In this article I want to share some of my favorite and most used VS Code shortcuts that help me save time, make my life a little easier and, as a heavy keyboard user, also allow me to stay in my developer flow.

You may be familiar with some of them already but hopefully you will discover a new shortcut that you can introduce into your workflow starting right now. 🤞🏻

I jotted down the key combinations for Mac users. If you’re a Windows or Linux user, you can find the key bindings for your OS here.

Alright then, so without needing to select the entire line first...

• ⌘X - cut a line
• ⌘C- copy a line
• ⇧⌘K - delete a line
• ⌘L - select the line

And while your cursor is on a specific line..

• ⌘Enter - insert a new line below it
• ⇧⌘Enter - insert a new line above it
• ⌥↑ and ⌥↓ - move the line up/down
• ⇧⌥↑ and ⇧⌥↓ - duplicate line on the line above/below it
• ⌘] and ⌘[ - indent and outdent the line
• ⌘/ - (un)comment out the line

Or within a specific file..

• ⌘D - find other instances of selected code
• ⌥Z - toggle word wrap

Lastly, for some editor/window management..

• ⌘P - find and go to file (quick open)
• ⌘N - new editor
• ⌘W - close editor
• ⌘B - toggle visibility of the side panel
• ⌃` - toggle visibility of the integrated terminal
• ⌘2 - split screen into two editor groups
• ⇧⌘T - reopen recently closed editor
• ⌥⌘← and ⌥⌘→ - view editor tab on the left/right

Happy coding!

If you enjoyed reading this post or if it was helpful to you, you can support me by buying me a coffee — I'd really appreciate it! 🙏