VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts That Save Hours

The speed difference between a developer who uses keyboard shortcuts and one who reaches for the mouse is enormous. Every mouse movement takes 2-4 seconds when you account for the hand travel, visual targeting, clicking, and returning to the keyboard. Multiply that by hundreds of interactions per day and you lose hours every week.

I have tracked my keyboard shortcut usage across projects. The shortcuts in this guide are the ones that actually show up in daily work — not the 300+ shortcuts in the documentation, but the 40 that matter.

Prerequisites

• VS Code installed
• A keyboard (obviously)
• Willingness to practice for a week before it becomes natural
• Knowledge of your OS keyboard conventions (Ctrl on Windows/Linux, Cmd on macOS)

Note: This guide uses Windows/Linux shortcuts. macOS users should substitute Cmd for Ctrl and Option for Alt in most cases.

Navigation Shortcuts

These shortcuts move you through files and code without touching the mouse.

File Navigation

Ctrl+P              Quick Open file by name
Ctrl+Shift+P        Command Palette
Ctrl+Tab            Switch between open editors
Ctrl+\              Split editor
Ctrl+1/2/3          Focus editor group 1/2/3
Ctrl+W              Close current editor
Ctrl+Shift+T        Reopen last closed editor
Ctrl+K Ctrl+W       Close all editors

Quick Open (Ctrl+P) is the single most important shortcut. Type a few characters of any filename and press Enter. You never need the file explorer for opening files.

Quick Open power features:

Ctrl+P then type:
  app.js           → opens app.js
  route user       → matches routes/userRoutes.js
  @                → go to symbol in file (same as Ctrl+Shift+O)
  #                → go to symbol in workspace
  :42              → go to line 42 (same as Ctrl+G)
  >                → command palette (same as Ctrl+Shift+P)

Code Navigation

Ctrl+G              Go to line number
Ctrl+Shift+O        Go to symbol in current file
Ctrl+T              Go to symbol in workspace
F12                 Go to definition
Alt+F12             Peek definition (inline preview)
Shift+F12           Find all references
Ctrl+Shift+\        Jump to matching bracket
Alt+Left            Navigate back
Alt+Right           Navigate forward
Ctrl+Shift+M        Toggle Problems panel
F8                  Go to next problem/error
Shift+F8            Go to previous problem/error

Go to Definition (F12) and Navigate Back (Alt+Left) form a pair. Jump into a function definition with F12, read it, then jump back with Alt+Left. This is how you explore codebases without getting lost.

In-File Navigation

Ctrl+Home           Go to beginning of file
Ctrl+End            Go to end of file
Ctrl+Up/Down        Scroll without moving cursor
Home                Go to beginning of line
End                 Go to end of line
Ctrl+Left/Right     Move by word
Ctrl+Shift+[        Fold code block
Ctrl+Shift+]        Unfold code block
Ctrl+K Ctrl+0       Fold all
Ctrl+K Ctrl+J       Unfold all

Editing Shortcuts

Line Operations

Ctrl+Shift+K        Delete entire line
Alt+Up/Down         Move line up/down
Shift+Alt+Up/Down   Duplicate line up/down
Ctrl+Enter          Insert line below
Ctrl+Shift+Enter    Insert line above
Ctrl+]              Indent line
Ctrl+[              Outdent line
Ctrl+/              Toggle line comment
Shift+Alt+A         Toggle block comment

Move Line (Alt+Up/Down) is one of the most-used editing shortcuts. Select lines and move them around without cutting and pasting.

Duplicate Line (Shift+Alt+Down) creates a copy of the current line below. Faster than copy-paste for creating similar lines.

Selection

Ctrl+D              Select word (repeat to select next occurrence)
Ctrl+Shift+L        Select all occurrences of current selection
Ctrl+L              Select entire line
Shift+Alt+Right     Expand selection
Shift+Alt+Left      Shrink selection
Ctrl+Shift+K        Delete selected lines

Ctrl+D is transformative. Select a variable name, press Ctrl+D repeatedly to select each next occurrence, then type the new name. All occurrences update simultaneously. This is faster than find-and-replace for small renames.

