VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac, Linux, and Windows

Visual Code is a popular source code editor and the first to support cross-platform IDE applications. Offers several keyboard shortcuts to help programmers like you maximize efficiency. Read on to learn some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts that will help you increase your productivity.

VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

The following VS Code keyboard shortcuts are designed to help you save time while coding from your Mac.

Quick opening

Use the “CMD + P” shortcut to open your files quickly. Then check your files using the down and up keys

arrow keys. Press the right arrow key once you have found the file you want to open. Every time you open new files, the open files will move to the background of your screen.

Command Palette

With the command palette, you can conveniently access the file commands you want that correspond to your current encoding context. You will only need to enter a keyword related to it instead of searching through menus.

Use the shortcut “CMD + SHIFT + P” to access the command palette.

Sidebar Toggle

You can toggle the sidebar with the “CMD + B” shortcut to switch between full width or hide the editor view.

Multiple selection cursor

If you need to change all of your H3 tags to H4, for example, you don’t need to change each instance manually. You can use the multiple selection feature to select all instances of what you want to change and change them all at once. To use the shortcut, you just need to select one of the labels and then use “CMD + D”.

This will find all instances of the selected tag and then display an active cursor to perform further actions.

Comment code block

Commenting the code is essential and is done frequently. Enter “SHIFT + OPT + A” to comment out the lines of code.

Copy line

When programming, you may need to copy lines of code to paste elsewhere in your project. Use “OPT + SHIFT + UP”

either
“OPT + SHIFT + DOWN”

shortcuts to do this quickly.

Show all symbols

If you need to see all functions, files, classes, etc., use “CMD + T”

shortcut. This will launch a Reference view showing the symbols in your code. This shortcut is similar to global search, but works with symbols.

VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Use the following Visual Code shortcuts on Windows to help reduce the time spent cycling through different menus to access features.

Quick opening

Use the shortcut “CTRL + P” as a quick way to open files. Then use the down and up arrow keys to find

the files you want and press the right arrow key once you have found them. When you open new files, the open files will move to the background of your screen.

Command Palette

Use “CTRL + SHIFT + P”

shortcut to launch the command palette. The command palette is a convenient way to access file commands relevant to the current context. Once the command palette is open, you only need to type the keyword related to the command you are searching for, saving you time searching through menus.

Sidebar Toggle

Switch between full width or hide the editor view by toggling the sidebar. Use the shortcut “CTRL + B” to do this.

Multiple selection cursor

If, for example, you need to change all your tags from H2 to H3, you can use the multi-select feature to change all instances at once. On Windows, select one of the labels you want to change and then enter “CTRL + D.”

VS finds all instances of the selected tag and then displays the active cursor to perform further actions.

Comment code block

Commenting blocks of code is a necessity and one of the most common actions performed when coding. For a multi-line comment, use “SHIFT + ALT + A”.

For a single line, it is

“CTRL+K+C”.

Copy line

The option to move lines of code by copying and pasting them is another common action. Use “SHIFT + ALT + UP”

or “SHIFT” + ALT + DOWN”

shortcuts to do this.

Show all symbols

To launch a reference view showing all the symbols in your code, i.e. functions, classes, files, etc., use “CTRL + T”.

shortcut. This shortcut is like the global symbol search function.

VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts for Linux

If you’re coding from a Linux computer, consider using these shortcuts for speed and efficiency.

Quick opening

Enter “CTRL + P” to quickly access your files.

Then use the up and down arrow keys to navigate through them. Press the right arrow key once you have found the file you want to open. Your most recent files will appear at the front of your screen, while previously opened files will move to the back.

Command Palette

To launch the command palette, use “CTRL + SHIFT + P”

shortcut. Once opened, you can access file commands relevant to your current encoding context. You will only need to enter a keyword related to the command you want.

Sidebar Toggle

You can toggle the sidebar using “CTRL + B”

Keyboard shortcut to switch between full width view or hide the editor.

Multiple selection cursor

If you need to replace all your tags from one type to another, you can use the multi-select feature to change all instances at once. Using Linux, select the label you want to change, then use “CTRL + D”

shortcut. All instances of the selected tag will be found and highlighted; The active cursor will then be displayed, awaiting further action.

Comment code block

Commenting blocks is another essential part of coding; therefore, one of the most common actions carried out. To comment a block of code, use “SHIFT + ALT + A”

shortcut, and for a single line use “CTRL + K + C”.

Copy line

To move lines of code around your program use “SHIFT + ALT + UP”

or “SHIFT” + ALT + DOWN”

shortcut keys.

Show all symbols

To open a Reference view with all the symbols in your code, i.e. classes, functions, files, etc., use “CTRL + T”

shortcut. This shortcut is like the global symbol search function.

Shortcuts every developer should know

Programmers use Visual Studio Code to develop business or personal applications. Coding requires a lot of brain effort and requires concentration and attention to details. One of the ways VS helps programmers save time and in turn increase their productivity is through shortcuts. VS has set up shortcuts to allow you to access and use the most common functions from the screen you are currently working on.

What shortcuts do you find most useful? Share your thoughts in the comments section below on how effective you think Visual Studio is in fostering productivity.