VSCodium Keyboard Shortcuts
VSCodium is built from the exact same open-source source tree as VS Code, just compiled without Microsoft's telemetry collection and branding, which means its keyboard shortcuts are identical to VS Code's out of the box — there's no separate shortcut philosophy to learn, and every VS Code shortcut guide applies directly. The one practical difference that affects day-to-day shortcut use isn't a shortcut at all but the extension marketplace: VSCodium defaults to Open VSX rather than Microsoft's marketplace, meaning some VS Code extensions with keyboard-shortcut-adding features aren't available or work identically, so a shortcut that depends on a specific extension may need a slightly different substitute here. Anyone coming from VS Code can genuinely skip learning anything new — Ctrl+P for quick file open, Ctrl+Shift+P for the command palette, and the rest transfer without modification. Privacy-conscious developers and organizations with strict data-collection policies are VSCodium's core audience, choosing it specifically to avoid Microsoft's telemetry collection while keeping the exact same editing experience their team already knows — this is a values-and-privacy decision rather than a functional one, since day-to-day the two editors are indistinguishable at the keyboard level, which is precisely the point for anyone making the switch.
Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Open file | Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | Opens a fuzzy-searchable file list to jump directly to any file in the open folder by typing part of its name, identical in behavior to VS Code since it's the same underlying editor. |
| Open Command Palette | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P | Opens the searchable command palette listing every available command and extension action, the fastest route to a feature whose exact shortcut you don't remember. |
| Go to line | Ctrl+G | Cmd+G | Jumps directly to a specific line number in the current file, typed into a small input that appears at the top of the editor. |
Editing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add cursor above/below | Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down | Cmd+Option+Up/Down | Stacks a second editing cursor one row above or below the current one, so a single typed edit lands on both lines — and every line further stacked the same way — at once. |
| Toggle line comment | Ctrl+/ | Cmd+/ | Switches the current line or selection between commented and uncommented, applying whichever comment syntax matches the file's detected language automatically. |
| Format document | Shift+Alt+F | Shift+Option+F | Runs the active formatter (built-in or extension-provided, like Prettier) against the whole file, requiring a formatter to be installed and configured for the file's language to have any effect. |
| Rename symbol | F2 | F2 | Renames the symbol under the cursor across every reference within the workspace, using language-server-powered semantic understanding rather than a blind text find-and-replace. |
Panels Terminal
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toggle integrated terminal | Ctrl+` | Cmd+` | Shows or hides the integrated terminal panel at the bottom of the editor, letting you run shell commands without leaving the editor window. |
| Toggle sidebar visibility | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B | Toggles the file explorer panel in or out of view, opening up extra horizontal editing room on smaller displays whenever browsing files isn't the immediate task at hand. |
| Split editor | Ctrl+\\ | Cmd+\\ | Splits the current editor pane into two side-by-side views, letting you view and edit two files simultaneously without switching tabs back and forth. |
| Toggle Zen Mode | Ctrl+K Z | Cmd+K Z | Hides nearly every UI element except the editor itself for a distraction-free full-screen writing/coding environment, exiting with Escape pressed twice. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Are VSCodium's keyboard shortcuts really identical to VS Code's?
Yes, by construction — VSCodium compiles the same open-source vscode repository Microsoft publishes, just without the telemetry, branding, and licensing that make an official Microsoft build. The core editor, including its default keybindings, is unchanged between the two.
If I install an extension in VSCodium, will its shortcuts work the same as in VS Code?
For extensions available on Open VSX (VSCodium's default marketplace) that are also published to Microsoft's marketplace, yes, the shortcuts they register work identically. Some Microsoft-owned extensions (like certain proprietary remote-development or live-share features) aren't distributed on Open VSX at all, so any shortcuts tied specifically to those aren't available without manually installing the extension from elsewhere.
Can I import my VS Code keybindings.json file directly into VSCodium?
Yes — since both use the same settings file format and structure, copying your keybindings.json (and settings.json) from VS Code's user data folder into VSCodium's equivalent folder carries over your custom shortcuts and settings without any conversion needed.
Does VSCodium receive updates at the same pace as VS Code?
VSCodium's maintainers build and publish releases shortly after each corresponding VS Code release, since it's essentially an automated rebuild of the same source with telemetry stripped, though there can be a small delay of a few days between an official VS Code release and its corresponding VSCodium build depending on the maintainers' automated pipeline timing.
Why would someone choose VSCodium over just disabling telemetry settings in regular VS Code?
VS Code's official telemetry opt-out settings reduce but don't necessarily eliminate every form of data collection built into the Microsoft-distributed binary, and some organizations or individuals prefer the assurance of a build that never included that collection code path in the first place, along with avoiding Microsoft's specific licensing terms around the official VS Code binary, which technically differ from the underlying open-source code license.
Can I sync my settings and shortcuts between VS Code and VSCodium if I use both on different machines?
There's no built-in Settings Sync bridge between the two specifically because VSCodium doesn't use Microsoft's proprietary Settings Sync backend, but manually copying your settings.json and keybindings.json files between the two (or using a personal Git repository or dotfiles manager to sync them) works reliably since both read the identical file formats.
Do keyboard shortcut extensions like Vim bindings work the same in VSCodium as VS Code?
Yes — since extension APIs are identical between the two, an extension like VSCodeVim installed from Open VSX behaves exactly as it would installed from Microsoft's marketplace in VS Code, including all its own keybinding layer for modal editing.
Is there a performance difference between VSCodium and VS Code given the removed telemetry?
Any performance difference is generally negligible in practice — telemetry collection is a relatively lightweight background process in the official build, so removing it doesn't produce a noticeably faster editor, and both versions perform comparably for everyday editing and the shortcuts covered here.
Does VSCodium support the same extension marketplace shortcuts as VS Code for browsing extensions?
The Extensions view itself opens with the identical Ctrl+Shift+X shortcut, but because VSCodium doesn't connect to Microsoft's proprietary Marketplace by default, browsing and installing extensions there requires either Open VSX or manually sideloading a .vsix file, a deliberate difference stemming from VSCodium's telemetry-free build rather than a missing feature.