20 Most Useful Shortcuts in VS Code
General Navigation
- Command Palette: Access all available commands in VS Code. Ctrl + Shift + P (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + Shift + P (macOS)
- Quick Open: Quickly open files by name. Ctrl + P (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + P (macOS)
- Toggle Sidebar: Show or hide the sidebar. Ctrl + B (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + B (macOS)
- Split Editor: Split the editor to view multiple files side by side. Ctrl + \ (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + \ (macOS) Editing
- Move Line Up/Down: Move the current line or selected lines up or down. Alt + ↑ / Alt + ↓ (Windows/Linux) OR Option + ↑ / Option + ↓ (macOS)
- Copy Line Up/Down: Duplicate the current line or selected text. Shift + Alt + ↑ / Shift + Alt + ↓ (Windows/Linux) OR Shift + Option + ↑ / Shift + Option + ↓ (macOS)
- Comment/Uncomment Line: Comment or uncomment the selected line or lines. Ctrl + / (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + / (macOS)
- Block Comment: Add or remove block comments around the selected code. Shift + Alt + A (Windows/Linux/macOS)
- Multi-Cursor Selection: Place multiple cursors for simultaneous edits. Ctrl + Click (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + Click (macOS)
- Select All Occurrences of Word: Select all instances of the current word for simultaneous editing. Ctrl + Shift + L (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + Shift + L (macOS) Navigation and Search
- Go to Definition: Jump to the definition of a symbol. F12 (Windows/Linux/macOS)
- Peek Definition: View a definition inline without leaving the current location. Alt + F12 (Windows/Linux) OR Option + F12 (macOS)
- Find: Open the search box to find within the current file. Ctrl + F (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + F (macOS)
- Find and Replace: Open the find and replace dialog. Ctrl + H (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + H (macOS)
- Go to File/Go to Symbol: Navigate to a specific file or symbol in the workspace. Ctrl + Shift + O (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + Shift + O (macOS) Code Editing and Formatting
- Rename Symbol: Rename all instances of a symbol across the entire workspace. F2 (Windows/Linux/macOS)
- Format Document: Format the entire document using the appropriate formatter. Shift + Alt + F (Windows/Linux) OR Shift + Option + F (macOS)
- Go to Line: Jump to a specific line in the file. Ctrl + G (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + G (macOS)
- Toggle Word Wrap: Enable or disable word wrapping in the editor. Alt + Z (Windows/Linux) OR Option + Z (macOS) Terminal and Settings
- Toggle Terminal: Open or close the integrated terminal. Ctrl + ` (Windows/Linux) OR Cmd + ` (macOS) These shortcuts cover common navigation, editing, and formatting tasks, helping you work more efficiently in Visual Studio Code.
If you want to read the complete article you can see this link:
[https://javascript.plainenglish.io/20-most-useful-shortcuts-in-vs-code-37a9cc33ef5f]
Top comments (10)
Here are some other useful shortcuts i use on a regular basis:
Ctrl + K - Ctrl + S: Open the List of Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl + K - Ctrl + T: Open Theme Selector
Ctrl + ^: Split File
Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow/Left Arrow: Move Current Tab either right or left
Shift + Alt + F: Search from currently highlighted folder in Explorer view
Ctrl + Enter: Insert newline under cursor from anywhere in the current line without breaking
Great overview! For those interested, I wrote a similar article in addition with shortcuts for DevTools. Link here.
Best of luck on your journey! 😊 We are truly delighted to have enthusiastic and proactive developers like you in this community. The way you shared a detailed and helpful post about Visual Studio Code shortcuts will be very useful to many. It will help numerous developers speed up their workflow and make coding even more enjoyable.
We want to encourage you to keep sharing such amazing and educational posts. Each of your posts will enrich our community and become a valuable resource for newcomers. Stay active on the Dev.to platform, keep learning, and keep sharing.
NICE! One of my favs is not a keyboard but if you press and hold your scrollwheel button and drag the mouse up or down it will create a cursor on each line.
good job bro
What key should be used in the last bullet?
You're right, I missed it. It's Ctrl +
for Win/Linux and Cmd +for machere is what am searching for. These VS Code Shortcuts help me. Thanx for sharing.
Spend quite some time on modifying the IDE Is the best thing you could do to improve the productivity
I just need it, this article made my job so much easier, thanks.