controls are not visible on designer view in vs17

This is actually a very common issue in Visual Studio 2017 when working with Xamarin.Android, and it’s important to clarify why it happens and how to fix it properly.

Let’s go step-by-step

1. Clarify the situation

You said:The controls in design view are not visible but the control code is available in source code.

That means:

• Your .axml layout file exists and has UI elements.

• When you open the layout in Design view, it’s either blank or shows only the background grid, no controls.

Important: The XAML Designer options you changed don’t affect Xamarin.Android

Those XAML Designer options under

Tools ? Options ? XAML Designer

apply to WPF or UWP (XAML-based) projects — not to Android .axml layouts.

So enabling/disabling those will not impact your Android designer.

2. Root causes of “blank designer” in Visual Studio 2017 (Xamarin.Android)

3. Step-by-step fix guide

Step 1: Verify the Android SDK versions

In Visual Studio ?
Tools ? Options ? Xamarin ? Android Settings

• Check the “Android SDK Location” path.

• Open that folder in File Explorer ? ensure you have:

  • platforms\android-28 or the target you’re using.

  • platform-tools and build-tools\ folders.

If not, open Visual Studio Installer ? Modify ? Individual Components, and check:

Android SDK setup (API 28 or 29)
Android SDK Platform-Tools
Android SDK Build-Tools
Android Emulator (optional)

Step 2: Set a supported target SDK

Open your project’s Properties ? Android Manifest and ensure:

(VS2017’s designer often breaks with API 30+ targets)

Step 3: Check your layout theme

If your Activity uses a custom theme that references unavailable styles, the designer may not render.

Try this temporarily:

Then reopen the layout — if it shows controls, your theme is the issue.

Step 4: Use Split or Source view

In .axml designer, switch to Split view (bottom tab).
This allows you to see both the source and the (partial) preview.
If you see an error banner in the designer, click “Show error details” — it often tells what resource is missing.

Step 5: Clear cache and restart

Sometimes the layout designer cache corrupts.

1. Close Visual Studio.

2. Delete folders:

   • %LocalAppData%\Xamarin

   • %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\\ComponentModelCache

3. Reopen Visual Studio ? Clean + Rebuild project.

Step 6: Check if you have Android Designer disabled

Go to Tools ? Options ? Xamarin ? Android Designer
Ensure Enable Android Designer is checked.

Step 7: Try “Legacy Designer” mode (VS2017 only)

Some builds allow toggling between the new and legacy designer.
Try setting:

Tools ? Options ? Xamarin ? Android Designer ? Use Legacy Layout Editor

Then restart Visual Studio.

Step 8: As a fallback — use Android Studio for layout editing

If all else fails (common in VS2017), open the layout in Android Studio temporarily.

In Android Studio:

• Open the .axml (rename to .xml if needed).

• Design visually.

• Copy updated XML back into Visual Studio.

Recommended: Upgrade Visual Studio

If possible, upgrade to Visual Studio 2019 or 2022, because:

• The Xamarin Android Designer was rebuilt (uses the same engine as Android Studio).

• Much better SDK compatibility.

• Much fewer “blank designer” issues.

Quick sanity check:

If you create a new blank Xamarin.Android project and open Main.axml, do you see a “Hello World” label in the Designer?

If yes — your issue is layout/theme specific.
If no — it’s SDK or Designer configuration.