VS Code Cheat Sheet

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Comprehensive VS Code reference for navigation, editing, multi-cursor, search, terminal, debugging, settings, and Git workflows.

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Getting Around

Core navigation and command entry points used constantly.

Open Command Palette

Run any VS Code command quickly.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+P
macOS: Cmd+Shift+P

Notes

Fastest way to discover and invoke built-in commands, extension commands, and settings actions.

Quick Open file

Jump to files, symbols, and recent items.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+P
macOS: Cmd+P

Notes

Type file names, add `:` for line number, or `@` for symbols depending on context.

Go to line

Jump directly to a line number in the current file.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+G
macOS: Ctrl+G

Go to symbol in file

Jump to a function, class, or symbol in the current file.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+O
macOS: Cmd+Shift+O

Show symbols in workspace

Search symbols across the workspace.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+T
macOS: Cmd+T

Basic Editing

Essential editing actions used in everyday coding.

Delete line

Remove the current line quickly.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+K
macOS: Cmd+Shift+K

Insert line below

Open a new line below without moving manually.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Enter
macOS: Cmd+Enter

Insert line above

Open a new line above the current line.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+Enter
macOS: Cmd+Shift+Enter

Move line up or down

Reorder code without cut/paste.

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Windows/Linux: Alt+Up / Alt+Down
macOS: Option+Up / Option+Down

Copy line up or down

Duplicate the current line or selection.

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Windows/Linux: Shift+Alt+Up / Shift+Alt+Down
macOS: Shift+Option+Up / Shift+Option+Down

Format document

Format the entire active file.

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Windows: Shift+Alt+F
Linux: Ctrl+Shift+I
macOS: Shift+Option+F

Search, Terminal, and CLI

Search and terminal flows users need every day.

Find in current file

Search inside the current editor.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+F
macOS: Cmd+F

Find in files

Search across the whole workspace.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+F
macOS: Cmd+Shift+F

Toggle regex search

Enable regular expressions in search UI.

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Click the .* button in search / replace panels

Toggle integrated terminal

Open or focus the integrated terminal.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+`
macOS: Ctrl+`

Open current folder in VS Code

Launch VS Code from a shell.

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bash

code .

Open a diff view from the CLI

Compare two files in VS Code.

bashANYclidiff

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bash

code --diff old-file.ts new-file.ts

Settings, Debugging, and Git

High-impact settings, launch configs, and source control actions.

Open Settings UI

Search and edit settings through the UI.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+,
macOS: Cmd+,

Enable format on save

Format files automatically when saved.

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json

{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true
}

Start debugging

Launch the current debug configuration.

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F5

Basic Node.js launch.json

Minimal launch config for debugging a Node script.

jsonANYdebuggingnodejslaunch-json

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json

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "name": "Debug current file",
      "program": "${file}"
    }
  ]
}

Open Source Control view

Jump to the SCM panel quickly.

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Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+G
macOS: Ctrl+Shift+G

More in VS Code

VS Code Git and Productivity

Daily Git workflows, compare views, merge conflicts, and general productivity patterns inside VS Code.

VS Code settings.json Cookbook

Useful user and workspace settings.json snippets for formatting, files, search, editor behavior, and terminal preferences.

VS Code Debugging and Tasks

Launch configurations, breakpoints, tasks.json, and common debugging workflows in VS Code.

VS Code Terminal and CLI

Integrated terminal workflows plus `code` CLI commands for opening files, folders, diffs, and extensions.

VS Code Search and Regex

Search, replace, regex, and multi-file refactoring patterns in VS Code.

VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts

High-value VS Code shortcuts for navigation, editing, multi-cursor, search, panels, and windows.

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