Switch focus between editor and integrated terminal
Visual Studio-CodeVisual Studio-Code Problem Overview
Does anyone know the keyboard shortcut (Mac and Linux) to switch the focus between editor and integrated terminal in Visual Studio Code?
Visual Studio-Code Solutions
Solution 1 - Visual Studio-Code
While there are a lot of modal toggles and navigation shortcuts for VS Code, there isn't one specifically for "move from editor to terminal, and back again". However you can compose the two steps by overloading the key
and using the when
clause.
Solution
You can achieve the desired effect by adding the appropriate settings to the keybindings.json
file. Here are the required steps:
-
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P Windows/Linux or ⇧ ⌘ P Mac).
-
Type "Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts File" and press Enter.
-
Add the following entries to the
keybindings.json
file: // Toggle between terminal and editor focus { "key": "ctrl+", "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus" }, { "key": "ctrl+
", "command": "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup", "when": "terminalFocus" }
With these shortcuts you can focus between the editor and the Integrated Terminal using the same keystroke.
NOTE
In modern versions of VS Code (as of 2022) the Default Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON) file is read-only, so that is why for the custom settings you need to edit a separate dedicated file keybindings.json
.
More info can be found on the official Visual Studio documentation page:
Solution 2 - Visual Studio-Code
ctrl+` : To Focus on Integrated Terminal
ctrl+1 : To Focus on Editor (If editor-2 command would be ctrl+2)
Solution 3 - Visual Studio-Code
Ctrl+J works; but also shows/hides the console.
cmd+J for mac
Solution 4 - Visual Studio-Code
A little late to the game but I configured mine as the following in the keybindings.json
:
{
"key": "ctrl+`",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus",
"when": "editorTextFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+`",
"command": "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "alt+`",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.toggleTerminal"
}
I wanted separate keys for opening/closing terminal and switching focus back and forth between the windows.
Solution 5 - Visual Studio-Code
As of version : 1.26.1 (linux), the shortcut is not set by default. To set the shortcut
- open keyboard shortcuts panel [ctrl + k , ctrl + s]
- Search for Focus Terminal
- Set your shortcut
For editor focus is already set by default.
Solution 6 - Visual Studio-Code
I configured mine as following since I found ctrl+` is a bit hard to press.
{
"key": "ctrl+k",
"command": "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+j",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus",
"when": "!terminalFocus"
}
I also configured the following to move between editor group.
{
"key": "ctrl+h",
"command": "workbench.action.focusPreviousGroup",
"when": "!terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+l",
"command": "workbench.action.focusNextGroup",
"when": "!terminalFocus"
}
By the way, I configured Caps Lock to ctrl on Mac from the System Preferences => keyboard =>Modifier Keys
.
Solution 7 - Visual Studio-Code
Another option is to use F6
and shift+F6
.
F6
does "Focus Next Part", which will move focus from the editor to Panel below (Terminal, Output, Debug Console, etc).
shift+F6
does "Focus Previous Part", which will move focus from Terminal panel back to editor.
The advantage of this over ctrl + `
is that:
-
It does not hide the Terminal/Panel (if that's what you prefer. If you prefer to hide/unhide the Terminal, then just use
ctrl + `
). -
This will work with any of the Panels (Terminal, Output, Debug Console, etc).
Solution 8 - Visual Studio-Code
Hey my steps to make this work were:
ctrl + shift+ p
and look forpreferences: keyboard shortcuts
or you can use ctrl k + ctrl s
to open it directly
-
Look in the search box for
Terminal: Focus Terminal
, I set up for myselfalt + T alt + T
but you can select the combination that you want -
Look in the search box for
View: Focus Active Editor Group
, set up for myselfalt + E alt + E
but again you can select the combination that you want
That's it, I hope this help
Solution 9 - Visual Studio-Code
The default keybinding to toggle the integrated terminal is "Ctrl+`" according to VS Code keyboard shortcuts documentation page. If you don't like that shortcut you can change it in your keybindings file by adding something similar to:
{ "key": "ctrl+l", "command": "workbench.action.terminal.toggleTerminal" }
There does not seem to be a default keybinding for simply focusing the bottom panel. So, if you do not want to toggle the bottom panel, you will need to add something similar to the following to your keybindings file:
{ "key": "ctrl+t", "command": "workbench.action.focusPanel" }
Solution 10 - Visual Studio-Code
Generally, VS Code uses ctrl+j
to open Terminal, so I created a keybinding to switch with ctrl+k
combination, like below at keybindings.json
:
[ { "key": "ctrl+k", "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus" }, { "key": "ctrl+k", "command": "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup", "when": "terminalFocus" }]
Solution 11 - Visual Studio-Code
Here is a way to add your own keybinding for switching focus.
