Keyboard Shortcuts: Navigating the IDE by Using the Keyboard
Visual Basic has many keyboard shortcuts that you can use to help you perform tasks in the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) quickly. The following tables describe some of these keyboard shortcuts, and give the command name equivalents in parenthesis.
You can download a poster that contains all the default keybindings (grouped by task) for Visual Basic on the Microsoft Download Center.
Editing
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Toggle All Outlining |
CTRL +M, CTRL + L |
Toggles all existing regions between collapsed and expanded states. (Edit.ToggleAllOutlining) |
Toggle Outlining for Current Region |
CTRL + M, CTRL + M |
Toggles the current region between collapsed and expanded states. (Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion) |
Comment and Uncomment |
CTRL + K, CTRL + C CTRL + K, CTRL + U |
Inserts and removes, respectively, the apostrophe (') at the start of the current line or every selected line. (Edit.CommentSelection and Edit.UncommentSelection) |
Undo |
CTRL + Z |
Undoes the last action. (Edit.Undo) |
Redo |
CTRL + SHIFT + Z |
Redoes the last action. (Edit.Redo) |
Cut Line |
CTRL + Y |
Cuts the current line of code. (Edit.LineCut) |
Insert Blank Line |
CTRL + ENTER CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER |
Inserts a blank line above or below the cursor position, respectively. (Edit.LineOpenAbove and Edit.LineOpenBelow) |
Select Word |
CTRL + SHIFT + W |
Selects the word that contains, or is to the right of, the cursor. (Edit.SelectCurrentWord) |
Delete Word |
CTRL + BACKSPACE CTRL + DELETE |
Deletes to the start and end of the word, respectively. (Edit.WordDeleteToStart and Edit. WordDeleteToEnd) |
Change Casing |
CTRL + U CTRL + SHIFT + U |
Changes the selected text to lowercase or uppercase characters, respectively. (Edit.MakeLowercase and Edit.MakeUppercase) |
Replace |
CTRL + H CTRL + SHIFT H |
Displays the Quick Replace tab or the Replace In Files tab, respectively, of the Find and Replace dialog box. (Edit.Replace and Edit.ReplaceInFiles) |
Extend Selection |
SHIFT + ALT + UP ARROW SHIFT + ALT + DOWN ARROW |
Moves the cursor one line up or down respectively, extending the line selection. (Edit.LineUpExtendColumn and Edit.LineDownExtendColumn) |
Format Code |
CTRL + K, CTRL + D CTRL + K, CTRL + F |
Formats the current document or selection, respectively. (Edit. FormatDocument and Edit.FormatSelection) |
Display Smart Tag |
CTRL + DOT (.) SHIFT + ALT + F10 |
Displays the available options on the Smart Tag menu. (View. ShowSmartTag) |
Help |
F1 |
Displays a topic from Help that corresponds to the current user interface element or to the code item or error messages selected. (Help.F1Help) |
Build and Debugging
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Build Solution |
CTRL + SHFT + B |
Builds all the projects in the solution. (Build.BuildSolution) |
Start Debugging |
F5 |
Starts the application in the debugger. When in Break mode, invoking this command runs the application until the next breakpoint. (Debug.Start) |
Start Without Debugging |
CTRL + F5 |
Starts the application without invoking the debugger. Use this exclusively instead of F5 for Web site debugging. (Debug.StartWithoutDebugging) |
Step Into |
F8 or F11 |
Executes code one statement at a time, following execution into method calls. (Debug.StepInto) |
Step Out |
CTRL + SHIFT + F8 SHIFT + F11 |
Executes the remaining lines of the method in which the current execution point is located. (Debug.StepOut) |
Step Over |
SHIFT + F8 F10 |
Executes the next line of code, but does not follow execution into any method calls. (Debug.StepOver) |
Stop Debugging |
CTRL + ALT + BREAK |
Stops running the current application in the debugger. (Debug.StopDebugging) |
