Assign code snippet to keyboard shortcut in Visual Studio

Question

Anyone knows how to assign key shortcut to specific code snippet?

I would like to assign for instance CTRL+K,CTRL+J to a #region snippet.

Therefore by able to:

select text,
press CTRL+K,CTRL+J =>
selected text would be surrounded with #region .. #endregion.

I hate when I have to take my hands out of keyboard for more time than necessary:).

EDIT: For more understanding, I am asking how to bind key shortcut directly to SPECIFIC snippet. Opening snippet selector wont work for me. If I have to search through all my snippets to get to a the #region one, its worse then writting all its code by myself.

Thx for any suggestions.

ctrl+k +s pops up surround with selection, then you need to select #region — Renatas M., Apr 25 '12 at 09:22
thank you, but i want to bind shortcut directly to #region not just open snippet selector — aerkain, Apr 25 '12 at 12:15
This would be an extremely useful feature, but have not found a solution either. — mateuscb, May 23 '13 at 21:01
I couldn't find a solution either. The only way is CTRL + "k" + "s" and then navigate the snippet selector with the mouse or typing the snippet name/directory then press ENTER. The field in the snippet code appears to be completely useless in this case. — f.cipriani, Apr 23 '15 at 13:53

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 11 '19 at 09:09

4

Type a < and then type your snippet shorcut(your XML file Name) and then press tab.

you can get more info from this link https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/xml-tools/how-to-use-xml-snippets?view=vs-2017

for example i have a code snippet which i've set xml file name and its shortcut to flog

when i want to use it directly to my code i do like this:

<flog and press tab it Works.

answered Mar 11 '19 at 09:09

Hassan Ahmadi

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if you skip IntelliSence by esc and type the shortcut it would be work in VS2017 too. – Hassan Ahmadi Mar 11 '19 at 09:14
The < key works when you are editing a xml file, not code file. – an phu Aug 05 '20 at 04:31

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 10 '15 at 02:52

The closest solution I've found for this is to copy the intended snippet to your local snippets directory.

e.g. For VS-2015: %Userprofile%\Documents\Visual Studio 2015\Code Snippets\Visual C#\My Code Snippets

Then open it in a text editor and change the shortcut to something quick and simple such as '1'.

Now to use it, all you need to do is press Ctrl+K+S > Enter > 1 > Enter

Additionally, you can make it even quicker by changing the hotkey for the surround-with command. (Tools > Options > Keyboard > Edit.SurroundWith)

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 04 '20 at 07:40

I think you may want to try adding a <Shortcut> tag inside your MySnippet.snippet file

<Header>
   <Title>Square Root</Title>
   <Author>Myself</Author>
   <Description>Calculates the square root of 16.</Description>
   <Shortcut>sqrt</Shortcut>
 </Header>

For details check out : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/walkthrough-creating-a-code-snippet?view=vs-2019#description-and-shortcut-fields

To add a shortcut, add a Shortcut element within the Header element

This is the easiest and most versatile solution – Jim U Jul 11 '21 at 02:28 — Jim U, Jul 11 '21 at 02:28

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 17 '20 at 13:10

For me the fastest solution was to Import a Folder named "1", then Add the snippet (my name was "block") and mark it in the 1-Folder.

Then i can insert the snippet by <Ctrl+K,X> + <Enter> + <Enter>

First Enter chooses 1 (the Folder with MY snippets) and the second Enter chooses my most used snippet (must be alphabetically first)

Assign code snippet to keyboard shortcut in Visual Studio

4 Answers4

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