Is there a format code shortcut for Visual Studio?

Question

In Eclipse there is a shortcut, Ctrl+Shift+F, that re-indents code and fixes comments and blank lines. Is there an equivalent for Visual Studio 2010?

VS does a subset of what Eclipse does. VS does not fix blank lines, nor reflow comments. To get the whole enchilada you need reSharper or something like that. — John Henckel
– John Henckel, Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 15:59
Why is this tagged with 3 specific versions of Visual Studio, Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012, and Visual Studio 2013? — Peter Mortensen
– Peter Mortensen, Commented Jul 20, 2019 at 10:57
The corresponding for Visual Studio Code is How do you format code in Visual Studio Code? — Peter Mortensen
– Peter Mortensen, Commented Jun 13, 2020 at 0:09

Nimantha · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-21 18:01:51Z

Visual Studio with C# key bindings

To answer the specific question, in C# you are likely to be using the C# keyboard mapping scheme, which will use these hotkeys by default:

Ctrl+E, Ctrl+D to format the entire document.

Ctrl+E, Ctrl+F to format the selection.

You can change these in menu Tools → Options → Environment → Keyboard (either by selecting a different "keyboard mapping scheme", or binding individual keys to the commands "Edit.FormatDocument" and "Edit.FormatSelection").

If you have not chosen to use the C# keyboard mapping scheme, then you may find the key shortcuts are different. For example, if you are not using the C# bindings, the keys are likely to be:

Ctrl + K + D (Entire document)

Ctrl + K + F (Selection only)

To find out which key bindings apply in your copy of Visual Studio, look in menu Edit → Advanced menu - the keys are displayed to the right of the menu items, so it's easy to discover what they are on your system.

In addition, in the Tools > Options, go to Text Editor > C# > Formatting and you can control how it formats the code.
These shortcuts (starting with Ctrl+E) are valid for Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 only. Use the shortcuts Ctrl+K+D and Ctrl+K+F to acchive the same in Visual Studio 2010 (if you are using the default configuration).
Indeed, but for clarity: the C# settings for vs2010 are still as described in my answer.
It also fixes the code that suddenly wraps into ONLY one line of code. I'm using VS 2012.
It's bugs me that i couldn't find a way to format only the current line. With MonoDevelop in the options you can set Tab to auto format the current line. In VS 2013 there is no Edit.FormatLine in the Keyboard Mapping manager. When you use Git or Svn formating any other lines than the one you are working on result in a lot of useless changes...

Marc Gravell · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-09 07:10:55Z

135

Ctrl + K + D (Entire document)

Ctrl + K + F (Selection only)

edited Feb 9, 2011 at 7:10

Marc Gravell

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answered Feb 9, 2011 at 7:03

santosh singh

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2 Comments

HelpfulProgrammer Over a year ago

I just noticed that they differ. When I format the whole document (Edit.FormatDocument) some code cleanup also happens, e.g. I have set Add/remove braces for single-line control statements (really bad description because the user has no idea what happens when you activate it^^) so the formatter always changes if(foo) bar; to if(foo) { bar; }. executing Edit.FormatSelection doesn’t change that. Might be a bug, gonna report it if I cannot find anything.

HelpfulProgrammer Over a year ago

Ok, I just realized that it‘s not possible to execute all actions as the user selection can obviously be anything and not include all opening/closing parentheses etc. I still reported it because some actions should still be possible to perform.

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-12 10:06:24Z

51

Try Ctrl + K + D (don't lift the Ctrl key in between).

edited Jun 12, 2020 at 10:06

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 9, 2011 at 6:58

Numan

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2 Comments

rob Over a year ago

odd, CTRL+K+CTRL+D works (comes up in that status bar that it is recognised but CTRL+K+D does not and does nothing, might have something to do with the editor profile, but I can not remember which option I choose.

tbs Over a year ago

This should be mentioned properly because I had no idea what ctrl+K,ctrl+D meant. I wonder why pressing 2 keys is necessary for something this basic.

