Visual Studio 2010 highlights all references to the same variable (or class) when your cursor is placed over it. with the theme I use highlighted references are white on white - making them virtually impossible to read. what is the name of "display item" in Options- Environment Fonts and Colors that is responsible for that color? changing Plain Text to a darker one partially solves an issue however that also changes color for lots of other stuff on a screen, so ideally would be to change a background for this type of "selection"..