A guide by @emellybmuniz with the best shortcuts and tricks to master your productivity on the platform.
- . (Period) → Press
.in any repository to open the VS Code editor (github.dev) instantly in your browser. - > (Greater than) → Opens github.dev in a new browser tab (keeping the current tab open).
- Cmd/Ctrl + K → Command Palette. Navigate, search, and execute actions anywhere on GitHub:
- # (Issues/PRs)
- @ (Users)
- / (Files in the repository)
- T → File Finder (Fuzzy Finder). Type the file name to find it quickly.
- W → Quickly switch between Branches.
- S or / → Focus the Search bar.
- ? → Lists all keyboard shortcuts available for that specific view.
- J → Move selection down (in lists of issues, PRs, notifications).
- K → Move selection up (in lists).
- X → Toggle selection (check/uncheck item).
- O or Enter → Open selected item.
- Esc → Close dialog or hovercard.
When you open the web editor (by pressing .), you have access to several editing shortcuts:
- Ctrl/Cmd + X → Cut entire line (copies and deletes).
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + K → Delete entire line (without copying to clipboard).
- Ctrl/Cmd + C → Copy line (without selection).
- Ctrl/Cmd + V → Paste.
- Alt + ↑/↓ → Move line up/down.
- Alt + Shift + ↑/↓ → Duplicate line up/down.
- Ctrl/Cmd + / → Toggle line comment.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Z → Undo.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Y → Redo.
- Ctrl/Cmd + B → Insert Markdown formatting for bold.
- Ctrl/Cmd + I → Insert Markdown formatting for italic.
- Ctrl/Cmd + K → Insert Markdown formatting to create a link.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + 7 → Ordered list.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + 8 → Unordered list.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + . → Blockquote.
- Ctrl/Cmd + F → Find in file.
- Ctrl/Cmd + G → Find next.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + G → Find previous.
- Ctrl/Cmd + G → Go to specific line.
- Ctrl/Cmd + S → Save / Write commit message.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P (or F1) → Open the Command Palette (access to all functions).
- L → Jump to a specific Line.
- Y → Create a Permalink (permanent link to the exact code version).
- I → Show/Hide Comments in Diffs and PRs.
- R → (With text selected) Quote the text in a new comment.
- Shift + Click → Select a block of lines (e.g.,
#L18-L20). - B → Open Blame view (see who last changed each line).
- A → Show/hide annotations in diffs.
- E → Edit file directly (opens edit tab).
- G + C → Go to Code.
- G + I → Go to Issues.
- G + P → Go to Pull Requests.
- G + D → Go to Homepage (Dashboard).
- G + N → Go to Notifications.
- G + B → Go to Projects (repository).
- G + A → Go to Actions.
- G + W → Go to Wiki.
- G + G → Go to Discussions.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Space → Get suggestions in the workflow editor.
- G + F → Go to the workflow file.
- Shift + T or T → Toggle timestamps in logs.
- Shift + F or F → Toggle full screen in logs.
- Esc → Exit full screen logs.
- E → Mark as done.
- Shift + U → Mark as unread.
- Shift + I → Mark as read.
- Shift + M → Unsubscribe.
GitHub has a powerful code search tool that lets you find exactly what you're looking for:
repo:user/repository→ Limit search to a specific repository.org:organization→ Search across all repositories in an organization.language:language→ Filter by language (e.g.,language:python).path:path→ Search in a specific path (e.g.,path:src/).symbol:name→ Search for a symbol/function definition.extension:ext→ Filter by file extension.
term1 AND term2→ Both terms must be present.term1 OR term2→ At least one term must be present.term1 NOT term2→ Exclude results with term2.
- Use
/your-regex/for regular expression searches. - Example:
/foo(bar|baz)/finds "foobar" or "foobaz".
- Use quotes to search for exact phrases:
"specific function". - Combine qualifiers:
repo:user/repo language:python path:src/. - Access https://cs.github.com for the new Code Search interface.
github.com→github.dev→ Opens in the VS Code web editor.github.com→githubbox.com→ Opens the repository in a sandbox (CodeSandbox)..../pull/123→.../pull/123.diff→ Shows the Pull Request as a plain text.difffile..../pull/123→.../pull/123.patch→ Views the PR as a.patchfile.
github.com/username.keys→ Views the user's public SSH keys.github.com/username.png→ Direct link to the profile picture.github.com/username.atom→ RSS feed of the user's public activity.- Example:
github.com/emellybmuniz.png
- Easter Egg: Visit api.github.com/octocat to see the octocat mascot in ASCII art.
- Blame View: Click "Blame" within a file to see who last changed each line (or use the B shortcut).
- Draft PRs: Create Draft Pull Requests to collaborate without notifying the entire team.
- Saved Replies: Configure saved replies in Settings to speed up your code reviews (shortcut: Ctrl/Cmd + . + [number]).
- Command Palette: Use Ctrl/Cmd + K to quickly access actions without navigating menus.
- File Tree: In the new Code View, use the side file tree to easily navigate the repository structure.
- Jump to Definition: In over 10 languages, click on a symbol to automatically jump to its definition (no setup required).
- Tab Navigation: Use Ctrl/Cmd + 1-9 to switch between open tabs in the editor.
If you use GitHub Copilot in github.dev or VS Code:
- Tab → Accept suggestion.
- Alt/Option + ] → Next suggestion.
- Alt/Option + [ → Previous suggestion.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Enter → Force suggestion generation / Open suggestions panel.
- Ctrl/Cmd + I → Open inline chat.
- Esc → Dismiss suggestion.
- Alt/Option + </kbd> → Trigger inline suggestion manually.
/fix→ Automatically fix errors./explain→ Explain selected code./tests→ Generate unit tests./docs→ Add/improve documentation./optimize→ Suggest performance improvements.
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This guide was created based on:
- Official GitHub Documentation
- GitHub Blog ([github.blog])(https://github.blog/)
- Developer communities (Dev.to, Reddit, Stack Overflow)
- Practical user experience
- GitHub Code Search (cs.github.com)
- VS Code and github.dev Documentation
Developed by Emelly Beatriz with ❤️
📬 Get in touch:
📧 emellybmuniz@gmail.com | 💼 Linkedin | 🐙 Github
Last updated: November 2025