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Shortcut tips for Visual Studio

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You can navigate in Visual Studio more easily by using the shortcuts in this article. These shortcuts include keyboard and mouse shortcuts as well as text you can enter to help accomplish a task more easily.

For a comprehensive list of command shortcuts and a printable keyboard shortcut cheat sheet, see Keyboard shortcuts in Visual Studio.

Note

This topic applies to Visual Studio on Windows. For Visual Studio for Mac, see Default keyboard shortcuts in Visual Studio for Mac.

Window management

Task Shortcut
Maximize floating window Double-click on title bar
Maximize/minimize windows Win+Up arrow / Win+Down arrow
Redock floating window Ctrl+double-click on title bar
Move/dock floating windows Win+Left arrow / Win+Right arrow
Close active document Ctrl+F4
Show open file list Ctrl+Alt+Down arrow
Show all floating windows Ctrl+Shift+M
Show jump list Win+Alt+N
Start new instance Win+Shift+N
Switch between windows Win+N
Task Shortcut
Solution Explorer search Ctrl+;
Place focus in search box in any tool window (except editor) Alt+` when the tool window has focus
Search Visual Studio Ctrl+Q
Search box results filter @opt - Options
@cmd - Commands
@mru - Most recently used
@doc - Open documents
Search in Tools Options Ctrl+E

Find in the editor

Task Shortcut
Quick Find Ctrl+F
Quick Find Next Result Enter
Quick Find Previous Result Shift+Enter
Quick Find Expand Drop Down Alt+Down arrow
Dismiss Find Esc
Quick Replace Ctrl+H
Quick Replace - Replace Next Alt+R
Quick Replace - Replace All Alt+A
Find in Files Ctrl+Shift+F
Replace in Files Ctrl+Shift+H

Code editor

Task Shortcut
Go To All Ctrl+T
Go to recent files Ctrl+1,R
Multi-caret multiple insertion points Ctrl+Alt+click
Multi-caret add matching selection Shift+Alt+Ins
Format Document Ctrl+K,D
IntelliSense suggestion mode Ctrl+Alt+Space (Toggle)
Force show IntelliSense Ctrl+J
Quick Actions Ctrl+.
Snippet picker Ctrl+K,X or ?,Tab (Visual Basic)
Surround With Ctrl+K,S
Show Quick Info Ctrl+K,I
Navigate To Ctrl+,
Navigate highlighted references Ctrl+Shift+Up (Previous)
Ctrl+Shift+Down (Next)
Editor zoom Ctrl+Shift+> (In)
Ctrl+Shift+< (Out)
Block selection Hold Alt and drag mouse
Shift+Alt+Arrow keys
Move line up/down Alt+Up arrow / Alt+Down arrow
Duplicate line Ctrl+E,V
Expand selection Shift+Alt+=
Contract selection Shift+Alt+-
Go To Definition F12
Peek Definition Alt+F12
Go To Definition stack Ctrl+Shift+8 (Back)
Ctrl+Shift+7 (Forward)
Close the Peek Definition window Esc
Promote the Peek Definition window to a regular document tab Ctrl+Alt+Home
Navigate between multiple Peek Definition windows Ctrl+Alt+- and Ctrl+Alt+=
Navigate between multiple Peek results F8 and Shift+F8
Toggle between the code editor window and the Peek Definition window Shift+Esc
Go to enclosing block Ctrl+Alt+Up arrow
Go to next/previous issue Alt+PgUp / Alt+PgDn
Contextual navigation menu Alt+`

Toolbars

Task Shortcut
Add buttons Select the toolbar overflow button
Find combo in standard toolbar Ctrl+D
Find textbox command mode Type >
Create new alias Type alias <new alias> <command> in the Command window

Debugging

Task Shortcut
Start debugging F5
Stop debugging Shift+F5
Restart debugging Ctrl+Shift+F5
Step over F10
Step into F11
Step out Shift+F11
Run to cursor Ctrl+F10
Set next statement Ctrl+Shift+F10
Set and toggle breakpoint F9
Disable breakpoint Ctrl+F9
Immediate window Ctrl+Alt+I
Immediate window command mode Type >
Immediate window - clear buffer Type cls
Immediate window - print value Type ?varname

See also