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-12 10:05:53Z

Yes, you can use the two-chord hotkey (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+F if you're using the General profile) to format your selection.

Other formatting options are under menu Edit → Advanced, and like all Visual Studio commands, you can set your own hotkey via menu Tools → Options → Environment → Keyboard (the format selection command is called Edit.FormatSelection).

Formatting doesn't do anything with blank lines, but it will indent your code according to some rules that are usually slightly off from what you probably want.

If by "slightly off" you mean that the braces for block statements start on a new line, then it is not a problem. That is actually how I prefer it anyway.
These are the default shortcuts for Visual Studio 2010. For VS 2005 and 2008 use the default shortcuts Ctrl+E+D and Ctrl+E+F.
It will format the code in the way defined by your settings - the default if you don't configure them, as possible using Tools » Options » Text Editor » CSS (for VS 2012, probably something very similar in previous versions if not the same.)

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-12 10:07:44Z

19

ReSharper - Ctrl + Alt + F

Visual Studio 2010 - Ctrl + K, Ctrl + D

edited Jun 12, 2020 at 10:07

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 9, 2011 at 6:59

isxaker

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Comments

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-12 10:10:50Z

14

Format the entire document:

Ctrl + K + D

edited Jun 12, 2020 at 10:10

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 31, 2016 at 12:15

Tijo Tom

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Comments

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-12 10:09:53Z

To align the text in the proper format -

Ctrl + K + D for front end pages like .aspx or .cshtml
Ctrl + K + F for a .cs page

But observe to press all buttons in sequence...

Nimantha · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-21 18:04:50Z

11

Simply

For Visual Studio Code Use Alt+Shift+F

for Visual Studio IDE Press Ctrl+K followed by Ctrl+D

It will beautify/format your entire file.

edited Aug 21 at 18:04

Nimantha

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answered Jan 26, 2021 at 8:30

Abraham

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1 Comment

Mehdi Over a year ago

when the paying version is worse than the free one...

Nimantha · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-21 18:03:26Z

10

Most easy, try once:

Select all codes using: Ctrl+A
Press: Ctrl+K+D

edited Aug 21 at 18:03

Nimantha

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answered May 12, 2022 at 19:25

Kush Kant Dayal Pune

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1 Comment

Sam Jones Over a year ago

True, but why add the same answer again?

skdishansachin · Accepted Answer · 2025-01-04 12:14:11Z

6

In Visual Studio 2022, it's Ctrl + K followed by Ctrl + D.

edited Jan 4 at 12:14

answered Sep 4, 2023 at 7:09

skdishansachin

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Comments

Tudor · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-05 13:47:16Z

5

Right click on the code, and you have "Format Document". In my case it is Ctrl+Shift+I

edited Aug 5, 2019 at 13:47

answered Aug 5, 2019 at 13:41

Tudor

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3 Comments

Peter Mortensen Over a year ago

What version of Visual Studio is the screenshot from?

Zimano Over a year ago

@PeterMortensen This is from Visual Studio Code, which isn't what the OP asked about, and therefore doesn't answer the question.

Lance U. Matthews Over a year ago

Nor is this C# code.

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-12 10:08:26Z

5

Select all text in the document and press Ctrl + E + D.

edited Jun 12, 2020 at 10:08

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 25, 2014 at 13:42

Mahendra Mali

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Comments

Nimantha · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-21 18:06:09Z

Change these shortcuts in Visual Studio

Tools → Options → Environment → Keyboard

and then change the command

"Edit.FormatDocument" or "Edit.FormatSelection"

assign the same shortcut Alt+Shift+F as in visual studio code in order to not remember another one and confuse between each other.

Nimantha · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-21 18:07:35Z

Check your own key combination under Edit > Advanced > Format Selection. You can see, in my case it is Ctrl+K, Ctrl+F. So that means your highlighted selection of the code will be formatted when you press Ctrl+K, still hold down Ctrl, then press F.

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