Go to Matching Brace in Visual Studio?

Question

Is there a way in Visual Studio 2008 to go from a closing brace to its opening brace? I've found a fair amount of stuff about highlighting the brace, but nothing about moving the cursor to it.

(VB.NET version of this Question: Keyboard shortcut for Jumping between "If/End If")

incredibly, this seems to not work (2019) for .js files on Mac Visual Studio. WTH ?! — Fattie, Sep 17 '19 at 16:33
@Fattie, It doesn't work in Windows 10 for .cs files either. I am pretty confident this is an across-the-board thing for VS 2019 so I made a new question: https://stackoverflow.com/q/59183422/1739000 — NH., Dec 04 '19 at 19:31
Instead of trying to CTRL+F this page for whatever language keyboard you are using, use [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/6309463) to figure it out in Visual Studio settings. — General Grievance, Dec 29 '21 at 15:37
Since you might be here about VS Code, here is the question for that instead: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30097634/how-do-i-jump-to-a-closing-bracket-in-visual-studio-code — General Grievance, Dec 29 '21 at 22:14
here's a little nit that's been driving me nuts. if you go to a matching brace in c++ and it's above your current position, it will put the carat on the matching brace and it will be the first line on the screen, you then have to arrow up to see what it's a brace for. is there any way to have to match and be a few lines down or in the middle of the screen? I know it's an edge case, but I run into this constantly. — stu, Mar 02 '23 at 19:53

score 808 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 29 '21 at 22:19

808

I found this for you: Jump between braces in Visual Studio:

Put your cursor before or after the brace (your choice) and then press CTRL + ]. It works with parentheses ( ), brackets [ ] and braces { }. From now on you don’t need to play Where’s Waldo? to find that brace.

With the above shortcut, you can also hold SHIFT to select.

On MacOS, use CMD + SHIFT + \ .

edited Dec 29 '21 at 22:19

General Grievance

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answered Oct 01 '09 at 04:49

Tim Santeford

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Just for information, on a Norwegian keyboard the short-cut for this is `Ctrl`+`Å` (same as for Danish keyboard mentioned in an answer below). – Julian Nov 24 '10 at 09:37
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On Belgian azerty it seems to be `ctrl`+`^`, which is, oddly, on the key which also has the `[` bracket (which needs `AltGr` to be typed). – Nyerguds Oct 29 '12 at 10:29
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Icelandic keyboard CTRL + Ð – Ingó Vals Apr 29 '14 at 11:18
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For Czech QWERTZ keyboard it's CTRL + ). Exactly same position, where English keyboard has ] key. Just above Enter. – Tomas Tintera Nov 03 '16 at 12:39
@Ian The main answer applies to British keyboards, CTRL + ] – pauloya Aug 01 '17 at 12:21
1

If you're working in a `.sql` file, `CTRL` + `]` will toggle between `BEGIN` and `END` pairs. (VS 2015) – Walter Stabosz Apr 17 '18 at 15:12
Brazilian portuguese `abnt-2` keyboard: `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `]`. There is no shortcut for "select to bracket" by default. – Marc.2377 Dec 05 '18 at 17:41
In my Dvorak keyboard mapping on my Mac, this turned out to be CTRL + =, which is bound to ] in the Dvorak mapping. – pohl Oct 04 '19 at 16:29
otherwise there is an extension that add the support for " and ' too https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=chunsen.bracket-select with a simple shorcut alt+ a, for mac it is better because it selects whileCMD + SHIFT + \ don't select – bormat Nov 06 '19 at 15:43
I wasn't able to find the shortcut combination in Mac, at the end I use: `CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `CMD` + `LEFT ARROW` or `RIGHT ARROW` after the bracket `{` – Edenshaw Feb 03 '20 at 14:12
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German keyboard: `Strg` + `´` – Cerno Mar 03 '22 at 17:16
Swiss German Keyboard : `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `à` or with "Atom Keymap" extension : `Ctrl` + `M` – Jasmin Apr 20 '23 at 07:35

score 123 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:08

123

I use Visual Studio 2008, and you can customize what you want this shortcut to be.

Click menu Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard. Then look for Edit.GotoBrace.

