Visual Studio Tips and Extensions
These are the extensions I use in Visual Studio as well as common short cuts, (that I keep forgetting).
Visual Studio Shortcuts
| Shortcut (All Profiles) | Command | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl+T | Go To All | Navigate to any file, type, member, or symbol declaration |
| F12 (also Ctrl+Click) | Go To Definition | Navigate to where a symbol is defined |
| Ctrl+F12 | Go To Implementation | Navigate from a base type or member to its various implementations |
| Shift+F12 | Find All References | See all symbol or literal references |
| Alt+Home | Go To Base | Navigate up the inheritance chain |
| Ctrl+. | Quick Actions and Refactoring | See what code fixes, code generation actions, refactorings, or other quick actions are available at your cursor position or code selection |
| Ctrl+D | Duplicate line | Duplicates the line of code that the cursor is in (available in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.6 and later) |
| Shift+Alt++/- | Expand/Contract selection | Expands or contracts the current selection in the editor (available in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.5 and later) |
| Shift + Alt + . | Insert Next Matching Caret | Adds a selection and caret at the next location that matches the current selection (available in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.8 and later) |
| Ctrl+Q | Search | Search all Visual Studio settings |
| F5 | Start Debugging | Start debugging your application |
| Ctrl+F5 | Run without Debug | Run your application locally without debugging |
| Ctrl+K,D (Default Profile) or Ctrl+E,D (C# Profile) | Format Document | Cleans up formatting violations in your file based on your newline, spacing, and indentation settings |
| Ctrl+**,Ctrl+E** (Default Profile) or Ctrl+W,E (C# Profile) | View Error List | See all errors in your document, project, or solution |
| Alt + PgUp/PgDn | Go to Next/Previous Issue | Jump to the previous/next error, warning, suggestion in your document (available in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.8 and later) |
| Ctrl+K,/ | Toggle single line comment/uncomment | This command adds or removes a single line comment depending on whether your selection is already commented |
| Ctrl+Shift+/ | Toggle block comment/uncomment | This command adds or removes block comments depending on what you have selected |
Windows Navigation
| Shortcut (All Profiles) | Command | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alt+Shift+Enter | Zen Mode | Windows open in full screen |
| Ctrl+Tab | Show All Open Windows | Opens a dialog, showing all open windows. |
| Ctrl+F6 | Go To Next Window | Navigate to next window |
| Ctrl+Shift+F6 | Go To Previous Window | Navigate to previous window |
| Ctrl+F4 | Close current window | Close the current window |
| Alt+W+L | Close all windows | Close all windows that are opened |
Extensions
Productivity Power Tools extension
The Productivity Power Tools extension is now a collection of 15 other extensions, making it easier to manage and update the child extensions with new features without having to re-install the entire Productivity Power Tools collection
Tip: One install you can enforce code formatting when saving document. Go to Tools->Options and select the Productivity Power Tool section.
Visual Studio Spell Checker
Visual Studio Spell Checker. An editor extension that checks the spelling of comments, strings, and plain text as you type or interactively with a tool window. It can also spell check an entire solution, project, or selected items. Options are available to define multiple languages to spell check against.
Git Diff Margin
Git Diff Margin. Git Diff Margin displays live Git changes of the currently edited file on Visual Studio margin and scroll bar.
EditorConfig Language Service
Create code style preferences in an .editorconfig file, and the EditorConfig Language Service is the extension that makes writing those files a breeze.
The EditorConfig Project helps developers define and maintain consistent coding styles between different editors, but it doesn’t give language support for editing those files. This extension provides that capability.
Web Essentials
No list of extensions for Visual Studio would be complete without mentioning Web Essentials. Like the Productivity Power Tools, Web Essentials is now a collection of 25 child extensions that can be updated and maintained separately.
GitHub Extensions
GitHub Extension for Visual StudioThe GitHub Extension for Visual Studio makes it easy to connect to and work with your repositories on GitHub and GitHub Enterprise from directly within Visual Studio 2015 or newer. Clone existing repositories or create new ones and start collaborating!