Visual Studio browser link is grayed out

Question

I'm using visual studio 2013, and web essentials 1.1.

I'm trying to use browser link, but the button for it is greyed out in Visual Studio.

Any idea how I can enable it?

Answer 1

Check if the solution root has a file named WebEssentials-Settings.json

From that file, you'll see something like this:

{
  "BrowserLink": {
    "CssIgnorePatterns": "bootstrap*; reset.css; normalize.css; jquery*; toastr*; foundation*; animate*; inuit*; elements*; ratchet*; hint*; flat-ui*; 960*; skeleton*",
    "EnableMenu": true,
    "EnablePixelPushing": true,
    "ShowMenu": false
  },
  /* further settings down below */
}

Notice you have 2 settings. EnableMenu and ShowMenu. I had the same issue as you are having and I got ShowMenu: false while EnableMenu: true. I changed both to true, reopened the solution and it worked.

Answer 2

Do you have this setting in your Web.config file

<appSettings>
    <add key="vs:EnableBrowserLink" value="false"/>
</appSettings>

or debug to false?

<system.web>
    <compilation debug="false" targetFramework="4.5" />
</system.web>

source: http://www.asp.net/visual-studio/overview/2013/using-browser-link