Essential Keyboard Shortcuts Every Developer Should Know
Master the most important keyboard shortcuts for VS Code, terminal, browser DevTools, and Git. Speed up your workflow with these must-know key combinations.
Keyboard shortcuts are a developer's secret weapon. Mastering them can dramatically speed up your workflow and reduce context switching. Here's a comprehensive guide to the shortcuts every developer should know.
Basic Editing Shortcuts
Ctrl/Cmd + C - Copy selected text
Ctrl/Cmd + X - Cut selected text
Ctrl/Cmd + V - Paste from clipboard
Ctrl/Cmd + A - Select all
Ctrl/Cmd + Z - Undo last action
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Z - Redo (or Ctrl + Y on Windows)
Ctrl/Cmd + S - Save current file
Ctrl/Cmd + W - Close current tab/window
VS Code / IDE Navigation
Ctrl/Cmd + P - Quick file open (type filename)
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P - Command palette
Ctrl/Cmd + G - Go to specific line number
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + O - Go to symbol in file
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + F - Search across all files
Ctrl/Cmd + B - Toggle sidebar visibility
Ctrl/Cmd + J - Toggle terminal panel
Ctrl + Tab - Switch between open files
VS Code / IDE Editing
Ctrl/Cmd + D - Select next occurrence of word
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + L - Select all occurrences of word
Alt + Up/Down - Move current line up/down
Alt + Shift + Up/Down - Duplicate line up/down
Ctrl/Cmd + / - Toggle line comment
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + / - Toggle block comment
Ctrl/Cmd + [ - Outdent line
Ctrl/Cmd + ] - Indent line
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + K - Delete entire line
Ctrl/Cmd + Enter - Insert line below
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Enter - Insert line above
Multi-Cursor Editing
Alt + Click - Add cursor at click position
Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + Up/Down - Add cursor above/below
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + L - Add cursor to all occurrences
Esc - Exit multi-cursor mode
Code Folding
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + [ - Fold current region
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + ] - Unfold current region
Ctrl/Cmd + K, Ctrl/Cmd + 0 - Fold all regions
Ctrl/Cmd + K, Ctrl/Cmd + J - Unfold all regions
Terminal Shortcuts
Ctrl + C - Cancel/interrupt current command
Ctrl + D - Exit terminal (or send EOF)
Ctrl + L - Clear terminal screen
Ctrl + R - Search command history
Ctrl + A - Move cursor to line start
Ctrl + E - Move cursor to line end
Ctrl + U - Delete from cursor to line start
Ctrl + K - Delete from cursor to line end
Ctrl + W - Delete word before cursor
Tab - Auto-complete command or path
Up/Down - Navigate command history
Browser DevTools
F12 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I - Open DevTools
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C - Inspect element mode
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + J - Open Console directly
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + M - Toggle device mode
Ctrl/Cmd + R - Reload page
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + R - Hard reload (clear cache)
Esc - Toggle Console drawer in DevTools
Git Shortcuts (VS Code)
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + G - Open Source Control panel
Ctrl/Cmd + Enter - Commit staged changes (in commit message box)
Practice these shortcuts daily until they become second nature. The time invested will pay off exponentially as you code faster with fewer interruptions. DevType helps you build this kind of automatic skill for code syntax.
Put these tips into practice!
Use DevType to type real code and improve your typing skills.
Start Practicing