Most Popular And Useful Visual Studio Shortcut Keys

Most Popular And Useful Visual Studio Shortcut Keys

As a developer, we use IDE almost the whole day and write code. We write several codes and complete the requirements of the application or small module of it. Besides coding, we do several other activities which are also part of development. Apart from writing code, we spend time building code, debugging, editing, formatting, refactoring, adding files, folders, projects, etc. These activities associated with writing code are also time-consuming and some take huge time which ultimately affects the productivity of Developers.

If a developer saves a small fraction of time in each of these activities, then it can improve productivity significantly. Using shortcut keys and commands can help to save time and result in considerable improvement as well as productivity.

Most Popular And Useful Visual Studio Shortcut Keys

In this article, I will share the most useful and trendy shortcut keys for visual studio which apply globally if it is not specified or altered. These shortcut keys are available for general or every profile for visual studio installed.

We can categorize these shortcut keys based on activities like to build, debug, Code Editor, File, Project, refactor, tools, and so on.

This article will discuss the shortcut keys to Visual Studio on Windows.

Debugging

One of the most common and time-consuming activities during coding and development is debugging. Using the below shortcut keys can improve productivity and save huge time for developers.

Action/Task/Command Shortcut Keys
Start Debugging F5
Stop Debugging Shift + F5
Restart Debugging Ctrl + Shift + F5
Start without Debugging Ctrl + F5
Break at Function Ctrl + B
Break All Ctrl + Alt + B
Toggle Breakpoint F9
Run to Cursor Ctrl + F10
Disable Breakpoint Ctrl + F9
Delete All Break Points Ctrl + Shift + F9
Step Over (during Debug) F10
Step Into F11
Step Out Shift + F11
Run to Cursor Ctrl + F10
Quick watch Ctrl + Alt + Q or Shift + F9
Exceptions Ctrl + Alt + E
Attach to process Ctrl + Alt + P
Immediate window Ctrl + Alt + I
Immediate window command mode Type >
Immediate window – clear buffer Type cls
Immediate window – print value Type ? varname


Building

The below are the popular building shortcut keys.

Action/Task/Command Shortcut Keys
Build Solution Ctrl + Shift + B
Cancel Ctrl + Break
Compile Ctrl + F7
Run Code analysis on Solution Alt + F11


Code Editor

This is another area where developers or programmers spend most of their time writing code. And using shortcut keys can improve productivity and speed up the writing code. Some of the most common shortcut keys are listed below.

Action/Task/Command Shortcut Keys
Go To All Ctrl + T
Go To Recent Files Ctrl + T, R
Search/Find Ctrl + F
Find in Files Ctrl + Shift + F
Find Next F3
Find Next Selected Ctrl + F3
Format Document Ctrl + K, Ctrl + D
Format Selection Ctrl + K, Ctrl + F
IntelliSence Suggestion Mode Ctrl + Alt + Space (toggle)
Go to Line Number Ctrl + G
Go To Definition F12
Go To Declaration Ctrl + F12
Peek Definition Alt + F12
Copy Line Ctrl + D
Insert snippet (insert code) Ctrl + K, Ctrl + X
Close Peek Definition Window Esc
Undo Ctrl + Z
Redo Ctrl + Y
Select Current Word Ctrl + W
Cancel Selection Esc
Delete word from Current curser to End Ctrl + Delete
Delete word from Current curser to Start Ctrl + Backspace
List Members Ctrl + J
Save file Ctrl + S
Save All Files Ctrl + Shift + S
Toggle All Outline Ctrl + M, Ctrl + L
Toggle Outlining Expansion Ctrl + M, Ctrl + M
Comment Selection Ctrl + M, Ctrl + C
Uncomment Selection Ctrl + K, Ctrl + U
Quick Replace Ctrl + H
Refactoring Shortcut Keys
Extract Method Ctrl + R, Ctrl + M


File

Some popular shortcut keys for file actions are given below:

Action/Task/Command Shortcut Keys
New File Ctrl + N
Open File Ctrl + O
New Project Ctrl + Shift + N
Open Project Ctrl + Shift + O
Rename F2
View in Browser Ctrl + Shift + W
Save file Ctrl + S
Save All Files Ctrl + Shift + S
View in Browser Ctrl + Shift + W
Project Related Shortcut Keys
Adding existing item Shift + Alt + A
Adding New Item Ctrl + Shift + A


View

Some popular keys related to viewing are listed below.

Action/Task/Command Shortcut Keys
Class view Ctrl + Shift + C
Error List Ctrl + \, E
Navigate backward Ctrl + –
Navigate forward Ctrl + Shift + –
Object Browser Ctrl + Alt + J
Properties window F4
Server Explorer Ctrl + Shift + S
Solution Explorer Ctrl + Alt + L
Output window Ctrl + Alt + O
TFS Explorer Ctrl + \, Ctrl + M
Toolbox Ctrl + Alt + X

Above are the most popular and useful shortcut keys that can boost the productivity of developers or programmers significantly in visual studios.

Conclusion

In this article, I have shared some of the most popular and useful visual studio shortcut keys. Using shortcut keys save huge time while writing code and boost productivity overall. Additionally, I have shared those shortcut keys based on categories that are mostly used in debugging and building, code editor, file, and viewing.

Reference


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