"Hidden" Keyboard Shortcuts in Visual Studio 2005

  • Article

I’m calling these keyboard shortcuts “hidden” because they are not bound to any commands, so you won’t be able to find these under Tools – Options – Keyboard.

 

Keyboard Shortcut To Reach the Command Bar Toolbars

 

To reach the standard toolbar that 99% of the time lives under the Main Menu, use the following keyboard shortcut combination:

Press Alt to put focus on the File Menu.

Press Ctrl-Tab to navigate among the different toolbars.

 

Keyboard Shortcut To Reach Toolbars within a Tool Window (like Solution Explorer)

 

Press Shift-Alt. (not alt-shift).

 

Keyboard Shortcut To Drag a Floating Tool Window Around

 

Most tool windows are docked by default. If you want to make a tool window floating, go to Window – Floating, which will enable floating. Then press Alt-minus. This will drop down a window “Move” menu. Select move and press enter. Now you can move the tool window around via the keyboard.