Multi-Cursor

Alt+Click           Add cursor at click position
Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down    Add cursor above/below
Ctrl+D              Add selection for next occurrence
Ctrl+Shift+L        Add cursor at all occurrences
Ctrl+U              Undo last cursor/selection
Escape              Return to single cursor

Multi-cursor editing examples:

Adding the same text to multiple lines:

1. Place cursor at the start of a line
2. Ctrl+Alt+Down to add cursors on lines below
3. Type — text appears on all lines simultaneously

Renaming a variable in multiple places:

1. Double-click the variable name to select it
2. Ctrl+D to select the next occurrence (repeat as needed)
3. Type the new name — all occurrences update

Editing structured data:

1. Select a pattern (e.g., a quote character)
2. Ctrl+Shift+L to select all occurrences
3. Edit — all positions update at once

Find and Replace

Ctrl+F              Find in file
Ctrl+H              Find and replace in file
Ctrl+Shift+F        Find in all files
Ctrl+Shift+H        Replace in all files
F3                  Find next
Shift+F3             Find previous
Alt+Enter           Select all matches (in find dialog)
Ctrl+Shift+1        Replace and find next (in replace dialog)

Find and Replace power features:

• Toggle regex mode with Alt+R in the find dialog
• Toggle case sensitivity with Alt+C
• Toggle whole word matching with Alt+W
• Alt+Enter in find mode selects all matches, then you can type to replace them all with multi-cursor

Text Manipulation

Ctrl+Shift+[        Fold region
Ctrl+Shift+]        Unfold region
Ctrl+K Ctrl+U       Uppercase selection
Ctrl+K Ctrl+L       Lowercase selection
Ctrl+Shift+P        Then "Transform to Title Case" / "Sort Lines" / etc.

Integrated Terminal

Ctrl+`              Toggle terminal
Ctrl+Shift+`        Create new terminal
Ctrl+Shift+5        Split terminal
Ctrl+PgUp/PgDown    Switch between terminals
Ctrl+C              Kill running process (in terminal)
Ctrl+Shift+C        Copy selection (in terminal)
Ctrl+Shift+V        Paste (in terminal)

Toggle Terminal (`Ctrl+``) is essential. Flip between code and terminal without touching the mouse. The terminal remembers your session.

Sidebar and Panels

Ctrl+B              Toggle sidebar
Ctrl+Shift+E        Explorer
Ctrl+Shift+F        Search
Ctrl+Shift+G        Source Control
Ctrl+Shift+D        Debug / Run
Ctrl+Shift+X        Extensions
Ctrl+J              Toggle bottom panel
Ctrl+Shift+M        Problems panel
Ctrl+Shift+Y        Debug Console
Ctrl+Shift+U        Output panel

Refactoring

F2                  Rename symbol
Ctrl+.              Quick Fix / Code Actions
Ctrl+Shift+R        Refactor menu
Shift+Alt+O         Organize imports

Rename Symbol (F2) is different from find-and-replace. It understands the code's structure. Renaming a function with F2 updates all references across every file, including imports. Find-and-replace would rename unrelated text that happens to match.

Quick Fix (Ctrl+.) is context-aware. Place your cursor on a problem and press Ctrl+. to see suggested fixes:

• Import missing modules
• Convert to arrow function
• Extract to variable
• Add missing return type
• Fix spelling
• Remove unused variables

Window Management

Ctrl+Shift+N        New window
Ctrl+K Ctrl+Left    Move editor to left group
Ctrl+K Ctrl+Right   Move editor to right group
Ctrl+K Ctrl+Up      Move editor to above group
Ctrl+\              Split editor right
Ctrl+K Ctrl+\       Split editor down
Ctrl+K Z            Toggle Zen Mode (distraction-free)
Ctrl+Shift+P → "Toggle Word Wrap"

Git Shortcuts

Ctrl+Shift+G        Open Source Control
Ctrl+Enter          Commit (when in SCM input)

In the Source Control panel:

• Click + on a file to stage it
• Click - to unstage
• Type a message and Ctrl+Enter to commit

Complete Working Example: Custom Keybindings

Create custom keybindings in ~/.config/Code/User/keybindings.json (or Ctrl+K Ctrl+S → click the file icon):

[
  // Run current file
  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+r",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
    "args": { "text": "node ${file}\n" },
    "when": "editorLangId == javascript"
  },

  // Toggle minimap
  {
    "key": "ctrl+k ctrl+m",
    "command": "editor.action.toggleMinimap"
  },

