Microsoft Visual Studio Shortcut Key
GENERAL
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-X or Shift-Delete Cuts
the currently selected item to the clipboard.
Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Insert Copies
the currently selected item to the clipboard.
Ctrl-V or Shift-Insert Pastes
the item in the clipboard at the cursor.
Ctrl-Z or Alt-Backspace Undo
previous editing action.
Ctrl-Y or Ctrl-Shift-Z Redo
the previous undo action.
Ctrl-Shift-V
or Ctrl-Shift-Insert Pastes
an item from the clipboard ring tab of the Toolbox at the cursor in the file and automatically
selects the pasted item. Cycle through the items on the clipboard by pressing
the shortcut keys repeatedly.
Esc closes
a menu or dialog, cancels an operation in progress, or places focus in the
current document window.
Ctrl-S Saves
the selected files in the current project (usually the file that is being
edited).
Ctrl-Shift-S Saves
all documents and projects.
Ctrl-P Displays
the Print dialog.
F7 Switches
from the design view to the code view in the editor.
Shift-F7 Switches
from the code view to the design view in the editor.
F8 Moves
the cursor to the next item, for example in the Task List window or Find
Results window.
Shift-F8 Moves
the cursor to the previous item, for example in the Task List window or Find
Results window.
Shift-F12 Finds
a reference to the selected item or the item under the cursor.
Ctrl-Shift-G Opens
the file whose name is under the cursor or is currently selected.
Ctrl-/ Switches
focus to the Find/Command box on the Standard toolbar.
Ctrl-Shift-F12 Moves to the next task in the Task List window.
Ctrl-Shift-8 Moves
backward in the browse history.
Available in the object browser or
Class View
window.
Alt-Left Arrow Go
back in the web browser history.
TEXT NAVIGATION
Shortcut Description
Left Arrow Moves
the cursor one character to the left.
Right Arrow Moves
the cursor one character to the right.
Down Arrow Moves
the cursor down one line.
Up Arrow Moves
the cursor up one line.
Page Down Scrolls
down one screen in the editor window.
Page Up Scrolls
up one screen in the editor window.
Home Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line. If you press Home when
the cursor is already at the start of the line, it will toggle the cursor
between the first non- white space character and the real start of the line.
Ctrl-End Moves
the cursor to the end of the document.
Ctrl-Home Moves
the cursor to the start of the document
Ctrl-G Displays
the Go to Line dialog. If the debugger is running, the dialog also lets you
specify addresses or function names to go to.
Ctrl-] Moves
the cursor to the matching brace in the document. If the cursor is on an
opening brace, this will move to the corresponding closing brace and vice versa.
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-N Moves to the next bookmark in the
document.
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-P Moves to the previous bookmark.
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-I Displays
Quick Info, based on the current language.
Ctrl-Down
Arrow Scrolls
text down one line but does not move the cursor. This is useful for scrolling
more text into view without losing your place. Available only in text editors.
Ctrl-Up Arrow Scrolls
text up one line but does not move the cursor. Available only in text editors.
Ctrl-Right Arrow Moves
the cursor one word to the right.
Ctrl-Left Arrow Moves
the cursor one word to the left.
Ctrl-Shift-1 Navigates
to the next definition, declaration, or reference of an item. Available in the
object browser and Class View window. Also available in source editing windows
if you have already used the Edit .Go To Reference (Shift-F12) shortcut.
TEXT MANIPULATION
Shortcut Description
Enter Inserts a new line.
Delete Deletes
one character to the right of the cursor.
Insert Toggles
between insert and over type insertion modes.
Tab Indents
the currently selected line or lines by one tab stop. If there is no selection,
this inserts a tab stop.
Shift-Tab Moves current line or selected lines
one tab stop to the left
Backspace or Shift-Backspace Deletes
one character to the left of the cursor.
Ctrl-K,
Ctrl-C Marks
the current line or selected lines of code as a comment, using the correct
comment syntax for the programming language.
Ctrl-K,
Ctrl-U Removes
the comment syntax from the current line or currently selected lines of code.
Ctrl-T
or Shift-Enter Swaps
the characters on either side of the cursor. (For example, AC|BD becomes
AB|CD.) Available only in text editors.
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-L Removes all unnamed bookmarks in the current document.
Ctrl-M,
Ctrl-O Automatically
determines logical boundaries for creating regions in code, such as procedures,
and then hides them. This collapses all such regions in the current document.
