Visual Studio 2012: Syntax Highlighting is turning off and on

Question

I\'m using VS2012 and I\'m quite happy with it. But the problem is, whem I\'m coding in C++, that the syntax highlighting is turning off an on all over again. Sometimes, the

Answer 1

Edit: In this answer I assume that your problem description is correct. In other words, I'm assuming that occasionally C++ highlighting is working, and the other times the text appears as plain text: completely black and white.

My guess is you are using an extension which modifies or replaces the way Visual Studio highlights C++ code. Try temporarily disabling all of your extensions and checking again if the editor is working. Some extensions might have the Disable button disabled; in that case you'll need to uninstall the extension for this test (possibly through Control Panel → Programs and Features).

As an example of one common extension that completely replaces the C++ highlighter is Visual Assist. However, I do not personally use that product and I haven't heard of any specific problems with it of this nature. I am merely mentioning it as an example of an extension that completely changes the behavior of Visual Studio in regards to syntax highlighting of C++ code.