Visual Studio Code - Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows: A Comprehensive List

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a popular code editor that is used by many developers across various platforms. One of the most useful features of VS Code is the ability to use keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation and code editing. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts for VS Code on Windows.

Table of Contents

• General
• Basic Editing
• Navigation
• Search and Replace
• Multi-cursor and Selection
• Rich Languages Editing
• Editor Management
• File Management
• Display
• Debug
• Integrated Terminal

VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

• General

  • Show Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P, F1
  • Quick Open, Go to File... : Ctrl+P
  • New window/instance: Ctrl+Shift+N
  • Close window/instance: Ctrl+Shift+W
  • User Settings: Ctrl+,
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: Ctrl+K Ctrl+S

• Basic Editing

  • Cutline (empty selection): Ctrl+X
  • Copy line (empty selection): Ctrl+C
  • Move line up/down: Alt+↑ / ↓
  • Copy line up/down: Shift+Alt+↑ / ↓
  • Delete line: Ctrl+Shift+K
  • Insert line below: Ctrl+Enter
  • Insert line above: Ctrl+Shift+Enter
  • Jump to matching bracket: Ctrl+Shift+\
  • Indent/outdent line: Ctrl+] / [
  • Go to beginning/end of line: Home / End
  • Go to beginning of file: Ctrl+Home
  • Go to end of file: Ctrl+End
  • Scroll line up/down: Crl+↑ / ↓
  • Scroll page up/down: Alt+PgUp / PgDn
  • Fold (collapse) region: Ctrl+Shift+[
  • Unfold (uncollapse) region: Ctrl+Shift+]
  • Fold (collapse) all subregions: Ctrl+K Ctrl+[
  • Unfold (uncollapse) all subregions: Ctrl+K Ctrl+]
  • Fold (collapse) all regions: Ctrl+K Ctrl+0
  • Unfold (uncollapse) all regions: Ctrl+K Ctrl+)
  • Add line comment: Ctrl+K Ctrl+C
  • Remove line comment: Ctrl+K Ctrl+U
  • Toggle line comment: Ctrl+/
  • Toggle block comment: Shift+Alt+A
  • Toggle word wrap: Alt+Z

• Navigation

  • Show all Symbols: Ctrl+T
  • Go to Line... : Ctrl+G
  • Goto File... : Ctrl+P
  • Go to Symbol... : Ctrl+Shift+0
  • Show Problems panel: Ctrl+Shift+M
  • Go to next error or warning: F8
  • Go to previous error or warning: Shift+F8
  • Navigate editor group history: Ctrl+Shift+Tab
  • Go back / forward: Alt + ← / →

• Search and Replace

  • Find: Ctrl+F
  • Replace: Ctrl+H
  • Find next/previous: F3 / Shift+F3
  • Select all occurences of Find match: Alt+Enter
  • Add selection to next Find match: Ctrl+D
  • Move last selection to next Find match: Ctrl+K Ctrl+D
  • Toggle case-sensitive / regex / whole word: Alt+C/R/W

• Multi-cursor and Selection

  • Insert cursor: Alt+Click
  • Insert cursor above / below: Ctrl+Alt+ ↑ / ↓
  • Undo last cursor operation: Ctrl+U
  • Insert cursor at end of each line selected: Shift+Alt+1
  • Select current line: Ctrl+L
  • Select all occurrences of current selection: Ctrl+Shift+L
  • Select all occurrences of current word: Ctrl+F2
  • Expand selection: Shift+Alt + →
  • Shrink selection: Shift+Alt + ←
  • Column (box) selection: Shift+Alt+ (drag mouse)
  • Column (box) selection: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+ (arrow key)
  • Column (box) selection page up/down: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+PgUp / PgDn

• Rich Languages Editing

  • Trigger suggestion: Ctrl+Space, Ctrl+I
  • Trigger parameter hints: Ctrl+Shift+Space
  • Format document: Shift+Alt+F
  • Format selection: Ctrl+K Ctrl+F
  • Go to Definition: F12
  • Peek Definition: Alt+F12
  • Open Definition to the side: Ctrl+K F12
  • Quick Fix: Ctrl+.
  • Show References: Shift+F12
  • Rename Symbol: F2
  • Trim trailing whitespace: Ctrl+K Ctrl+X
  • Change file language: Ctrl+K M

• Editor Management

  • Close editor: Ctrl+F4, Ctrl+W
  • Close folder: Ctrl+K F
  • Split editor: Ctrl+\
  • Focus into 1st, 2nd or 3rd editor group: Ctrl+ 1 / 2 / 3
  • Focus into previous/next editor group: Ctrl+K Ctrl+ ←/→
  • Move editor left/right: Ctrl+Shift+PgUp / PgDn
  • Move active editor group: Ctrl+K ← / →

• File Management

  • New File: Ctrl+N
  • Open File... : Ctrl+O
  • Save: Ctrl+S
  • Save As... : Ctrl+Shift+S
  • Save All: Ctrl+K S
  • Close: Ctrl+F4
  • Close All: Ctrl+K Ctrl+W
  • Reopen closed editor: Ctrl+Shift+T
  • Keep preview mode editor open: Ctrl+K Enter
  • Open next: Ctrl+Tab
  • Open previous: Ctrl+Shift+Tab
  • Copy path of active file: Ctrl+K P
  • Reveal active file in Explorer: Ctrl+K R
  • Show active file in new windowyinstance: Ctrl+K O

• Display

  • Toggle full screen: F11
  • Toggle editor layout (horizontal/vertical): Shift+Alt+0
  • Zoom in/out: Ctrl+ = /-
  • Toggle Sidebar visibility: Ctri+B
  • Show Explorer / Toggle focus: Ctrl+Shift+E
  • Show Search: Ctrl+Shift+F
  • Show Source Control: Ctrl+Shift+G
  • Show Debug: Ctrl+Shift+D
  • Show Extensions: Ctrl+Shift+X
  • Replace in files: Ctrl+Shift+H
  • Toggle Search details: Ctrl+Shift+)
  • Show Output panel: Ctrl+Shift+U
  • Open Markdown preview: Ctrl+Shift+V
  • Open Markdown preview to the side: Ctri+K V
  • Zen Mode (Esc Esc to exit): Ctri+K Z

• Debug

  • Toggle breakpoint: F9
  • Start/Continue: F5
  • Stop: Shift+F5
  • Step into/out: F11 / Shift+F11
  • Step over: F10
  • Show hover: Ctrl+K Ctrl+I

• Integrated Terminal

  • Show integrated terminal: Ctrl+`
  • Create new terminal: Ctrl+Shift+`
  • Copy selection: Ctrl+C
  • Paste into active terminal: Ctrl+V
  • Scroll up/down: Ctrl+↑ / ↓
  • Scroll page up/down: Shift+PgUp / PgDn
  • Scroll to top/bottom: Ctrl+Home / End

These are just a few of the many keyboard shortcuts available in Visual Studio Code. Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly improve your productivity and speed up your workflow. Try to incorporate them into your daily coding routine, and you'll be surprised at how much time you can save!