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VSCode Keyboard Shortcuts Cheatsheet

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Louis Ferguson

An editor at Blogzine


  • 🕑 6 minutes read
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VSCode Keyboard Shortcuts Cheatsheet

Visual Studio Code (VSCode) has become one of developers’ and power users’ most popular text editors. It comes packed with features, shortcuts, extensions, and more to cater to every developer’s caliber. However, like most tools, it is only as powerful as the user.

By default, VSCode already provides a set of keyboard shortcuts that can control almost any aspect of the text editor. For example, the program provides a way to toggle its user interface and enable its “rich languages” feature. However, one of the most significant limitations of VSCode is it has no clear way of knowing the available shortcuts inside the program.

Luckily, this VSCode ultimate keyboard shortcuts cheatsheet will provide you with the most common and useful shortcuts to turn you into a Visual Studio Code power user.

Windows Linux Mac Function
Managing Files
Ctrl + O Ctrl + O Cmd + O Opens a file from the file system.
Ctrl + N Ctrl + N Cmd + N Creates a new file.
Ctrl + S Ctrl + S Cmd + S Saves the current file.
Ctrl + Shift + S Ctrl + Shift + S Cmd + Shift + S Enables Save As mode, which allows you to define an extension or rename a file
Ctrl + K, then S Cmd + Option + S Save All.
Ctrl + F4 Ctrl + W Cmd + W Close the current open file, saving the changes.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + W Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + W Cmd + K, then Cmd + W Close all open files simultaneously, saving the changes.
Ctrl + Shift + T Ctrl + Shift + T Cmd + Shift + T Reopen closed editor window.
Ctrl + K, then R Ctrl + K, then R Cmd + K, then R Open the file location of the active file in the file system.
Ctrl + K, then P Ctrl + K, then P Cmd + K, then P Copy the full path of the active file.
Ctrl + Shift + F Ctrl + Shift + F Cmd + Shift + F Show the search window.
Managing the Editor
Ctrl + Backslash (\) Ctrl + Backslash (\) Cmd + Backslash (\) Split the editor by adding one extra editing window.
Ctrl + W Ctrl + W Cmd + W Close the current editor window.
Ctrl + K, then F Ctrl + K, then F Cmd + K, then F Close the currently opened folder and default to the main window.
Alt + Z Alt + Z Option + Z Enable or disable word wrap on the current file.
Ctrl + Shift + U Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + H Cmd + Shift + U Toggle VSCode’s output window.
Ctrl + K, then Z Ctrl + K, then Z Cmd + K, then Z Toggle VSCode’s Zen mode.
Editing Files
Ctrl + C Ctrl + C Cmd + C Copy the current line if section is highlighted.
Alt + Shift + Up arrow Copy the current line if the section is highlighted. Copy the line above the current line.
Alt + Shift + Down arrow Replace the entity in the current file. Copy the line below the current line.
Ctrl + X Ctrl + X Cmd + X Cut the current line if no section is highlighted.
Ctrl + F Ctrl + F Cmd + F Search in the current file.
Ctrl + H Ctrl + H Cmd + Option + F Replace entity in the current file.
Ctrl + L Ctrl + L Cmd + L Select the current line.
Ctrl + Shift + L Ctrl + Shift + L Cmd + Shift + L Select all instances of the current line in the file.
F3 F3 Cmd + G Find next.
Shift + F3 Shift + F3 Cmd + Shift + G Find previous.
Ctrl + Shift + K Ctrl + Shift + K Cmd + Shift + K Move the current lineup from the current position.
Ctrl + U Ctrl + U Cmd + U Undo the most recent cursor operation.
Alt + Up Arrow Alt + Up Arrow Option + Up Arrow Move the current line up from its current position.
Alt + Down Arrow Alt + Down Arrow Option + Down Arrow Move the current line down from the current position.
End End End Go to the end of the current line.
Home Home Home Go to the beginning of the file.
Ctrl + End Ctrl + End Cmd + Down Arrow Go to the end of a file.
Ctrl + Home Ctrl + Home Cmd + Up Arrow Go the beginning of the file.
Alt + Enter Alt + Enter Option + Enter Select all occurrences of the found matches.
Ctrl + Enter Ctrl + Enter Cmd + Enter Insert a new line below the current line.
Ctrl + Shift + Enter Ctrl + Shift + Enter Cmd + Shift + Enter Insert a new line above the current line.
Ctrl + Shift + Backslash (\) Ctrl + Shift + Backslash (\) Cmd + Shift + Backslash (\) Go to the matching bracket.
Ctrl + Right Square Bracket (]) Ctrl + Right Square Bracket (]) Cmd + Right Square Bracket (]) Automatically indent the current line if no section is highlighted.
Ctrl + Left Square Bracket ([) Ctrl + Left Square Bracket ([) Cmd + Left Square Bracket ([) Automatically outdent the current line if no section is highlighted.
Alt + Shift + F Ctrl + Shift + I Option + Shift + I Format the current document.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + F Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + F Cmd + K, then Cmd + F Format the selected section.
Ctrl + Shift + H Ctrl + Shift + H Cmd + Shift + H Replace in Files.
