How to fix IntelliSense errors in Visual Studio

New Visual Studio C/C++ users sometimes get tripped up by IntelliSense errors, so today I’ve decided to share the secret, undocumented solution: just turn them off!

IntelliSense is a nice user interface feature when it works, but it has nothing whatever to do with building and running your C/C++ code. IntelliSense errors do not equal compiler errors, and trying to “fix” them is fruitless.

Simply right-click anywhere on the Visual Studio error list (the click must be inside the list, not outside), then uncheck “Show IntelliSense Errors”. Problem solved!

The 'Show IntelliSense Errors" toggle.

There is one small irritating issue with this solution: your setting is not persisted in the registry, so the errors have to be turned off every time you start Visual Studio.