Make Ctrl+C=copy and Ctrl+Shift+C=interrupt in VSCode terminal

Question

I'd like to have Ctrl+C copy and Ctrl+Shift+C send Ctrl+C (interrupt).

I figured out the first half

{
    "key": "ctrl+c",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.copySelection",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
}

But how do I do the second half? Is there a command to send an arbitrary key press to the terminal?

I found `sendText`, but it's not exported as a command. Filed https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/31262. — Mikel, Jul 22 '17 at 18:17
Came here looking exactly for this, so thank you! But just realized that getting used to it has the potential of causing a lot of headache when working with regular terminals. Did you have problems? — marcelocra, Jun 13 '20 at 13:33
@marcelocra I configure my terminal emulator to use these shortcuts, too. — Mikel, Jun 13 '20 at 16:21

score 32 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 20 '22 at 19:28

32

With Visual Studio Code 1.28.0 there is a command, workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence, to send arbitrary keypresses to the terminal. See Send text from a keybinding to the terminal.

  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+c",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
    "args": {
      "text": "\u0003"
    },
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  }

edited Jul 20 '22 at 19:28

wjandrea

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answered Oct 10 '18 at 08:35

Mark

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You might be interested in how I am using it to interrupt, confirm and return with just ctrl+shift+c from anywhere which is otherwise annoying. See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46899480/vscode-terminal-terminate-process-without-prompt – Mark Oct 10 '18 at 17:59
This works fine for local sessions, but over the SSH plugin it doesn't seem to work. – Brent Aug 25 '20 at 16:57
9

If you’re looking for a quick way to get here, it’s the `keybindings.json` file. Easily accessed via “Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)” – Joshua Schlichting Sep 18 '20 at 20:09

score 19 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 20 '22 at 12:53

Answers above are all good. It took me long time to figure out exactly where to put these snippets. In VSCode go to File | Preferences | Keyboard Shortcuts. Switch to json text view by pressing small icon on top-right: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON) and edit setting file: keybindings.json

Example keybindings.json:

// Place your key bindings in this file to override the defaults
[
    {
        "key": "ctrl+c",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.copySelection",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+v",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.paste",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+c",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
        "args": {
          "text": "\u0003"
        },
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
]

This should be the accepted answer because it doesn't leave anything up to interpretation and "you figure it out where to insert these lines". — blitter, Apr 15 '23 at 19:33

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 29 '22 at 04:00

4

You can use Ctrl+C for both if you add a condition for text being selected in terminal. This way Ctrl+C copies if text is selected and sends SIGINT if no text is selected:

    {
        "key": "ctrl+c",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.copySelection",
        "when": "terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported && terminalTextSelected"
    }

If you also want to make Ctrl+V work in terminal

    {
        "key": "ctrl+v",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.paste",
    },

edited Jul 29 '22 at 04:00

Pang

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answered Nov 11 '21 at 12:23

Aalex Gabi

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yo! that's great! :-) I had to follow Rav's directions where to change settings. – Daniel Katz Aug 27 '22 at 15:41
Excellent. May I suggest adding `"when": "terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported"` to the `ctrl+v` example, otherwise you may paste in the terminal when attempting to paste into an editor. – totalhack Aug 29 '22 at 14:17

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 06 '23 at 21:06

These are the bindings that work for me on OSX, I use Karabiner to map my keyboard shortcuts like a Windows machine. So the control key is command.

[
{
    "key": "cmd+shift+c",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.copySelection",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
    "key": "cmd+v",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.paste",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
    "key": "cmd+c",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.sendSequence",
    "args": {
      "text": "\u0003"
    },
    "when": "terminalFocus"
},
]

Make Ctrl+C=copy and Ctrl+Shift+C=interrupt in VSCode terminal

4 Answers4

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