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WholeTomato

Keyboard Shortcuts

Visual Assist supports keyboard access to all of its features.

Default Shortcuts

Several of the most popular commands in Visual Assist have shortcuts that are active after installation of Visual Assist, but only if their shortcuts were available. Visual Assist adds to your assignments; it does not overwrite them.

The default shortcuts of Visual Assist remain active until you reassign the shortcuts to other commands. For example, Alt+G activates VAssistX.GotoImplementation until you assign Alt+G to a different command, even if you assign an additional shortcut to VAssistX.GotoImplementation.

Current Shortcuts

View a list of shortcuts currently assigned and their meanings in VAssistX | Help | Keyboard Shortcuts.

Several shortcuts well known to long-time users of Visual Assist, e.g. Shift+Alt+O at global scope, are no longer available for default assignment; Visual Studio has usurped the shortcuts that Visual Assist used.

A dialog to assign recommended shortcuts, including those usurped, opens several days after installation of Visual Assist. Open the dialog manually via:

VAssistX | Help | Keyboard Shortcuts | Recommended

Commands Available for Assignment

The following commands are available for assignment. Commands are effective throughout the IDE or only when focus is in a text editor.

 default shortcut or shortcut assigned when accepting recommendations
† shortcut assigned via recommendations
‡ shortcut whose scope is increased via recommendations

