Command Palette: The central entry point for accessing all commands and features. It's an interactive search bar for everything you can do in VS Code.
IntelliSense: A feature that provides smart code completions, parameter info, and quick info, powered by language services.
Activity Bar: The narrow bar on the far left, allowing you to switch between views like Explorer, Search, Source Control, and Debug.
Side Bar: The panel that contains the views from the Activity Bar, such as the file explorer.
Editor Group: A container for one or more open files (tabs). You can split the editor to have multiple groups visible at once.
Integrated Terminal: A terminal built directly into the VS Code window, so you don't have to switch contexts to run shell commands.
🧮 Shortcut Syntax Patterns
VS Code uses two main types of shortcuts:
Direct Shortcut: A combination of keys pressed simultaneously.
Syntax:Modifier + Key
Example:Ctrl+S to save a file.
Chorded Shortcut: A sequence of two key combinations pressed one after the other.
Syntax:(Modifier + Key), (Modifier + Key)
Example:Ctrl+K followed by Ctrl+S to view all keyboard shortcuts.
When a shortcut is displayed as Ctrl+KS, it means press and hold Ctrl, press K, release both, and then press S.
🛠️ Key Command Palette Commands
Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P and type these commands:
>Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts - View and customize all keybindings.
>Preferences: Color Theme - Change the editor's color theme.
>Git: Clone - Clone a remote Git repository to your local machine.
>Terminal: Create New Terminal - Opens a new integrated terminal instance.
>View: Toggle Zen Mode - Enter a distraction-free editing layout.
>Developer: Reload Window - A useful command to refresh VS Code, often used after changing settings or installing extensions.
🧭 Step-by-Step Workflows
Workflow: Renaming a Variable Across Multiple Files
Click on the variable or function you want to rename.
Press F2 (on all platforms).
Type the new name and press Enter.
VS Code will preview the changes across all files. Confirm to apply them.
Workflow: Quick File Navigation
Press Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+P (macOS) to open the file search.
Start typing the name of the file you want to open.
To go to a specific line, type : followed by the line number (e.g., index.html:52).
To go to a symbol (function, class), type @ followed by the symbol name.
⌨️ Core Shortcuts and Productivity
This is the core list of shortcuts. For a comprehensive list, see the official documentation.
Tip: Multi-Cursor Editing
Use Ctrl+Alt+↓/↑ (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Option+↓/↑ (macOS) to insert cursors on multiple lines. This is incredibly powerful for batch editing.
📊 Shortcut Reference Table
General & Essential
Action
Windows/Linux
macOS
Show Command Palette
Ctrl+Shift+P
Cmd+Shift+P
Quick Open (Go to File)
Ctrl+P
Cmd+P
Toggle Terminal
Ctrl+`
Ctrl+`
Toggle Side Bar
Ctrl+B
Cmd+B
Editing & Navigation
Action
Windows/Linux
macOS
Copy Line Up/Down
Shift+Alt+↓/↑
Shift+Option+↓/↑
Move Line Up/Down
Alt+↓/↑
Option+↓/↑
Toggle Line Comment
Ctrl+/
Cmd+/
Select Next Match
Ctrl+D
Cmd+D
Go to Definition
F12
F12
Split Editor
Ctrl+\
Cmd+\
🧪 Examples and Use Cases
Use Case: Creating a Custom Shortcut
Let's say you want to create a shortcut to save all files without formatting them, which isn't bound by default.
Open the Keyboard Shortcuts file with >Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON).
Add your custom binding to the JSON array.
[
// ... your other custom shortcuts
{
"key": "ctrl+k ctrl+alt+s",
"command": "workbench.action.files.saveAll",
"when": "!notebookEditorFocused"
}
]
Now, pressing Ctrl+K followed by Ctrl+Alt+S will save all files.
🧹 Troubleshooting
Problem: A shortcut isn't working as expected.
Fix: This is often due to a keybinding conflict, where another extension or setting is using the same shortcut. Open the Keyboard Shortcuts editor (Ctrl+KCtrl+S), search for the keybinding in the search bar, and see what commands are assigned to it. You can right-click to remove conflicting bindings.
Problem: I've messed up my keybindings and want to reset.
Fix: Open your keybindings.json file (see above). Deleting all the entries in this file will revert your shortcuts to the default settings.
Problem: Shortcuts feel slow or laggy.
Fix: This can be caused by extensions. Use the command >Developer: Show Running Extensions to identify slow extensions and consider disabling or replacing them.