- Open your VSCode
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+P
and search for keyboard shortcuts and hit this (Preferences: Open Keyboard shortcuts). - Search for 'focus terminal' in the search panel and find this option (Terminal: Focus on Terminal View) and click on the plus icon.
- Enter the shortcut as you like which is not used and hit Enter.
- Go to Editor mode and try using your shortcut.
- Now hit
Alt+Shift+T
to go to the terminal. - Want to go back to the editor? Just Hit
Ctrl+tab
Tested on Windows 10 machine with VSCode(1.52.1)
Solution 12 - Visual Studio-Code
Try using ctrl+` to toggles the visibility of the terminal and as a result toggle the focus.
Solution 13 - Visual Studio-Code
It's not exactly what is asked, but I found it very useful and related.
If someone wants to change from one terminal to another terminal also open in the integrate terminal panel of Visual Studio, you can search for:
Terminal: Focus Next Terminal
Or add the following key shortcut and do it faster with keyboard combination.
{
"key": "alt+cmd+right",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "alt+cmd+left",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
Solution 14 - Visual Studio-Code
The answer by Shubham Jain is the best option now using the inbuilt keyboard shortcuts.
to Ctrl + ;
to Ctrl + L
This way you can have move focus between terminal and editor, and toggle terminal all in close proximity.
Solution 15 - Visual Studio-Code
SIMPLE WINDOWS SOLUTION FOR ANY KEYBOARD LAYOUT (may work for other OS but not tested)
I use a Finnish keyboard so none of the above worked but this should work for all keyboards.
- Terminal focus: Hover your mouse over the terminal text in the integrated terminal. The shortcut for focusing on the terminal will pop up - mine for example said CTRL+ö.
- Editor focus: as mentioned above use CTRL+1.
Solution 16 - Visual Studio-Code
Actually, in VS Code 1.48.1, there is a toggleTerminal
command; I don't know if it was available in previous versions ;) You can utilize it in the keybindings.json
file.
This worked for me on Windows, and should also works on Linux.
{
"key": "ctrl+alt+right",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.toggleTerminal",
"when": "editorTextFocus || terminalFocus"
}
Solution 17 - Visual Studio-Code
Here is my approach, which provides a consistent way of navigating between active terminals as well as jumping between the terminal and editor panes without closing the terminal view. You can try adding this to your keybindings.json
directly but I would recommend you go through the keybinding UI (cmd+K cmd+S
on a Mac) so you can review/manage conflicts etc.
With this I can use ctrl+x <arrow direction>
to navigate to any visible editor or terminal. Once the cursor is in the terminal section you can use ctrl+x ctrl+up
or ctrl+x ctrl+down
to cycle through the active terminals.
cmd-J
is still used to hide/show the terminal pane.
{
"key": "ctrl+x right",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNextPane",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x left",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPreviousPane",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x ctrl+down",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x ctrl+up",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x up",
"command": "workbench.action.navigateUp"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x down",
"command": "workbench.action.navigateDown"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x left",
"command": "workbench.action.navigateLeft",
"when": "!terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+x right",
"command": "workbench.action.navigateRight",
"when": "!terminalFocus"
},
Solution 18 - Visual Studio-Code
100% Working Settings...
[ { "key": "alt+right", "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus"}, { "key": "alt+left", "command": "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup", "when": "terminalFocus"} ]
> workbench.action.terminal.focus : To switch from editor to > terminal. workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup : To switch > from terminal to editor.