Alt-Right
Arrow or Ctrl-Spacebar Displays
statement completion based on the current language or auto completes word if existing
text unambiguously identifies a single symbol.
Ctrl-K,
Ctrl-\ Removes
horizontal white space in the selection or deletes white space adjacent to the
cursor if there is no selection.
Ctrl-K,
Ctrl-F Applies
the indenting and space formatting for the language as specified on the
Formatting pane of the language in the Text Editor section of the Options
dialog to the selected text.
Ctrl-L Cuts
all selected lines or the current line if nothing has been selected to the
clipboard.
Ctrl-Shift-L Deletes
all selected lines or the current line if no selection has been made.
Ctrl-Enter Inserts
a blank line above the cursor.
Ctrl-Shift-Enter Inserts
a blank line below the cursor.
Shift-Alt-T Moves
the line containing the cursor below the next line.
Ctrl-J Lists members for statement
completion when editing code.
Ctrl-U Changes the selected text to
lowercase characters.
Ctrl-Shift-U Changes
the selected text to uppercase characters.
Ctrl-Shift-Spacebar Displays
a tool tip that contains information for the current parameter, based on the
current language.
Ctrl-M, Ctrl-U Removes
the outlining information for the currently selected region.
Ctrl-M, Ctrl-P Removes all outlining information
from the entire document.
Ctrl-R, Ctrl-P Swaps
the anchor and endpoint of the current selection.
Ctrl-M,
Ctrl-L Toggles
all previously marked hidden text sections between hidden and display states.
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-K Sets or removes a bookmark at the
current line.
Ctrl-M,
Ctrl-M Toggles
the currently selected hidden text section or the section containing the cursor
if there is no selection between the hidden and display states.
Ctrl-K, Ctrl-H Sets
or removes a shortcut in the task list to the current line.
Ctrl-R, Ctrl-R Enables or disables word wrap in an
editor.
Ctrl-R, Ctrl-W Shows
or hides spaces and tab marks.
Ctrl-Delete Deletes
the word to the right of the cursor.
Ctrl-Backspace Deletes the word to the left of the
cursor.
Ctrl-Shift-T Transposes
the two words that follow the cursor. (For example, |End Sub would be changed
to read Sub End|.)
Text Selection
Shortcut Description
Shift-Left Arrow Moves the cursor to the left one
character, extending the selection.
Shift-Alt-Left Arrow Moves the cursor to the left one
character, extending the column selection.
Shift-Right Arrow Moves
the cursor to the right one character, extending the selection.
Shift-Alt-Right Arrow Moves the cursor to the right one
character, extending the column selection.
Ctrl-Shift-End Moves
the cursor to the end of the document, extending the selection.
Ctrl-Shift-Home Moves the cursor to the start of the
document, extending the selection.
Ctrl-Shift-] Moves the
cursor to the next brace, extending the selection.
Shift-Down Arrow Moves
the cursor down one line, extending the selection.
Shift-Alt-Down Arrow Moves the cursor down one line, extending the
column selection.
Shift-End Moves
the cursor to the end of the current line, extending the selection.
Shift-Alt-End Moves
the cursor to the end of the line, extending the column selection.
Shift-Home Moves
the cursor to the start of the line, extending the selection.
Shift-Alt-Home Moves the cursor to the start of the
line, extending the column selection.
Shift-Up Arrow Moves
the cursor up one line, extending the selection.
Shift-Alt-Up Arrow Moves
the cursor up one line, extending the column selection.
Shift-Page Down Extends
selection down one page.
Shift-Page Up Extends
selection up one page.
Ctrl-A Selects
everything in the current document
Ctrl-W Selects the word containing the
cursor or the word to the right of the cursor
Ctrl-= Selects
from the current location in the editor back to the previous location in the
navigation history.
Ctrl-Shift-Page Down Moves the cursor to the last line in view, extending the
selection.
Ctrl-Shift-Page Up Moves
the cursor to the top of the current window, extending the selection.
Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Right Arrow Moves
the cursor to the right one word, extending the column selection.
Ctrl-Shift-Left Arrow Moves the cursor one word to the left, extending the selection.
Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Left Arrow Moves
the cursor to the left one word, extending the column selection.