  // Duplicate line down (alternative binding)
  {
    "key": "ctrl+d",
    "command": "editor.action.copyLinesDownAction",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && !editorHasSelection"
  },

  // Move to next/previous editor group with Alt+1/2
  {
    "key": "alt+1",
    "command": "workbench.action.focusFirstEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "alt+2",
    "command": "workbench.action.focusSecondEditorGroup"
  },

  // Quick terminal commands
  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+t",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
    "args": { "text": "npm test\n" },
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  },

  // Close all editors in group
  {
    "key": "ctrl+k ctrl+w",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeEditorsInGroup"
  },

  // Toggle sidebar visibility
  {
    "key": "ctrl+alt+b",
    "command": "workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility"
  }
]

Conditional Keybindings

The when clause controls when a keybinding is active:

[
  // Only in JavaScript files
  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+l",
    "command": "editor.action.formatDocument",
    "when": "editorLangId == javascript"
  },

  // Only when no text is selected
  {
    "key": "ctrl+d",
    "command": "editor.action.copyLinesDownAction",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && !editorHasSelection"
  },

  // Only in the terminal
  {
    "key": "ctrl+k",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.clear",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  },

  // Only in the sidebar
  {
    "key": "ctrl+n",
    "command": "explorer.newFile",
    "when": "filesExplorerFocus"
  }
]

The Essential 20

If you learn nothing else, learn these. They cover 80% of daily editing:

1.  Ctrl+P              Open file by name
2.  Ctrl+Shift+P        Command palette
3.  Ctrl+D              Select next occurrence
4.  Ctrl+Shift+L        Select all occurrences
5.  Alt+Up/Down         Move line
6.  Shift+Alt+Down      Duplicate line
7.  Ctrl+Shift+K        Delete line
8.  Ctrl+/              Toggle comment
9.  Ctrl+`              Toggle terminal
10. Ctrl+B              Toggle sidebar
11. F12                 Go to definition
12. Alt+Left            Navigate back
13. F2                  Rename symbol
14. Ctrl+.              Quick fix
15. Ctrl+Shift+F        Search in files
16. Ctrl+H              Find and replace
17. Ctrl+W              Close editor
18. Ctrl+\              Split editor
19. Ctrl+G              Go to line
20. Ctrl+Shift+O        Go to symbol

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

Shortcut does nothing or does the wrong thing

Another extension or OS-level shortcut is capturing the key combination first:

Fix: Open Ctrl+K Ctrl+S to see the keyboard shortcuts editor. Search for the key combination to find conflicts. Right-click to change or remove bindings.

Shortcuts differ between OS

macOS uses Cmd where Windows/Linux uses Ctrl:

Fix: VS Code's documentation shows both. Hover over any command in the Command Palette to see its current binding. Or use Ctrl+K Ctrl+S to see all bindings for your OS.

Custom keybindings not working

JSON syntax error in keybindings.json silently breaks all custom bindings:

Fix: Open the file and check for missing commas, unclosed brackets, or duplicate keys. VS Code highlights JSON errors.

Multi-cursor feels wrong

If Ctrl+D selects the wrong occurrence or skips one:

Fix: Use Ctrl+U to undo the last selection. Use Ctrl+K Ctrl+D to skip an occurrence without selecting it.

Best Practices

• Learn five shortcuts per week. Trying to memorize everything at once does not work. Pick five, use them exclusively for a week, then add five more.
• Print a cheat sheet and pin it to your monitor. Remove shortcuts as they become muscle memory.
• Disable the mouse for editing operations. Force yourself to use keyboard shortcuts for a day. The discomfort fades quickly.
• Use Ctrl+Shift+P as a fallback. If you forget a shortcut, the command palette lets you search for any action by name. It also shows the shortcut next to each command.
• Customize bindings for your workflow. If you run tests constantly, bind it to a single keystroke. The default bindings are generic — make them specific to your work.
• Practice multi-cursor editing. Ctrl+D and Ctrl+Shift+L are the shortcuts with the highest return on learning investment. They replace dozens of find-and-replace operations.
• Keep your hands on the home row. Arrow keys require reaching. Learn Ctrl+Left/Right for word movement and Home/End for line boundaries instead.

References

• VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts Reference
• Windows Shortcuts PDF
• macOS Shortcuts PDF
• Linux Shortcuts PDF
• Key Bindings Documentation