Q: I need to add a lot of existing files and folders to a project but using Add Existing Item is slow.  Is there a faster way?

A: When you select a project in Solution Explorer you might have noticed the toolbar at the top of the window changing.  One of the option (in most projects) is Show All Files.  This option shows all files and folders under the project folder whether they are in the project or not.  Files/folders not in the project are shown grayed out.  If you right-click the files/folders (multiple selection is supported) you can right-click and select Include in Project to automatically add them to the project.  If you add a folder it will automatically include any children in the folder.  This is a great way to add a lot of items when they already reside in the project directory.

If the files do not already reside in the directory then you can drag the files from Windows Explorer to the project directory.  Unfortunately this does not work in all projects.  Also be careful about what actually happens when you drop the file.  For projects like C# that assume all files are in the project directory then a copy is performed.  However some project types may result in a link being created to the original file location.