Project Related
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-Shift-B Builds the solution
Ctrl-N Displays
the New File dialog. Note: files created
this way are not associated with a
project. Use
Ctrl-Shift-A to add a new file in a project
Ctrl-Shift-N Displays
the New Project dialog
Ctrl-O Displays
the Open File dialog
Ctrl-Shift-O Displays the Open Project dialog
Shift-Alt-A Displays
the Add Existing Item dialog
Ctrl-Shift-A Displays
the Add New Item dialog
Window Manipulation
Shortcut Description
Shift-Alt-Enter Toggles full screen mode
Ctrl-+ Goes
back to the previous location in the navigation history. (For example, if you
press Ctrl-Home to go to the start of a document, this shortcut will take the
cursor back to wherever it was before you pressed Ctrl-Home.)
Ctrl-Shift-+ Moves
forward in the navigation history. This is effectively an undo for the View. Navigate
Backward operation
Ctrl-F4 Closes
the current MDI child window
Shift-Esc Closes
the current tool window
Ctrl-F2 Moves
the cursor to the navigation bar at the top of a code view
Ctrl-Tab Cycles
through the MDI child windows one window at a time
Ctrl-F6,Ctrl-Shift-Tab Moves to the previous MDI child
window
Alt-F6,Ctrl-Shift-F6 Moves
to the next tool window
Shift-Alt-F6 Moves
to the previously selected window
F6 Moves
to the next pane of a split pane view of a single document
Shift-F6 Moves
to the previous pane of a document in split pane view
Ctrl-Pagedown Moves
to the next tab in the document or window (e.g., you can use this to switch the
HTML editor from its design view to its HTML view
Ctrl-PageUp Moves
to the previous tab in the document or window
Control Editor (Designer)
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-Down Arrow Moves
the selected control down in increments of one on the design surface
Down Arrow Moves
the selected control down to the next grid position on the design surface
Ctrl-Left Arrow Moves the control to the left in
increments of one on the design surface
Left Arrow Moves
the control to the left to the next grid position on the design surface
Ctrl-Right Arrow Moves
the control to the right in increments of one on the design surface
Right Arrow Moves
the control to the right into the next grid position on the design surface
Ctrl-Up Arrow Moves
the control up in increments of one on the design surface
Up Arrow Moves
the control up into the next grid position on the design surface.
Tab Moves
to the next control in the tab order.
Shift-Tab Moves
to the previous control in the tab order.
Ctrl-Shift-Down Arrow Increases
the height of the control in increments of one on the design surface.
Shift-Down Arrow Increases
the height of the control to the next grid position on the design surface.
Ctrl-Shift-Left Arrow Reduces
the width of the control in increments of one on the design surface..
Shift-Left Arrow Reduces
the width of the control to the next grid position on the design surface.
Ctrl-Shift-Right Arrow Increases
the width of the control in increments of one on the design surface.
Shift-Left Arrow Increases
the width of the control to the next grid position on the design surface.
Ctrl-Shift-Up Arrow Decreases
the height of the control in increments of one on the design surface.
Search And Replace
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-F Displays
the Find dialog
Ctrl-Shift-F Displays
the Find in Files dialog
F3 Finds
the next occurrence of the previous search text
Ctrl-F3 Finds
the next occurrence of the currently selected
text or the word under the cursor
if there is no
selection.
Shift-F3 Finds
the previous occurrence of the search text
Ctrl-Shift-F3 Finds
the previous occurrence of the currently
selected text or the word under the
cursor
Ctrl-D Places
the cursor in the Find/Command line on
the Standard toolbar
Alt-F3, H Selects or clears the Search Hidden
Text option for the Find dialog
Ctrl-I Starts
an incremental search—after pressing
Ctrl-I, you can type in text, and for each
letter
you type, VS.NET will find the first occurrence
of the sequence of
letters you have typed so far.
This is a very convenient facility, as it lets
you
find text by typing in exactly as many characters
as are required to locate
the text and no more. If
you press Ctrl-I a second time without typing
any
characters, it recalls the previous pattern. If
you press it a third time or
you press it when an
incremental search has already found a match,
VS.NET searches
for the next occurrence.