Toggle Breakpoint |
F9 |
Sets or removes a breakpoint at the current line. (Debug.ToggleBreakpoint) |
Set Next Statement |
CTRL + F9 |
Sets the execution point to the line of code you choose. (Debug.SetNextStatement) |
Break at a Function |
CTRL + B |
Displays the New Breakpoint window. (Debug.BreakatFunction) |
Attach to Process |
CTRL + ALT + P |
Displays the Attach to Process dialog box. (Tools.AttachToProcess) |
Make Data Tip Transparent |
CTRL |
Hides the current data tip so that you can see the code underneath it. Must be invoked while a data tip is active. |
Immediate Window |
CTRL + G |
Displays the Immediate window. (Debug.Immediate) |
Call Stack Window |
CTRL + L |
Displays the Call Stack window. (Debug.CallStack) |
QuickWatch Window |
SHIFT + F9 |
Displays the QuickWatch dialog box. (Debug.QuickWatch) |
Windows
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Navigation Bar |
CTRL + F2 |
Moves the cursor to the drop-down list located at the top of the Code Editor. (Window.MoveToNavigationBar) |
Object Browser |
F2 |
Displays the Object Browser. (View.ObjectBrowser) |
Properties Window |
F4 |
Displays the Properties window for the currently selected item. (View.PropertiesWindow) |
Solution Explorer |
CTRL + R |
Displays Solution Explorer. (View.SolutionExplorer) |
Show Data Sources |
SHIFT + ALT + D |
Displays the Data Sources window. (Data.ShowDataSources) |
Toolbox |
CTRL + ALT + X |
Displays the Toolbox. (View.Toolbox) |
Error List |
CTRL + \, E |
Displays the Error List. (View.ErrorList) |
Close Tool Window |
SHIFT + ESC |
Closes the current tool window. (Window.CloseToolWindow) |
Close Document Window |
CTRL + F4 |
Closes the current tab. (Window.CloseDocumentWindow) |
Navigation
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Go to Definition |
F12 SHIFT + F12 |
Moves to the declaration for the selected symbol. (Edit.GoToDefinition) |
Highlight References |
CTRL + SHIFT + UP/DOWN ARROW |
Moves to the next or previous reference for the selected symbol, or clause of an If...Then...Else or Select...Case statement. CTRL + SHIFT + DOWN + ARROW moves to the next reference for the selected symbol; CTRL + SHIFT + UP ARROW moves to the previous reference. (Edit.MoveToNextReference, Edit.MoveToPreviousReference) |
IDE Navigator |
CTRL + TAB |
Displays the IDE Navigator, with the first document window selected. The IDE Navigator functions similarly to the Windows Navigator (ALT + SHIFT + TAB), only it is for files and tool windows within Visual Studio. (Window.NextDocumentWindowNav) |
View All Open Documents |
CTRL + ALT + DOWN ARROW |
Displays a pop-up listing of all open documents. (Window.ShowEzMDIFileList) |
View Code |
F7 |
Displays the selected item in Code view. (View.ViewCode) |
View Designer |
SHIFT + F7 |
Displays the selected item in Design view. (View.ViewDesigner) |
Add or Remove Bookmark |
CTRL + K, CTRL + K |
Sets or removes a bookmark at the current line. (Edit.ToggleBookmark) |
Navigate Bookmarks |
CTRL + K, CTRL + N CTRL + K, CTRL + P |
Moves to the next or previous bookmark, respectively. (Edit.NextBookmark and Edit. PreviousBookmark) |
Delete All Bookmarks |
CTRL + K, CTRL + L |
Deletes all bookmarks. (Edit.ClearBookmarks) |
Search
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Find Symbol |
ALT + F12 |
Displays the Find Symbol dialog box. (Edit.FindSymbol) |
Find All References |
ALT + SHIFT + F12 |
Displays a list of all references for the symbol selected. (Edit.FindAllReferences) |
Find Text |
CTRL + F CTRL + SHIFT + F |
Displays the Find and Replace dialog box for a single-file and multiple-file search, respectively. (Edit.Find and Edit.FindInFiles) |
Next and Previous Result |
F3 SHIFT + F3 |
Finds the next and previous occurrence, respectively, of the text from the most recent search. (Edit.FindNext and Edit.FindPrevious) |
