The Hidden Keyboard Shortcuts of Visual Studio 2005

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.