Alt-F3, C Selects
or clears the Match Case option for Find and Replace operations
Alt-F3,
R Selects
or clears the Regular Expression option
so that special characters can be used
in Find
and Replace operations
Ctrl-H Displays the Replace dialog
Ctrl-Shift-H Displays the Replace in Files dialog
Ctrl-Shift-I Performs
an incremental search in reverse direction
Alt-F3, S Halts the current Find in Files
operation
Alt-F3, B Selects or clears the Search Up
option for Find and Replace operations
Alt-F3,
W Selects
or clears the Match Whole Word option
for Find and Replace operations
Help
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-Alt-F1 Displays
the Contents window for the documentation
Ctrl-F1 Displays
the Dynamic Help window, which displays different topics depending on what
items currently have focus. If the focus is in a source window, the Dynamic
Help window will display help topics that are relevant to the text under the
cursor.
F1 Displays
a topic from Help that corresponds to the part of the user interface that
currently has the focus. If the focus is in a source window, Help will try to
display a topic relevant to the text under the cursor.
Ctrl-Alt-F2 Displays
the Help Index window
Shift-Alt-F2 Displays
the Index Results window, which lists the topics that contain the keyword
selected in the Index window
Alt-Down
Arrow Displays
the next topic in the table of contents. Available only in the Help browser
window
Alt-Up
Arrow Displays
the previous topic in the table of contents. Available only in the Help browser
window
Ctrl-Alt-F3 Displays
the Search window, which allows you to search for words or phrases in the
documentation
Shift-Alt-F3 Displays
the Search Results window, which displays a list of topics that contain the
string searched for from the Search window.
Shift-F1 Displays
a topic from Help that corresponds to the user interface item that has the focus
Debugging
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-Alt-V,
A Displays
the Auto window to view the values of variables currently in the scope of the
current line of execution within the current procedure.
Ctrl-Alt-Break Temporarily
stops execution of all processes in a debugging session. Available only in run
mode.
Ctrl-Alt-B Displays the Breakpoints dialog,
where you can add and modify breakpoints.
Ctrl-Alt-C Displays
the Call Stack window to display a list of all active procedures or stack
frames for the current thread of execution. Available only in break mode.
Ctrl-Shift-F9 Clears
all of the breakpoints in the project
Ctrl-Alt-D Displays
the Disassembly window
Ctrl-F9 Enables
or disables the break point on the current line of code. The line must already
have a break point for this to work
Ctrl-Alt-E Displays
the Exceptions dialog
Ctrl-Alt-I Displays
the Immediate window, where you can evaluate expressions and execute individual
commands
Ctrl-Alt-V,
L Displays
the Locals window to view the variables and their values for the currently
selected procedure in the stack frame
Ctrl-Alt-M,
1 Displays
the Memory 1 window to view memory in the process being debugged. This is
particularly useful when you do not have debugging symbols available for the
code you are looking at. It is also helpful for looking at large buffers,
strings, and other data that does not display clearly in the Watch or Variables
window
Ctrl-Alt-M, 2 Displays the Memory 2 window
Ctrl-Alt-M, 3 Displays
the Memory 3 window
Ctrl-Alt-M, 4 Displays
the Memory 4 window
Ctrl-Alt-U Displays
the Modules window, which allows you to view the .dll or .exe files loaded by
the program. In multiprocess debugging, you can right-click and select Show
Modules for all programs
Ctrl-B Opens
the New Break point dialog
Ctrl-Alt-Q Displays
the Quick Watch dialog with the current value of the selected expression.
Available only in break mode. Use this command to check the current value of a
variable, property, or other expression for which you have not defined a watch
expression
Ctrl-Alt-G Displays the Registers window, which displays CPU register contents
Ctrl-Shift-F5 Terminates
the current debugging session, rebuilds if necessary, and then starts a new
debugging session. Available in break and run modes
Ctrl-Alt-N Displays
the Running Documents window that displays the set of HTML documents that you
are in the process of debugging. Available in break and run modes
Ctrl-F10 Starts
or resumes execution of your code and then halts execution when it reaches the
selected statement. This starts the debugger if it is not already running
Ctrl-Shift-F10 Sets the execution point to the line
of code you choose
Alt-NUM * Highlights
the next statement to be executed
F5 If
not currently debugging, this runs the startup project or projects and attaches
the debugger. If in break mode, this allows execution to continue (i.e., it
returns to run mode).