Command Description Default
Shortcut
Relevant
Globally
Relevant in
Text Editor
AboutVisualAssist Open About dialog for Visual Assist      
BindBreakpointsToCurrentThread Bind Breakpoints to Current Thread    
BracesAdd Add braces around current statement    
BracesRemove Remove braces from one-line "compound" statement    
BracesToggle Add braces to, or remove from, current statement    
CheckforNewVersion Check for new version of Visual Assist  
CloneFindReferencesResults Clone Find References results window    
Documentation Open browser window to documentation      
EnableDisable Enable and disable Visual Assist  
EnterKey Open dialog to enter an activation key      
FindNextbyContext Find next reference to a symbol    
FindPreviousbyContext Find previous reference to a symbol    
FindReferences Open Find references tool window for current symbol Shift+Alt+F  
FindReferencesinFile Open Find references tool window for current symbol in current file    
FindReferencesResults Open Find References results window with last results    
FindSelected Highlight words matching the word under caret Alt+K †  
FindSymbolDialog Find Symbol in solution Shift+Alt+S
Forums Open browser window to discussion forums      
GotoImplementation GoTo Implementation or declaration Alt+G  
GotoMember GoTo Member    
GotoRelated GoTo Related symbols Shift+Alt+G  
HashtagsGroupByFile Toggle grouping of entries in VA Hashtags tool window    
HashtagsNext Go to location of next entry in VA Hashtags tool window    
HashtagsNextInGroup Go to next entry in current group: hashtag or file    
HashtagsPrevious Go to location of previous entry in VA Hashtags tool window    
HashtagsPreviousInGroup Go to previous entry in current group: hashtag or file    
HashtagsSearch Move focus to filter edit control of VA Hashtags tool window    
InsertPath Insert Path    
ListIncludeFiles Force the header file hierarchy to appear in HCB    
ListMethodsInCurrentFile List methods in file Alt+M  
NavigateBack Navigate Back Alt+Left Arrow  ‡
NavigateForward Navigate Forward Alt+Right Arrow †
OpenContextMenu Open VA context menu in text editor    
OpenContextMenuOld Open old VA context menu in text editor (Deprecated)    
OpenCorrespondingFile Open Corresponding File Alt+O  
OpenFileInSolutionDialog Open File in Solution dialog Shift+Alt+O  ‡
Options Open options dialog for Visual Assist  
OutlineContextMenu Open context menu of VA Outline    
OutlineRefresh Refresh VA Outline    
OutlineSelectInEditor Select corresponding item in text editor from VA Outline    
OutlineToggleAutoUpdate Toggle auto update in VA Outline    
OutlineToggleComments Toggle comments in VA Outline    
Paste Open menu of Multiple Clipboards Ctrl+Shift+V †  
PurchaseLicense Open browser window to purchase a license      
RefactorAddForwardDeclaration Add Forward Declaration    
RefactorAddInclude Add #include Directive    
RefactorAddMember Add Member    
RefactorAddSimilarMember Add Similar Member    
RefactorChangeSignature Change Signature    
RefactorContextMenu Open Quick Action and Refactoring menu Shift+Alt+Q  
RefactorConvertBetweenPointerAndInstance Convert Between Pointer and Instance    
RefactorCreateDeclaration Create Declaration    
RefactorCreateFromUsage Create From Usage Shift+Alt+C  
RefactorCreateImplementation Create Implementation    
RefactorDocumentMethod Document Method    
RefactorEncapsulateField Encapsulate Field    
RefactorExtractMethod Extract Method    
RefactorMoveImplementationToSourceFile Move Implementation to Source File    
RefactorMoveImplementationToHeaderFile Move Implementation to Header File / Class Declaration    
RefactorRename Rename Shift+Alt+R  
RefactorSimplifyInstanceDefinition Simplify Instance Declaration    
RefResultsCancel Cancel Find References results    
RefResultsClearAll Clear all Find References results    
RefResultsContextMenu Open context menu of Find References results dialog    
RefResultsCopy Copy text from Find References results dialog    
RefResultsCut Cut text from Find References results dialog    
RefResultsDelete Delete item from Find References results dialog    
RefResultsFind Find in Find References results    
RefResultsFindNext Find next in Find References results    
RefResultsFindPrevious Find previous in Find References results    
RefResultsGoto Go to method from Find References results    
RefResultsNext Next in Find References results    
RefResultsPrevious Previous in Find References results    
RefResultsRefresh Refresh Find References results    
RefResultsToggleHighlight Toggle highlight in Find References results    
RenewMaintenance Open a browser window to renew software maintenance      
ReparseCurrentFile Reparse current file    
ResetEditorZoom Reset editor zoom level to 100% Ctrl+0 †  
ScopeNext Move to Next Scope Alt+Down Arrow †  
ScopePrevious Move to Previous Scope Alt+Up Arrow †  
SelectionBlockComment Surround selection with block comment characters    
SelectionBlockUncomment Uncomment surrounded selection    
SelectionLineComment Surround selection with line comment characters    
SelectionLineUncomment Uncomment surrounded selection    
SelectionToggleBlockComment Toggle surrounded selection with block comment characters    
SelectionToggleLineComment Toggle surrounded selection with line comment characters    
SkipAllBreakpoints Skip All Breakpoints    
SmartSelectExtend Smart Select to initiate or extend a selection Shift+Alt+] †   
SmartSelectExtendBlock Smart Select to initiate or extend a block selection Alt+]  
SmartSelectShrink Smart Select to decrease a selection Shift+Alt+[   
SmartSelectShrinkBlock Smart Select to decrease a block selection Alt+[  
SortSelectedLines Sort Selected Lines    
SpellCheck Spell Check comments and strings    
SpellCheckWord Spell Check word    
SubmitaRequest Open a browser window to request technical support      
SurroundSelectionWithBraces Surround Selection with braces    
SurroundSelectionWithComment Surround Selection with comment characters    
SurroundSelectionWithIfdefOrRegion Surround Selection with #ifdef or #region    
SurroundSelectionWithParentheses Surround Selection with parentheses    
TechnicalSupport Open a browser window to resources for technical support      
TipoftheDay Open the Tip-of-the-Day dialog      
ToggleColoring Toggle Enhanced Syntax Coloring  
ToggleRepairCase Toggle Repair Case  
ToggleSuggestions Toggle Suggestions  
ToggleUnderlining Toggle underlining of mistyped symbols and misspelled words  
VAHashtags Open the VA Hashtags tool window Shift+Alt+H
VAOutline Open the VA Outline  
VaSnippetEdit Edit VA Snippets  
VaSnippetInsert Insert a VA Snippet    
VAView Open the VA View  
VAViewFIS Open the Files in Solution dropdown in the VA View    
VAViewHCB Move focus to HCB component of the VA View    
VAViewHCBToggleLock Move focus to push pin in the VA View, then Space to toggle    
VAViewMRU Move focus to the MRU component of the VA View    
VAViewSIS Open the Symbols in Solution dropdown in the VA View