Is there any keyboard shortcut or alternative way to show/hide the lower pane (Error List, Output, Watch etc. tabs) in Visual Studio. I am looking for something similar to Ctrl + R
in Microsoft SQL Management Studio which toggles the Results pane.
I understand I can pin/unpin, resize or move around the lower pane but it is not very convenient. I like the fact that when I am typing code, Visual Studio on-the-fly shows the any coding errors, but for that I have to keep the Errors pane pinned, but that reduces my coding window, specially when working on single-monitor systems or on laptops. If I keep it unpinned, then I have to every now and then click on the Error List tab to check.
There is no command in VS2017 for toggle the tool window. For me, I install the macro extension, write a script for hiding all tool windows and binds a shortcut key to this macro.
Here is the steps:
1) First, you will need to install the Macros for Visual Studio
2) Then in macro explorer, Tools> Macro> Macro Explorer
, add this macro:
var windows = dte.Windows;
for (var i = 1; i <= windows.Count; i++) {
var window = windows.Item(i);
// Check that this is a tool window and not a document
if (window.Document == null && window.Visible) {
window.Activate();
dte.ExecuteCommand("Window.Hide");
}
}
3) Set this macro as macro command 1 in macro explorer.
4) Finally, in Tools> Options> Environment> Keyboard
, assign the
"Tool.MacroCommand1" to your favorite keyboard shortcut.
Peronsally, I configure Alt + * for showing/ hiding tool windows
- Alt + `: Tool MacroCommand1 (for hide all tool window)
- Alt + 1: View Solution explorer
- Alt + 2: View Bookmark
- Alt + 3: View Find results
- Alt + 4: View Output
- Alt + 5: View Call heirarchy
- Alt + 6: View Task List
I haven't changed much from the default setup and on mine shortcuts currently exist for:
- Ctrl+Alt+O - display the output
window
- Ctrl+-\,Ctrl+E - display
Error window
They don't toggle though as far as I know.
There is Hot Windows extension that provides additional commands for tool windows management.