Visual Studio Code Documentation

Visual Studio Code - Basic Editing

This guide covers the fundamental editing features in Visual Studio Code (VS Code), empowering you to navigate, select, and manipulate code efficiently. Mastering these basics is key to a productive development workflow.

Core Editing Features

• Cursor Movement: Navigate your code with precision using keyboard shortcuts. Arrow keys, Ctrl+Arrow (or Option+Arrow on macOS) for word-by-word movement, and Ctrl+Home/End (Cmd+Up/Down) for moving to the beginning/end of the file are essential.
• Selection: Select text efficiently. Use Shift + Arrow Keys for character-by-character selection. Hold Shift while using word or line movement shortcuts for larger selections. Double-clicking selects a word, and triple-clicking selects a line.
• Copy, Cut, and Paste: Standard operations using Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+V (or Cmd+C, Cmd+X, Cmd+V on macOS). VS Code also supports pasting with formatting preservation and block selection pasting.
• Undo and Redo: Easily revert or reapply changes with Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y (or Cmd+Z and Cmd+Shift+Z on macOS).

Advanced Editing Techniques

Multiple Cursors and Selections

VS Code's multi-cursor support is a game-changer for repetitive tasks. You can:

• Add Cursor Above/Below: Use Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down (or Cmd+Option+Up/Down) to add cursors in adjacent lines.
• Add Cursor to Next/Previous Occurrence: Place multiple cursors at the same time by selecting a word and pressing Ctrl+D (or Cmd+D) multiple times.
• Column (Box) Selection: Hold Alt (or Option on macOS) and drag your mouse to create a rectangular selection. You can then type, delete, or paste across multiple lines simultaneously.

Code Folding

Collapse and expand code blocks to declutter your view. Hover over the gutter to the left of the line numbers to reveal folding icons (- to collapse, + to expand). You can also use Ctrl+Shift+[ to fold, and Ctrl+Shift+] to unfold. Folding all code blocks can be done with Ctrl+K Ctrl+0 and unfolding all with Ctrl+K Ctrl+Shift+0.

Auto-Closing Brackets and Quotes

By default, VS Code automatically closes brackets, parentheses, and quotes as you type them. This feature can be toggled in the settings.

Indentation and Formatting

Maintain consistent code style with VS Code's powerful indentation and formatting tools.

• Auto-Indent: When you press Enter, VS Code intelligently indents the new line based on the surrounding code.
• Format Document: Trigger a full document reformat with Shift+Alt+F (or Shift+Option+F). Ensure you have a formatter extension installed for your language (e.g., Prettier for JavaScript/TypeScript).
• Format Selection: Select a block of code and press Ctrl+K Ctrl+F (or Cmd+K Cmd+F) to format only the selected portion.

Find and Replace

Efficiently search and modify text within your files.

• Find: Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F) to open the Find widget.
• Replace: Click the arrow in the Find widget to reveal the Replace field and use Ctrl+H (or Cmd+Option+F).
• Options: Utilize case sensitivity, whole word matching, and regular expressions for more powerful searches.

Emmet Snippets

VS Code has built-in support for Emmet, allowing you to write HTML and CSS much faster using abbreviations. For example, typing div.container>ul>li*5>a{Item $} and pressing Tab will generate a complete HTML structure.

Tips for Efficient Editing

• Keyboard Shortcuts: Familiarize yourself with common keyboard shortcuts. The Command PalettePress Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P) to open the Command Palette, which lists all available commands. is your best friend for discovering commands and their shortcuts.
• Snippets: Leverage built-in and custom snippets for frequently used code patterns.
• IntelliSense: Benefit from intelligent code completion, parameter info, and quick info popups provided by IntelliSense.