This will tell you what key combination is currently assigned for this. I think you can change this if you want, but it's useful if the Ctrl + ] doesn't work.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:08

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:37

funkymushroom

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This is very useful to find keybindings for other languages' keyboards. – Afonso Matos Jul 01 '16 at 12:32
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Yes, we should always respond to command questions with the command name in case the keyboard is different or the default shortcut has been removed. Also check out Edit.GotoBraceExtend, if you map Ctrl+[something] to Edit.GotoBrace, you'll probably want to map Ctrl+Shift+[something] to Edit.GotoBraceExtend. – hsandt Nov 09 '18 at 17:19
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This was useful for me because it wasn't set for me at all in VS 2017. – Mmm Dec 13 '18 at 23:54

score 115 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 01 '09 at 04:48

115

Use CTRL + ] to switch between them. Place the cursor at one of the braces when using it.

answered Oct 01 '09 at 04:48

Ahmad Mageed

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score 26 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:12

If for some reason this is NOT working for you, something may have messed up your keyboard bindings (it didn't work for me). You can re-enable the binding easy enough though - at least so I thought:

I tried this procedure:

Go to menu Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard
Scroll to, or search for the command Edit.GotoBrace
Assign the desired shortcut (mine was empty, so I put in CTRL + ])
Be sure to click the "Assign Button"

I tried it, and it still didn't work. I restarted Visual Studio, and it still didn't work - well it ONLY worked for .cs files, but I need it to work for .vb files and text files, and...well ALL files!

For VB files, use `CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `UP/DOWN` (ref: https://stackoverflow.com/a/7895072/740639) — Walter Stabosz, Apr 17 '18 at 02:05

score 26 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:04

26

Note: It also works for #if / #elif / #endif matching. The caret must be on the #.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:04

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 24 '11 at 19:16

Pierre

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score 22 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 15 '11 at 16:51

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On my French keyboard, it's CTRL + ^.

answered Nov 15 '11 at 16:51

Matthieu Rouget

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Thanks it works but where did you found it ? In my french version of Visual Studio, I did not found any equivalent to Edit.GotoBrace in Outils -> Options -> Environnement -> Clavier (proposed by other answers). – kingsjester Aug 07 '23 at 09:36

score 20 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 06 '11 at 08:55

20

On a German keyboard it's Ctrl + ´.

answered Jun 06 '11 at 08:55

Baldewin

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For me this works on a German keyboard: 1. `Strg`+`´` : hightlights a span included by parentheses/braces/brackets. 2. `Left` or `Right` arrow key to jump to the begin or end of the highlighted span (and turns of the highlighting). – VCSEL Oct 20 '22 at 14:36

score 13 · Answer 8 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:15

13

And Ctrl + Shift + ] will select all of the text.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:15

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 27 '14 at 17:46

JCS in Tampa

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score 13 · Answer 9 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:10

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On a Spanish keyboard it is CTRL + ¿ (or CTRL + ¡).

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:10

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 19 '11 at 14:20

Keith

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10 minutes to discover WTF was ¡, as written into VS2008 options menu. Thanks! – Roman Rdgz Sep 10 '12 at 11:29

score 13 · Answer 10 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:10

13

On a Turkish keyboard, it is Ctrl + ü.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:10

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 24 '12 at 18:51

Turkdogan Tasdelen

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score 12 · Answer 11 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:00

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On my Danish keyboard it's CTRL + Å.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:00

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 19 '10 at 09:33

Raymond

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score 11 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 06 '12 at 14:41

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For completeness sake, on a Swedish keyboard it's CTRL + å .

Also, I guess logical, but worth mentioning CTRL + shift + å (for capital Å), selects everything inside the braces and goes to the matching one.

answered Sep 06 '12 at 14:41

Ola Karlsson

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score 10 · Answer 13 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:02

10

On my Portuguese keyboard and SO with EN VS, it's CTRL + « to navigate to matching brace and CTRL + SHIFT + « if you intend to select the inner code.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:02

Peter Mortensen

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answered Apr 05 '10 at 08:49

score 9 · Answer 14 · edited Sep 17 '12 at 10:28

9

On my Italian keyboard, it's CTRL + ^.

edited Sep 17 '12 at 10:28

j0k

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answered Sep 17 '12 at 09:30

Peppe

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score 9 · Answer 15 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:05

9

On my pt-BR (Brazilian Portuguese) keyboard it is actually CTRL + [.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:05

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 11 '11 at 01:21

karlphillip

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score 8 · Answer 16 · edited Jul 19 '12 at 20:01

8

On my Slovenian keyboard it is ALT + Đ

edited Jul 19 '12 at 20:01

Simon Dugré

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answered Feb 28 '11 at 11:31

skz

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It's CTRL + đ by default – Marko Juvančič Aug 28 '13 at 07:45

score 7 · Answer 17 · edited Jun 29 '18 at 21:57

7

For Visual Studio Code (as seen in their documentation), use Ctrl+Shift+\.

The setting can be found in:

File/Preferences/Keyboard Shortcut

I am using Visual Studio Code 1.8.0 . Note Visual Studio Code may behave differently for international keyboards (as seen in this answer re: German keyboard)

Hope this helps someone.

edited Jun 29 '18 at 21:57

Nate Anderson

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answered Dec 16 '16 at 01:55

Claudiu Hardalau

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Note: this is for Visual Studio __Code__. The question is about Visual Studio. There is a [separate question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30097634/how-do-i-jump-to-a-closing-bracket-in-visual-studio-code) for VS Code. – General Grievance Dec 29 '21 at 22:16

score 7 · Answer 18 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

7

On a Mac use command+shift+\.

