Essential VS Code Shortcuts You Should Know

Mastering VS Code shortcuts is the fastest way to boost your coding speed. Here are the ones worth memorizing.

The Essentials

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+P`	Quick open file
`Ctrl+Shift+P`	Command palette
`Ctrl+` `	Toggle terminal
`Ctrl+B`	Toggle sidebar
`Ctrl+J`	Toggle panel

Multi-Cursor (Game Changer)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+D`	Select next occurrence
`Ctrl+Shift+L`	Select all occurrences
`Alt+Click`	Add cursor
`Ctrl+Alt+↑/↓`	Add cursor above/below
`Shift+Alt+I`	Add cursor to end of each selected line

Multi-cursor lets you edit multiple lines simultaneously. Select a word, spam Ctrl+D to select each occurrence, and type to change them all at once.

Editing

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+↑/↓`	Move line up/down
`Shift+Alt+↑/↓`	Copy line up/down
`Ctrl+Shift+K`	Delete line
`Ctrl+/`	Toggle line comment
`Shift+Alt+F`	Format document
`Ctrl+[` / `Ctrl+]`	Indent / Outdent

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+T`	Show all symbols
`Ctrl+Shift+O`	Go to symbol in file
`F12`	Go to definition
`Alt+F12`	Peek definition
`Ctrl+G`	Go to line
`Ctrl+-` / `Ctrl+Shift+-`	Navigate back / forward

Search and Replace

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+F`	Find in file
`Ctrl+H`	Find and replace in file
`Ctrl+Shift+F`	Find in files
`Ctrl+Shift+H`	Find and replace in files

Integrated Terminal

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+` `	Toggle terminal
`Ctrl+Shift+` `	Create new terminal
`Ctrl+W`	Close terminal
`Ctrl+C`	Cancel running command

Sidebar

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+B`	Toggle sidebar
`Ctrl+Shift+E`	Explorer
`Ctrl+Shift+F`	Search
`Ctrl+Shift+G`	Source control
`Ctrl+Shift+D`	Debug

Snippets and Emmet

Shortcut	Action
`Tab`	Expand Emmet abbreviation
`Ctrl+Space`	Trigger suggestion
`Tab` / `Shift+Tab`	Navigate snippet fields

Emmet example: type div.container>ul.list>li.item*5 then press Tab to generate the full HTML structure.

More developer tips: See our Git undo guide for fixing Git mistakes.