Visual Studio has built in support for snippets, but some of the functionality is limited.  For a while, I have kept simple methods and queries stored in files on my computer for quick access.  I have found a simple solution for Visual Studio, as well as online for quickly accessing, storing and sharing routinely used snippets of code that will replace my old ways of storing snippets.

<code:keep> (www.CodeKeep.net) allows users to store and easily retrieve code snippets in many common programming languages.  At the time of this posting, there are currently 28 languages that you can store, share, and search.  There are two easy ways of adding and viewing your snippets.  First, is on their website.  The website allows you to not only view and manager your snippets, but it also lets you look through snippets other have chosen to share – when adding snippets, you have the ability to make your snippets private or public.  The other way to access snippets is through a Visual Studio add-in (available in for both Visual Studio 2005 and 2008).  Both options will let you store, browse, and search for code snippets.

Installation instructions

When installing, I recommend setting up an online account first.  This will make the installation flow a little more smoothly.  Make sure to have Visual Studio closed for the installation. Once you have an account setup, download and run the MSI to install CodeKeep.  Make sure the read the ReadMe file.  After installing the application, you will also need to copy three files into the Addins directory in you default project folder.

Once installed, the add-in is available through the Tools Menu

Because this is an online service, the snippets are not stored on your computer by default.   However, the website does allow users to export their snippets.  Whether you want to take them on the go, or simply back them up, browse to “My Snippets” and click Export Snippets.  All of your snippets can be saved to an XML file.


Note:  While using the add-in, I have hit a few bugs that will crash Visual Studio.   Upon restarting VS, I get an error “Object reference not set to an instance of an object”.  To get rid of this, I had run the MSI again and  repair the installation.

This also required me to log into my account again.