Member Avatar for Mr. K

What are the most useful keyboard shortcuts for visual c++ 2008?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by pseudorandom21

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As pointed out, the official keybinding reference is the canonical list, and and rightly flagged debugger and navigation basics. Below are compact, high‑value shortcuts and quick tips that complement those posts — focused on Visual C++ 2008 workflows and on what people commonly add to speed editing, building and debugging.

  • Ctrl+Shift+B — Build solution (fast full build).
  • Ctrl+F5 — Run without debugging (quick test runs).
  • Ctrl+Shift-F5 — Restart debugging (rebuild + run).
  • Ctrl+F10 — Run to cursor (handy while debugging).
  • Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C / Ctrl+K, Ctrl+U — Comment / Uncomment selection.
  • Ctrl+K, Ctrl+D — Format whole document (or Ctrl+K, Ctrl+F for selection).
  • Ctrl+J — List members / IntelliSense popup.
  • Ctrl+Tab — Cycle open editor tabs.
  • Ctrl+Shift+F — Find in files.
  • Ctrl+K, Ctrl-K then Ctrl+K, Ctrl-N / Ctrl+K, Ctrl-P — Toggle and navigate bookmarks.

These are the shortcuts most C++ devs add to their muscle memory; many are listed in the Visual Studio shortcut reference. ()

Quick, repeatable workflow

  • Fast iterate: Ctrl+Shift+B then Ctrl+F5 to build and run without attaching the debugger.
  • When you need to inspect behavior: set a breakpoint or use Ctrl+F10 (run to cursor), and Ctrl+Shift-F5 to restart the session when state gets messy.

Customize and troubleshoot

  • To view, change or assign keys: Tools → Options → Environment → Keyboard; type a command in "Show commands containing", press the desired keys in "Press shortcut key(s)" and click Assign. You can change the mapping scheme or export/import keyboard settings. (devblogs.microsoft.com)
  • If a VS shortcut triggers an OS action (for example screen rotation using Ctrl+Alt+arrow keys), disable that shortcut in your graphics/OS settings — it’s a common source of surprise. (stackoverflow.com)

Printable reference

These shortcuts plus a small, consistent remap (Tools→Options→Keyboard) will save more time than memorizing every function key.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for jonsca

Have a look at (there's a nicer version for VS 2010, it's probably virtually the same set of keybindings).

commented: THanks Jonsca +1
Member Avatar for Mr. K

thanks jonsca

Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

Of all those, I only use F5, F5, F9, F10 and F11 because those are the ones for compiling and debugging. I also like Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] keys, which are macros for finding beginning and ending {, [ and (

Member Avatar for pseudorandom21

This isn't a Visual Studio thing, but the home key group is your BEST friend.

Home & end will move to the beginning and end of a line, page up & page down scroll pages at a time.

Shift + (home || end) will highlight an entire line,
Ctrl + (left arrow || right arrow) will move the cursor a word at a time.
Ctrl + Shift + (left arrow || right arrow) will highlight a word at a time.

and the "delete" key I also find very useful, it's like the backspace key except it deletes the character in FRONT of the cursor. When navigating text with my arrow keys the delete key is very close by also.

Unfortunately I haven't found a good use for "insert" mode yet... I don't know that I ever will, I think it is really just useless.

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