Keyboard shortcuts in F12 developer tools

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Keyboard shortcuts in F12 developer tools for Internet Explorer 11 make tools and features accessible without a mouse or pointing device.

Using keyboard shortcuts

You can use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the F12 developer tools directly from your keyboard. The current shortcut set is listed below. For older versions, see the keyboard shortcuts for Internet Explorer versions 8, 9, and 10.

General shortcuts

These shortcuts either control the F12 tools window or work across all tools.

Action Shortcut
Show/hide Console at the bottom of any other tool CTRL + `
Give focus to Console at the bottom of another tool CTRL + ALT + I
Pin/unpin F12 CTRL + P
Bring Internet Explorer to foreground when unpinned F12 is in front of IE F12
Show/hide F12 when F12 is pinned or behind IE F12
Refresh the page
Note  if you're debugging and paused at a breakpoint, this resumes execution first.
 
CTRL + SHIFT + F5
Move backward in your tool navigation history CTRL + [
Move forward in your tool navigation history CTRL + ]
"Tab" through the most commonly used elements in a tool ("superset navigation") F6

 

Note   If you're using a keyboard without function keys, you can use ALT + T to open the Tools menu and select the F12 tools from there to open it.

 

F12 navigation shortcuts

When IE's focus is on the F12 tools, you can easily move from tool to tool using these key combos.

Action Shortcut
Switch to DOM Explorer CTRL + 1
Switch to Console CTRL + 2
Switch to Debugger CTRL + 3
Switch to Network CTRL + 4
Switch to UI Responsiveness CTRL + 5
Switch to Profiler CTRL + 6
Switch to Memory CTRL + 7
Switch to Emulation CTRL + 8
Previous tool (in order above) CTRL + [
Next tool (in order above) CTRl + ]

 

Console shortcuts

These shortcuts work with both the main Console panel and the Console you can open in other tools. They only work when focus is on the Console's input area.

Action Shortcut
Enter multiline mode CTRL + ALT + M or SHIFT + ENTER
Exit multiline mode CTRL + ALT + M
Execute in single line mode ENTER
Execute in multiline mode CTRL + ENTER
Clear the Console of all messages CTRL + L

 

DOM Explorer Shortcuts

Action Shortcut
Open/close Color Picker tool CTRL + K

 

Debugger shortcuts

The Debugger is one of the most complex tools in F12 tools and has the largest set of shortcuts.

Action Shortcut
Start debugging or continue F5 or F8
Stop debugging SHIFT + F5
Step over F10
Step into F11
Step out SHIFT + F11
Break all CTRL + SHIFT + B
Open "Change exception behavior" drop-down menu CTRL + SHIFT + E
Set or unset breakpoints (requires focus to be in Editor) F9 or CTRL + B
Set a breakpoint condition (requires focus to be in Editor) ALT + F9
Enable/disable breakpoints (requires focus to be in Editor) CTRL + F9
Go to Breakpoint window CTRL + ALT + B
Go to Watch window CTRL + ALT + W
Go to Call Stack window CTRL + ALT + C
Go to Script Chooser drop-down menu CTRL + O
Next function on stack CTRL + PERIOD
Previous function on stack CTRL + COMMA
Shortcut for toggle panes in the control panel (right side) CTRL + ALT + T
Focus to Editor CTRL + E
Add watch CTRL + W
Break on new workers CTRL + SHIFT + W
Edit watch (while on watch) F2
Delete watch (while on watch) DEL
Toggle pretty print CTRL + SHIFT + P
Word wrap ALT + W
Toggle all breakpoints CTRL + SHIFT + F11
Find CTRL + F
Find Next F3
Find Previous SHIFT + F3
Set next statement CTRL + SHIFT + F10
Show next statement ALT + NUM*
Run to cursor CTRL + F10
Toggle Just My Code mode CTRL + J
Toggle Just My Code frames display CTRL + SHIFT + J
Toggle Library code in File Picker CTRL + L
Toggle the original / current source display for files with source maps CTRL + SHIFT + M

 

Network shortcuts

These shortcuts start and stop the network capture.

Action Shortcut
Start capturing network activity in the active tab F5
Stop capturing network activity in the active tab SHIFT + F5

 

Profiler shortcuts

These shortcuts start and stop profiling JavaScript activity.

Action Shortcut
Start profiling F5
Stop profiling SHIFT + F5

 

Note  You can start and stop profiling from inside your code using console.profile() and console.profileEnd().

 

Memory shortcuts

Action Shortcut
Start / Stop a profiling session CTRL + E
Take a memory heap snapshot CTRL + SHIFT + T

 

Keyboard shortcuts in Internet Explorer versions 8, 9, and 10