Keyboard shortcuts for working in Team Web Access and Team Explorer

You can use the keyboard shortcuts listed in this topic when you work within Team Web Access (TWA) or Team Explorer. In addition to these shortcuts, you can assign your own shortcuts on the Tools/Options/Environment/Keyboard page.

  • Navigate within Team Web Access

  • Navigate within lists

  • Navigate within Team Explorer

    • Execute work item commands in Team Explorer

    • Navigate within the query editor

    • Navigate within the query results list view

    • Open and close query views

In TWA, you can’t move the focus in the left pane on backlog pages, but you can move the focus in the left pane on the Queries page using the Tab key.

To do this

Press

Move the focus up

UP ARROW

Move the focus down

DOWN ARROW

Move a highlighted work item up in the list (on a backlog page, TWA only)

CTRL+ALT+UP ARROW

Move a highlighted work item down in the list (on a backlog page, TWA only)

CTRL+ALT+DOWN ARROW

Open a context menu

Menu or Application key

Dismiss a context menu

ESC

Move focus within a context menu

ARROW keys

Choose a highlighted selection with the context menu

ENTER

Move the focus left or right

RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW

Move the focus to the right, one field at a time

TAB

Move the focus to the left, one field at a time

SHIFT+TAB

Move a selected tile on the Home page left or right (using Internet Explorer 10 or Internet Explorer 11)

SHIFT+L or SHIFT+R

Unless otherwise indicated, these actions apply equally to working within TWA and Team Explorer.

To do this

Press

Move the focus up

UP ARROW

Move the focus down

DOWN ARROW or ENTER

Move the focus left or right

LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW

Move the focus to the top of the list

CTRL+UP ARROW, HOME

Move the focus to the bottom of the list

CTRL+DOWN ARROW, END

Open a highlighted work item

ENTER

Highlight consecutive items

SHIFT+UP ARROW or SHIFT+DOWN ARROW

Move the focus to the right, one field at a time (within a work item form)

TAB

Move the focus to the left, one field at a time (within a work item form)

SHIFT+TAB

To do this

Press this

Go to Team Explorer

ALT+HOME

Go to the Home page

CTRL+0,H

Go to the Connect page

CTRL +0,C

Refresh

F5

Move the focus to the search box

CTRL+'

Open Team Web Access

Ctrl+0,A

Open My Work

CTRL+0,M

Open (Git) Changes

CTRL+0,G

Open Pending Changes

CTRL+0,P

Open Work Items

CTRL+0,W

Open Build

CTRL+0,B

Open Documents

CTRL+0,D

Open Reports

CTRL+0,R

Open Settings

CTRL+0,S

Move the focus to the top of the page

ALT+0

Move the focus to the visible section [1-9] level content

ALT+[1-9]

Move the focus to the previous visible section

ALT+UP ARROW

Move the focus to the next visible section

ALT+DOWN ARROW

Expand folder

ALT+RIGHT ARROW

Collapse folder

ALT+LEFT ARROW

Open and work within a context menu

To do this

Press

Open a context menu

DOWN ARROW

Dismiss a context menu

ESC

Move focus within a context menu

ARROW keys

Choose a highlighted selection with the context menu

ENTER

Execute work item commands in Team Explorer

To do this

Press

Add a work item

ALT+M,I

Go to a work item

ALT+M,G

Add a new query

ALT+M,Q

Create copy of selected work item

SHIFT+ALT+C

Link to new work item

SHIFT+ALT+L

Open selected work item

ENTER

To do this

Press

Move the focus up or down

UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Move the focus left or right

RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW

Move the focus down

ENTER

Move the focus to the right, one field at a time

TAB

Move the focus to the left, one field at a time

SHIFT+TAB

Copy the selected clause

CTRL+C

Save changes made to the query or work items in the query results list

CTRL+S

Paste the copied clause, and overwrite the selected clause

CTRL+V

Move the focus to the end of the current clause

END

Delete the contents of the current field or the selected clause

DELETE

Highlight consecutive clauses

SHIFT+UP ARROW or SHIFT+DOWN ARROW

Most of the shortcuts that are listed below can be used wherever you have a list of work items, such as the query results view or a list of linked work items within a work item form.

To do this

Press

Highlight a row

Select the row

Highlight consecutive rows

SHIFT+UP ARROW or SHIFT+DOWN ARROW

Go to next work item

SHIFT+ALT+N

Go to previous work item

SHIFT+ALT+P

Refresh list

F5

Expand the current row

Choose the Expand

PLUS SIGN key on the numeric keypad, or the equals key on the keyboard

Collapses the current row

Choose the Collapse

MINUS SIGN key on the numeric keypad or on the keyboard

Save changes made to the query or work items in the query results list

CTRL+S

Sort the list by the values of a column, toggling between ascending and descending

The up-chevron indicates an ascending sort, and the down-chevron indicates a descending sort

Choose a column heading

Sort the list based on values in multiple columns

Hold down SHIFT and choose the columns in sequence

Resize a column

Drag an edge of a column header

Move a column (Team Explorer only)

Drag the column left or right to a new location.

Select the previous row or the next row

UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Scrolls right or left

RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW

Scrolls up or down

PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN

Selects the first row or the last row

HOME or END

Open the selected work item

ENTER key on the keypad or on the keyboard

Open and close query views

When you open a work item query, there are two panels that could display concurrently: the query editor and query results or the query results and the work item form that is currently selected in the query results view.

To do this

Choose this icon

Collapse bottom panel

Collapse bottom panel

Collapse left panel

Collapse left panel

Collapse right panel

Collapse right panel

Collapse upper panel

Collapse upper panel

Restore bottom panel

Restore bottom panel

Restore left panel

Restore left panel

Restore right panel

Restore right panel

Restore upper panel

Restore upper panel

Switch to side-by-side, horizontal panels

Split panels horizontally

Switch to stacked (vertical) panels

Split panels vertically

Next work item in results list

Move down in list

Previous work item in results list

Move up in list

Q & A

Q: Are there keyboard shortcuts I can use with Test Manager?

A: See Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Test Manager.

See Also

Concepts

Default Keyboard Shortcuts in Visual Studio

Other Resources

Accessibility Features of Visual Studio