The keyboard keeps you more productive if you have to handle a lot of text every day.
It doesn't matter much what the text represents: code, post, note, etc.
In this article, I want to share hotkeys that I'm using daily while working in the Visual Studio Code.
Worth to note, that the list of shortcuts is available by this combination Ctrl + K Ctrl + S.
Spread cursor selection over several lines
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Alt + Up | Option + Command + Up | Add cursor above |
| Ctrl + Alt + Down | Option + Command + Down | Add cursor below |
Select entries starting from the word under the cursor
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + D | Command + D | Add Selection To Next Find Match |
Change all occurrences of the word under the cursor
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + F2 | Command + F2 | Change All Occurrences |
Tell editor to treat document in the selected format
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + K M | Command + K M | Change Language Mode |
Copy active line up or down without altering the clipboard
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Shift + Alt + Down | Shift + Option + Down | Copy Line Down |
| Shift + Alt + Up | Shift + Option + Up | Copy Line Up |
Delete line without altering the clipboard
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + K | Command + Shift + K | Delete Line |
Move focus to the open editors' view
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + K E | Command + K E | Focus On Open Editors View |
Compare file with the clipboard
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + K C | Command + K C | Compare Active File With Clipboard |
Fast navigation within the file
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + . | Command + Shift + . | Focus Breadcrumbs |
Fold/unfold section
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + [ | Option + Command + [ | Fold |
| Ctrl + Shift + ] | Option + Command + ] | Unfold |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + 0 | Command + K Command + 0 | Fold All |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + J | Command + K Command + J | Unfold All |
Format document/section
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Shift + Alt + F | Shift + Option + F | Format Document |
| Ctrl + K Ctrl + F | Command + K Command + F | Format Section |
Go to matching bracket
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + \ | Command + Shift + \ | Go To Bracket |
![Alt Text](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/v2xfjhzue4doatbeuvnm.gif "Jump to matching bracket via Ctrl + Shift + \")
Move line up/down
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Alt + Up | Option + Up | Move line up |
| Alt + Down | Option + Down | Move line down |
Rename symbol globally
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| F2 | F2 | Rename symbol |
Toggle terminal
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|
| Ctrl +
| Control +
| Toggle Integrated Terminal |
Split terminal and switching between terminals (updated)
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + 5 | Command + \ | Split Terminal |
| Alt + Up | Option + Command + Up | Focus Previous Pane |
| Alt + Left | Option + Command + Left | Focus Previous Pane |
| Alt + Down | Option + Command + Down | Focus Next Pane |
| Alt + Right | Option + Command + Right | Focus Next Pane |
Thanks to fernandomaia and einav7 I've got shortcuts for the Mac!
Create a new terminal
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + | Control + Shift +|Create New Integrated Terminal |
Split/move editor
| Shortcut Windows | Shortcut Mac | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + \ | Command + \ | Split Editor |
| Shift + Alt + 0 | Option + Command + 0 | Toggle Vertical/Horizontal Editor Layout |
| Ctrl + Alt + Left | Command + K Shift + Command + Left | Move Editor Into Previous Group |
| Ctrl + Alt + Right | Command + K Shift + Command + Right | Move Editor Into Next Group |
Conclusion
I hope that these shortcuts will help to boost your productivity as they are helping me.
All examples are given for the Windows-compatible keyboard, but they will also work on Mac. Simply replace Alt with Option and Ctrl with Control.
If you know some other helpful shortcuts, please, feel free to share them in the comments!
Want to know how I've drawn the cover image? Check this article.