Ctrl + Period (.) Ctrl + Period (.) Cmd + Period (.) Show Quick Fix actions, if one is available.
Ctrl + K, then M Ctrl + K, then M Cmd + K, then M Alter the current file language and set to auto-detect by default.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + X Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + X Cmd + K, then Cmd + X Remove all excess spaces and tabs in the document.
Ctrl + Space Ctrl + Space Ctrl + Space Manually activate a code suggestion.
Alt + Left Mouse Click Alt + Left Mouse Click Option + Left Mouse Click Insert a cursor.
Commenting Code
Ctrl + Slash (/) Ctrl + Slash (/) Cmd + Slash (/) Comment or uncomment out the current line.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + C Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + C Cmd + K, then Cmd + C Create a comment on the current line.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + U Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + U Cmd + K, then Cmd + U Remove a comment on the current line.
Alt + Shift + A Ctrl + Shift + A Option + Shift + A Comment or uncomment out the currently selection region.
Function Definitions
F12 F12 F12 Open the library definition of the current function.
Ctrl + K, then F12 Ctrl + K, then F12 Cmd + K, then F12 Open a new window containing the library definition of the current function.
Alt + F12 Ctrl + Shift + F10 Option + F12 Open a small window that shows the library definition of the current function.
Shift + F12 Shift + F12 Shift + F12 Find all the functions in the project that references the current function.
F2 F2 F2 Rename the current function.
Ctrl + F2 Ctrl + F2 Rename the current function and replace all instances of it in the file.
General Usage
Ctrl + Shift + P Ctrl + Shift + P Cmd + Shift + P Launch the Command Palette.
Ctrl + Comma (,) Ctrl + Comma (,) Cmd + Comma (,) Open the user settings.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + S Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + S Cmd + K, then Cmd + S Launch the Keyboard Shortcut interface.
Ctrl + Shift + N Ctrl + Shift + N Cmd + Shift + N Open a new window.
Ctrl + Shift + W Ctrl + W Cmd + W Close the window.
Ctrl + Left Mouse Click Ctrl + Left Mouse Click Open the link on the default browser.
Navigating VSCode
Ctrl + T Ctrl + T Cmd + T Quickly toggle all symbols.
Ctrl + P Ctrl + P Cmd + P Go to a specific file.
Ctrl + Shift + O Ctrl + Shift + O Cmd + Shift + O Navigate to a specific symbol.
F11 F11 Cmd + Ctrl + F Enable full screen mode.
Ctrl + Shift + E Ctrl + Shift + E Cmd + Shift + E Toggle Explorer/Editor Focus.
Ctrl + Shift + X Ctrl + Shift + X Cmd + Shift + X Show/Search Visual Studio extensions.
Ctrl + Shift + D Ctrl + Shift + D Cmd + Shift + D Show the Debug panel.
Ctrl + Equal (=) Ctrl + Equal (=) Cmd + Equal (=) Zoom in the VSCode interface.
Ctrl + Minus (-) Ctrl + Minus (-) Cmd + Shift + Minus (-) Zoom out the VSCode interface.
Ctrl + Shift + Left Square Bracket ([) Option + Shift + Left Square Bracket ([) Hide the current region of code.
Ctrl + Shift + Right Square Bracket (]) Option + Shift + Right Square Bracket (]) Unhide the current region of code.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + 0 Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + 0 Cmd + K, then Cmd + 0 Hide all regions in the currently open file.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + J Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + J Cmd + K, then Cmd + J Unhide all regions in the currently open file.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + Left Square Bracket ([) Cmd + K, then Cmd + Left Square Bracket ([) Hide all subregions in the currently open file.
Ctrl + K, then Ctrl + Right Square Bracket (]) Cmd + K, then Cmd + Right Square Bracket (]) Unhide all subregions in the currently open file.
Terminal Mode
Ctrl + Backtick (`) Ctrl + Backtick (`) Ctrl + Backtick (`) Open the terminal.
Ctrl + Shift + Backtick (`) Ctrl + Shift + Backtick (`) Ctrl + Shift + Backtick (`) Create a new terminal instance.
Ctrl + C Ctrl + Shift + C Cmd + C Copy the highlighted section.
Ctrl + V Ctrl + Shift + V Paste into the active terminal session.
Ctrl + Up Arrow Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow Cmd + Up Arrow Scroll Up in the active terminal.
Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow Cmd + Down Arrow Navigate to the top.
Ctrl + Home Ctrl + Home Cmd + Home Navigate to the top.
Ctrl + End Ctrl + End Cmd + End Scroll to bottom.
Debug Mode
F9 F9 F9 Create a breakpoint at the currently highlighted line.
F5 F5 F5 Run the code one step after the breakpoint.
F11 F11 F11 Go inside either the child function or loop.
Shift + F11 Shift + F11 Shift + F11 Go outside either the child function or loop.
F10 F10 F10 Skip the execution on the current breakpoint.
F8 F8 F8 Move the pointer to the next error in the file.
Shift + F8 Shift + F8 Shift + F8 Move the point to the previous error in the file.
Shift + F5 Shift + F5 Shift + F5 Stop the debugging session.

Image credit: Unsplash. All alterations by Ramces Red.



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