DEV Community

Pauline
Pauline

Posted on • Updated on

20 VS Code shortcuts to speed up your flow ⚡️

In this article I want to share some of my favorite and most used VS Code shortcuts that help me save time, make my life a little easier and, as a heavy keyboard user, also allow me to stay in my developer flow.

You may be familiar with some of them already but hopefully you will discover a new shortcut that you can introduce into your workflow starting right now. 🤞🏻

I jotted down the key combinations for Mac users. If you’re a Windows or Linux user, you can find the key bindings for your OS here.

Alright then, so without needing to select the entire line first...

  • ⌘X - cut a line
  • ⌘C- copy a line
  • ⇧⌘K - delete a line
  • ⌘L - select the line

And while your cursor is on a specific line..

  • ⌘Enter - insert a new line below it
  • ⇧⌘Enter - insert a new line above it
  • ⌥↑ and ⌥↓ - move the line up/down
  • ⇧⌥↑ and ⇧⌥↓ - duplicate line on the line above/below it
  • ⌘] and ⌘[ - indent and outdent the line
  • ⌘/ - (un)comment out the line

Or within a specific file..

  • ⌘D - find other instances of selected code
  • ⌥Z - toggle word wrap

Lastly, for some editor/window management..

  • ⌘P - find and go to file (quick open)
  • ⌘N - new editor
  • ⌘W - close editor
  • ⌘B - toggle visibility of the side panel
  • ` - toggle visibility of the integrated terminal
  • ⌘2 - split screen into two editor groups
  • ⇧⌘T - reopen recently closed editor
  • ⌥⌘← and ⌥⌘→ - view editor tab on the left/right

Happy coding!


If you enjoyed reading this post or if it was helpful to you, you can support me by buying me a coffee — I'd really appreciate it! 🙏

Top comments (31)

Collapse
 
pavelloz profile image
Paweł Kowalski • Edited

I personally dont use "delete line" - just cut it and never paste it. ;)

On the other hand shortcuts i often use.

I might have some customs, so double check before using

toggle terminal (ctrl+`)
multicursor to the next line (shift+ctrl+down / or shift+ctrl+up)
duplicate line above/below (shift+alt+down)
move line up / down (alt+down / alt+up)

Collapse
 
pavelloz profile image
Paweł Kowalski • Edited

I would also recommend folding shortcuts to navigate bigger files, but since im not working on long files (js + includes in other languages) i dont need it - but if you are dealing with files 200+ lines long, i would highly recommend mastering folding + go to line + go to method

Collapse
 
molamk profile image
molamk

I second the ctrl+...

Collapse
 
goyalaman profile image
goyal-aman • Edited

Hey there windows users!!! To use these shortcuts in windows on VsCode, replace
⌘ - ctrl
⌥ - alt
⇧ - shift

Collapse
 
jameslivesey profile image
James Livesey

I personally use Ctrl + K ➡️ Enter as it keeps the newly-opened tab sticky and non-replacable by other files when you open them too!

And of course — how could I forget — Ctrl + Tab to switch tabs!

Collapse
 
httpspauline profile image
Pauline

I didn't know about ctlr + tab, thanks for sharing!

Collapse
 
jameslivesey profile image
James Livesey

No probs! It also works with many web browsers too. Just about anything with tabs!

I'm not sure it applies to VSCode (tho I bet it does) but you can also do Ctrl + 1 to Ctrl + 8 to select tabs 1 to 8, and Ctrl + 9 to select the last tab.

Collapse
 
albertomontalesi profile image
AlbertoM

Another one I use a lot is command shift P to open the command prompt.

One more, command K W to close all the windows

Collapse
 
httpspauline profile image
Pauline

I didn't know about these, thank you for sharing!

Collapse
 
josemunoz profile image
José Muñoz

No love for other platforms?

Collapse
 
httpspauline profile image
Pauline

Oh no absolutely, this is just the setup I personally use and can write about confidently. I highly encourage devs who do not use VS Code/work on Macbooks to discover the key bindings that have the same or similar functionality as the shortcuts I shared!

Collapse
 
josemunoz profile image
José Muñoz

I use VS Code too just not on a mac, thanks for the tips!

Collapse
 
albertomontalesi profile image
AlbertoM

I use both Ubuntu and macos, for most of them just swap command with control and you'll be fine

Collapse
 
gregfox profile image
Greg Fox

⇧⌘D - duplicate the selected code.

Collapse
 
johnnyjab profile image
JohnnyJab

I am so grateful that you shared these, can't thank you enough for how much you just increased my productivity.

Collapse
 
thecaitcode profile image
Caitlyn Greffly

This is a great reference sheet! Bookmarked 🔖

Collapse
 
rjmunhoz profile image
Rogério Munhoz (Roz)

Here are two that I use quite often:
Command (ctrl) + K M - Switch file language
Command (ctrl) + Shift + L - Select all occurrences of a term on the current file

Collapse
 
rjmunhoz profile image
Rogério Munhoz (Roz)

Also, Command + Option + F on Mac to auto format the current file
I'm not sure about the equivalent for other platforms as I reckon it's completely different

Collapse
 
dpliakos profile image
Dimitris Pliakos • Edited

Another one is to open second terminal Ctrl+shift+5
(let's say you have a gulp/grunt/webpack watcher that you want to see if it compiles)

Tip:
Terminal toggle is Ctr+ `

Collapse
 
chrisachard profile image
Chris Achard

Awesome :) I always forget that some of these even exist, so this is a great resource. Thanks!

Collapse
 
xdamiblock profile image
Damian Bocanegra

you can also use ⌘J to open up the terminal, I think it's easier that way

Collapse
 
balajik profile image
Balaji K

Great! I use few of those shortcuts. But always forget the shortcuts for duplicating the line and find the instances.

Thanks.

Collapse
 
smammar profile image
SMAmmar

nice

Collapse
 
jameslivesey profile image
James Livesey

Ah that's very useful, thanks! 😀

Some comments may only be visible to logged-in visitors. Sign in to view all comments.