace imports:
   • Set the caret anywhere in the file to optimize namespace imports to the file.
   • Select one or more items in the Solution Explorer to optimize namespace imports in the files under these nodes and their child items.
6. Do one of the following:
   • Press Ctrl+Alt+F or choose ReSharper | Edit | Cleanup Code in the main menu.
   • Right-click anywhere in the text editor or right-click the selection and choose Cleanup Code in the context menu.
7. In the Code Cleanup dialog that opens, select the newly created profile.
8. Click Run. ReSharper will optimize namespace imports in the selected scope.

If you want to optimize namespace imports without opening the Code Cleanup dialog, you can bind the created profile to the silent cleanup and run it simply by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F. You can also create a custom cleanup profile that would combine optimizing namespace imports with other code style tasks.