Solution 19 - Visual Studio-Code
For ctrl+` combination to switch between, I tried all of listed answers, but no luck. For those who has similar issue like mine, try the following shortcut within keybindings.json
: Tested on VSCode 1.59+
[{ "key": "ctrl+oem_8","command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus", "when": "!terminalFocus"},{ "key": "ctrl+oem_8","command": "workbench.action.focusActiveEditorGroup", "when": "terminalFocus"}]
Solution 20 - Visual Studio-Code
My solution:
- has one key
- if there's no terminal yet: opens a terminal and focuses on it
- if the focus is on the terminal: hide the panel and switch back to editor
- if the focus is on the editor and there's a terminal: unhides the terminal pane and focuses on it
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+alt+cmd+t",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.new",
"when": "!terminalIsOpen"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+alt+cmd+t",
"command": "terminal.focus",
"when": "terminalIsOpen && !terminalFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+shift+alt+cmd+t",
"command": "workbench.action.closePanel",
"when": "terminalIsOpen && terminalFocus"
}
Solution 21 - Visual Studio-Code
I did this by going to setting>Keyboard Shortcuts then in the section where it give a search bar type focus terminal and select the option. It will ask to type the combination which you want to set for this action. DO it. As for editor focus type" editor focus" in the search bar and type your desired key. IF you excellently add a key . it can be removed by going to edit jason as mentioned in above comments
Solution 22 - Visual Studio-Code
control + '~' will work for toggling between the two. and '`' is just above the tab button. This shortcut only works in mac.
Solution 23 - Visual Studio-Code
The shortuct changes based on the keyboard layout (QWERTY/QWERTZ/AZERTA etc.)
To find out your shortuct press Ctrl+Shift+P and go to Preferences: Keyboard Shortcuts.
From there search for View:Toggle Terminal
Solution 24 - Visual Studio-Code
With the key bindings in your keybindings.json
:
CTRL+j
andCTRL+k
shift focus between editors in an editor group and terminal windows in the terimalCTRL+h
andCTRL+l
shift focus between editor groups including the terminal
(These key bindings should feel particularly natural to vim users. Others may wish to change exchange h/j/k/l
for left/down/up/right
)
// In an editor group, ctrl+j and ctrl+k jump between editor windows
{ "key": "ctrl+j", "command": "workbench.action.nextEditorInGroup" },
{ "key": "ctrl+k", "command": "workbench.action.previousEditorInGroup" },
// In the terminal, ctrl+j and ctrl+k jump between terminal windows
{
"key": "ctrl+j",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
"when": "terminalFocus && terminalHasBeenCreated && !terminalEditorFocus || terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported && !terminalEditorFocus"
},
{
"key": "ctrl+k",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
"when": "terminalFocus && terminalHasBeenCreated && !terminalEditorFocus || terminalFocus && terminalProcessSupported && !terminalEditorFocus"
},
// In the work area, ctrl+j and ctrl+k jump between editor groups
{ "key": "ctrl+h", "command": "workbench.action.focusPreviousGroup" },
{ "key": "ctrl+l", "command": "workbench.action.focusNextGroup" },
// in the first editor group terminal, jump "back" to the terminal (if there is a terminal open)
{
"key": "ctrl+h",
"when": " terminalHasBeenCreated && terminalIsOpen && activeEditorGroupIndex == 1",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus"
},
// in the last editor group terminal, jump "forward" to the terminal (if there is a terminal open)
{
"key": "ctrl+l",
"when": "terminalHasBeenCreated && terminalIsOpen && activeEditorGroupLast",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus"
},
// in the terminal, jump "back" to the last editor group
{
"key": "ctrl+h",
"command": "workbench.action.focusLastEditorGroup",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
// in the terminal, jump "forward" to the last first group
{
"key": "ctrl+l",
"command": "workbench.action.focusFirstEditorGroup",
"when": "terminalFocus"
},
Solution 25 - Visual Studio-Code
ctrl
+ -
also works, it means to go back previous cursor position