Ctrl-F5 Runs
the code without invoking the debugger. For console applications, this also
arranges for the console window to stay open with a "Press any key to
continue" prompt when the program finishes
F11 Executes
code one statement at a time, tracing execution into function calls
Shift-F11 Executes the remaining lines of a
function in which the current execution point lies
F10 Executes
the next line of code but does not step into any function calls
Shift-F5 Available
in break and run modes, this terminates the debugging session
Ctrl-Alt-V,
T Displays
the This window, which allows you to view the data members of the object
associated with the current method
Ctrl-Alt-H Displays
the Threads window to view all of the threads for the current process
F9 Sets
or removes a break point at the current line
Ctrl-F11 Displays
the disassembly information for the current source file. Available only in
break mode
Ctrl-Alt-W, 1 Displays
the Watch 1 window to view the values of variables or watch expressions
Ctrl-Alt-W, 2 Displays
the Watch 2 window
Ctrl-Alt-W, 3 Displays
the Watch 3 window
Ctrl-Alt-W, 4 Displays the Watch 4 window
Object Browser
Shortcut Description
Alt-F12 Displays
the Find Symbol dialog
Ctrl-F12 Displays
the declaration of the selected symbol in the code
F12 Displays
the definition for the selected symbol in code
Ctrl-Alt-F12 Displays
the Find Symbol Results window
Ctrl-Alt-J Displays
the Object Browser to view the classes, properties, methods, events, and
constants defined either in your project or by components and type libraries
referenced by your project
Alt-+ Moves
back to the previously selected object in the selection history of the object
browser
Tool Window
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-Shift-M Toggles
Command window into or out of a mode allowing text within window to be selected
Ctrl-Shift-C Displays the Class View window
Ctrl-Alt-A Displays
the Command window, which allows you to type commands that manipulate IDE
Ctrl-Alt-T Displays
the Document Outline window to view the flat or hierarchical outline of the
current document
Ctrl-Alt-F Displays the Favorites window, which lists shortcuts to
web pages
Ctrl-Alt-O Displays the
Output window to view status messages at run time.
F4 Displays
the Properties window, which lists the design-time properties and events for
the currently selected item
Shift-F4 Displays
the property pages for the item currently selected. (For example, use this to
show a project's settings.)
Ctrl-Shift-E Displays the Resource View window
Ctrl-Alt-S Displays
the Server Explorer window, which allows you to view and manipulate database
servers, event logs, message queues, web services, and many other operating
system services
Ctrl-Alt-R Displays
the web browser window, which allows you to view pages on the Internet
Ctrl-Alt-L Displays
the Solution Explorer, which lists the projects and files in the current
solution
Ctrl-Alt-K Displays
the Task List window, which displays tasks,
comments, shortcuts, warnings, and
error messages
Html Editor (Design View)
Shortcut Description
Ctrl-B Toggles
the selected text between bold and normal
Ctrl-Shift-T Decreases the selected paragraph by
one indent unit
Ctrl-T Indents the selected paragraph by
one indent unit
Ctrl-I Toggles
the selected text between italic and normal
Ctrl-Shift-K Prevents
an absolutely positioned element from
being inadvertently moved. If the element
is already locked, this unlocks it
Ctrl-G Toggles
the grid
Ctrl-Shift-G Specifies
that elements be aligned using an invisible grid. You can set grid spacing on
the Design pane of HTML designer options in the Options dialog, and the grid
will be changed the next time you open a document
Ctrl-U Toggles
the selected text between underlined and normal
Ctrl-Shift-L Displays
the Bookmark dialog
Ctrl-J Inserts <div></div> in the current HTML document
Ctrl-L When
text is selected, displays the Hyperlink dialog
Ctrl-Shift-W Displays
the Insert Image dialog
Ctrl-Alt-Up Arrow Adds one row above the current row
in the table
Ctrl-Alt-Down Arrow Adds one row below the current row
in the table
Ctrl-Alt-Left Arrow Adds
one column to the left of the current column in the table
Ctrl-Alt-Right Arrow Adds
one column to the right of the current column in the table
Ctrl-Shift-Q Toggles
display of marker icons for HTML elements
that do not have a visual
representation, such as
comments, scripts, and anchors for absolutely
positioned elements
Ctrl-Page Down Switches from design view to HTML
view and vice versa
Macro
Shortcut Description
Alt-F8 Displays
the Macro Explorer window, which lists all available macros.
Alt-F11 Launches the macros IDE.
Ctrl-Shift-R Places
the environment in macro record mode or completes recording if
already in record mode.
Ctrl-Shift-P Plays
back a recorded macro.
