Boost Your VSCode Productivity with Essential Settings and Shortcuts

Quick Project Switching

Press Ctrl+R to instantly switch between multiple opened projects or folders, closing the current one and keeping only a single window active.

Fast File Opening and Preview Mode Fix

Use Cmd+P to open the quick file picker, which orders files by recent usage. By default, files opened this way appear in preview mode (italic tab title) and are overwritten when a new file is opened. Add the following to settings.json to disable preview mode:

{
  "workbench.editor.enablePreviewFromQuickOpen": false
}

Hide the Left‑Side Opened Files Panel

Set the explorer panel visibility to zero so only the file tabs remain:

{
  "explorer.openEditors.visible": 0
}

Custom Window Title

Replace the default "filename -- folder" title with an absolute path by editing settings.json:

{
  "window.title": "${dirty} ${activeEditorMedium}${separator}${rootName}"
}

You can also substitute the separator placeholder with an emoji, e.g., ${separator} → 😄.

Breadcrumb Navigation

Enable breadcrumbs for quick navigation within a file (especially useful for large utility files) by adding:

{
  "breadcrumbs.enabled": true
}

Minimap Optimization

Improve minimap performance and readability with these settings:

{
  "editor.minimap.renderCharacters": false, // stop rendering actual characters
  "editor.minimap.maxColumn": 200,          // limit width
  "editor.minimap.showSlider": "always"    // always show the viewport slider
}

Result: the minimap displays colored blocks instead of tiny characters.

Cursor Tweaks

Make the cursor animation smoother and more pleasant:

{
  "editor.cursorBlinking": "phase",
  "editor.cursorSmoothCaretAnimation": true
}

Custom Theme Details

Use editor.tokenColorCustomizations to define TextMate rules, for example making function names bold:

{
  "editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
    "textMateRules": [
      {
        "scope": ["entity.name.function", "support.function"],
        "settings": { "fontStyle": "bold" }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Refer to the VSCode theme‑color and syntax‑highlight guides for more options.

Handy Keyboard Shortcuts

Cmd+B

– toggle the Explorer panel. Opt+↑/↓ – move the current line up or down (or move selected lines). Opt+Shift+↑/↓ – duplicate the line(s) instead of moving. Cmd+Shift+P – open the command palette; type Inspect Key Mappings to view current shortcuts. Cmd+G – find the next occurrence of the current search term; add Shift to go to the previous. Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab – cycle through open tabs. Cmd+←/→ – jump to the start or end of the current line. Cmd+↑/↓ – jump to the top or bottom of the file. Opt+←/→ – move the cursor by word instead of character.

Essential Extension: Settings Sync

To keep the above customizations synchronized across machines, install the Settings Sync extension, generate a GitHub token, and follow the setup wizard.

Final Note on User vs Workspace Settings

VSCode separates User Settings from Workspace Settings. To apply the tweaks globally across projects, place them in the User settings file.

Reference: https://dev.to/selrond/tips-to-use-vscode-more-efficiently-3h6p