Next and Previous Selected |
CTRL + F3 CTRL + SHIFT F3 |
Finds the next and previous occurrence, respectively, of the currently selected text or the word at the cursor position. (Edit.FindNextSelected and Edit. FindPreviousSelected) |
Incremental Search |
ALT + I ALT + SHIFT + I |
Activates incremental search (forward and reverse). If no input is typed, the previous search query is used. (Edit.IncrementalSearch and Edit.ReverseIncrementalSearch) |
Stop Search |
ALT + F3, S |
Halts the current Find In Files operation. (Edit.StopSearch) |
File
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
New Project |
CTRL + N CTRL + SHIFT + N |
Displays the New Project dialog box. (File.NewProject) |
Open Project |
CTRL + O CTRL + SHIFT + O |
Displays the Open Project dialog box. (File.OpenProject) |
Add New Item |
CTRL + SHIFT + A |
Displays the Add New Item dialog box. (Project.AddNewItem) |
Add Existing Item |
CTRL + D |
Displays the Add Existing Item dialog box. (Project.AddExistingItem) |
Snippets
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Insert Snippet |
Type ? and press TAB |
Displays the Code Snippet Picker in the Code Editor. The selected code snippet is then inserted at the cursor position. (Edit.InsertSnippet) |
Insert Snippet from Shortcut |
Type the snippet shortcut and press TAB |
Inserts the expanded code snippet. (Edit.InvokeSnippetFromShortcut) |
Insert Property Snippet |
Type property and press TAB |
Inserts a Property snippet. (Example of Edit.InvokeSnippetFromShortcut) |
Insert For Snippet |
Type for and press TAB |
Inserts a For…Next snippet. (Example of Edit.InvokeSnippetFromShortcut) |
List Snippet Shortcuts |
Type a snippet shortcut prefix, type ?, and press TAB |
Displays the Code Snippet Shortcut Picker. The shortcut in the list, which most closely matches the prefix, is selected. |
List Snippet Replacements |
CTRL + SPACE |
Invokes an IntelliSense completion list for the currently selected snippet replacement. |
Escape Replacement Selection |
ESC |
Deselects the current text. A second ESC deselects the replacement. Can be useful when you want to type at the end of a replacement without extending its bounds. |
IntelliSense
Title |
Shortcut |
Description |
|---|---|---|
Display a Filtered List |
CTRL + J |
Displays the IntelliSense completion list for the current cursor position. (Edit.ListMembers) |
Display the Global List or Complete a Word |
CTRL + SPACE |
If invoked when no list is active, displays the IntelliSense completion list for the current cursor position. If a substring has already been typed and there is a match in the list, completes the word without invoking the list. If invoked when a filtered list is active, switches to the global list. (Edit.CompleteWord) |
Common Tab |
ALT + COMMA (,) |
Decreases the filter level of the active IntelliSense list to the Common tab. |
All Tab |
ALT + PERIOD (.) |
Increases the filter level of the active IntelliSense list to the All tab. |
Navigate Up |
CTRL + PAGE UP |
Navigates to the first item in the IntelliSense completion list. |
Navigate Down |
CTRL + PAGE DOWN |
Navigates to the last item in the IntelliSense completion list. |
Commit an Item |
TAB SPACE ENTER |
Inserts the currently selected item in the list. The following characters can also be used to commit: { } ( ) . , : ; + - * / ^ ! = < > \ |
Escape the List |
ESC |
Closes the IntelliSense completion list. This can be useful if you want to prevent the currently selected item from being inserted. |
Next Steps
In the next set of lessons, you will learn how to write Visual Basic code. These lessons include introductory discussions of variables, arrays, comparisons, and loops.
Next Lesson: Introduction to the Visual Basic Programming Language
See Also
Tasks
Smart Coding: Using IntelliSense to Help You Write Code