Essential Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcuts To Save Time

A useful list of essential Visual Studio keyboard shortcuts that every developer ought to know to be more productive and efficient.

Visual Studio is a powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that developers use to build, debug, and distribute code in a wide range of programming languages. Its extensive feature set and user-friendly design make it the go-to tool for many developers.

All developers should master the basic Visual Studio keyboard shortcuts to increase efficiency. Developers can use these shortcuts to quickly navigate, write, and debug code without having to take their hands away from the keyboard. Some of the most important Visual Studio keyboard shortcuts are as follows:

Writing Code and Using the Editor

• Ctrl + N - Create a new file.
• Ctrl + S - Save the current file.
• Ctrl + Shift + S - Save all files.
• Ctrl + F - Search for text within a file.
• Ctrl + Shift + F - Search for text within the entire project.
• Ctrl + K + C - Comment out a line of code.
• Ctrl + K + U - Uncomment a line of code.
• Ctrl + . Bring up the smart tag list.
• Ctrl + K + F - Format file or selection.
• Ctrl + Space - Open Auto Complete.

Debugging

• Ctrl + F5 - Run the current project.
• Ctrl + Shift + B - Build the current project.
• F9 - Set a breakpoint.
• F5 - Start debugging.
• F10 - Step over to the next statement.
• F11 - Step into a function.

Navigating Code, Windows and Tabs

• Ctrl + Shift + F12 - Go to a specific line in a file.
• Ctrl + , - Go to a specific symbol in a file.
• Ctrl + F12 - Go to a specific type declaration in a file.
• Ctrl + Alt + F10 - Go to the definition of a symbol.
• Ctrl + [ + S - Sync Current Document With Solution Explorer.

These are just a few of the essential Visual Studio keyboard shortcuts that every developer ought to know. Developers can become more productive and efficient when developing in Visual Studio through the use of these shortcuts.