The document root element is not supported by the visual designer

[This documentation is for preview only, and is subject to change in later releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

When you open a XAML file in the WPF Designer for Visual Studio, you might not see any objects in Design view. This can occur in the following cases:

You open a blank XAML file.
You open the Application.xaml file in a Visual Basic project or the App.xaml file in a C# project.
You open a XAML file that contains a root element that is not supported by the designer.

Note

The WPF Designer supports only Panel, Page, ContentControl and their derivatives as the root element.
You open a XAML file that contains a syntax error in the root element.

When you open a XAML file without any visual objects, the following message appears in Design view:

Intentionally Left Blank

The document root element is not supported by the visual designer.

This is the expected behavior, and you do not have to take any corrective action.

See Also