Source: a comment on this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/37877082/3345085. Tested in Visual Studio Code version 1.10.2.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

Community

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answered Apr 19 '17 at 03:01

Logan

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Note: this is for Visual Studio __Code__. The question is about Visual Studio. There is a [separate question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30097634/how-do-i-jump-to-a-closing-bracket-in-visual-studio-code) for VS Code. – General Grievance Dec 29 '21 at 22:15

Bruno Bronosky · Answer 19 · 2019-04-14T17:08:09.513

Details that can benefit everyone (Linux/Win/Mac)

The command in the keyboard shortcuts menu/editor is editor.action.jumpToBracket there you can set it to whatever you like. There is also one called editor.action.selectToBracket which has no shortcut by default (at least on Mac).

Etc.

On the Mac editor.action.jumpToBracket starts out as Cmd+Shift+\ and I changed it to Ctrl+] to be in line with what others say here. I did so in the hopes that I could use Ctrl+Shift+] to "Extend selection to matching bracket". That is what lead me to discover the details above. I set editor.action.selectToBracket to Ctrl+Shift+] and got exactly the behavior I wanted.

score 6 · Answer 20 · edited Sep 11 '11 at 18:06

6

On my Dutch (Belgian) keyboard, it's CTRL + ^.

edited Sep 11 '11 at 18:06

Jasper

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answered Jun 10 '11 at 15:46

Ward Coessens

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score 6 · Answer 21 · edited Feb 02 '12 at 21:25

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Goto Tools > Options > Environment > Fonts and Colors, select the "Brace Matching (Rectangle)" and change the "Item Background" to e.g. Yellow. This worked for the C# parentheses () {} and [].

edited Feb 02 '12 at 21:25

animuson

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answered Feb 01 '12 at 18:39

jasumon janardanan

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Yes helpful & 'Display Name' text box of Fonts & Colors is where Brace Matching Rectangle is located. – Catto Oct 07 '14 at 15:26
If you have the dark theme like I do, cyan instead of yellow will also make the bracket itself more visible. – Bora Apr 08 '15 at 07:41

score 5 · Answer 22 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:14

5

On a Hungarian keyboard it is Ctrl + ú.

edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:14

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 21 '14 at 12:59

Zéiksz

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score 4 · Answer 23 · edited Sep 13 '15 at 06:18

A bit relevant, but for HTML tags: (since there is no built-in solution, Ctrl + J doesn't work for HTML tags : )

Here is the answer as a macro which I've built which does it (toggle), including go to focus:

Here is the demo:

Enter image description here

And here is the code. Enjoy!

Imports System
Imports EnvDTE
Imports EnvDTE80
Imports EnvDTE90
Imports EnvDTE90a
Imports EnvDTE100
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Module Module2
    Sub beginToEnd()

        'Place the cursor somewhere in the beginning tag, run the macro, to select from beginning to end tag

        DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.SelectLine()
        Dim objSel As TextSelection = DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection
        Dim topPoint As TextPoint = objSel.TopPoint
        Dim lTopLine As Long = topPoint.Line
        objSel.GotoLine(lTopLine, False)
        '  DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.StartOfLine()
        DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.SelectLine()
        Dim line1 As String = DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text()

        If InStr(line1, "/") Then

            ' MsgBox(line1)
            DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion")
            DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.EndOfLine()
            DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.StartOfLine(vsStartOfLineOptions.vsStartOfLineOptionsFirstText, True)
            objSel.GotoLine(lTopLine, False)
            DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion")
            DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion")
        Else
            DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion")
            DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.EndOfLine(False)
            DTE.ExecuteCommand("Edit.ToggleOutliningExpansion")
        End If

        DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.SelectLine()
        Dim line2 As String = DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text()
        Dim objSel3 As TextSelection = DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection
        Dim topPoint3 As TextPoint = objSel3.TopPoint
        Dim lTopLine3 As Long = topPoint3.Line
        objSel.GotoLine(lTopLine3, False)
        DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.StartOfLine(vsStartOfLineOptions.vsStartOfLineOptionsFirstText, False)
    End Sub
End Module

The standard US mapping of + ], works for me in HTML and CSS as well. Both tags get highlighted too. — Paul Gorbas, Sep 09 '19 at 17:56

score 3 · Answer 24 · answered Sep 16 '16 at 13:34

3

In Visual Studio Code on german keyboard it's ctrl+shift+^

But you have to open a file with correct extension - it's not working in new unsaved files for example.

answered Sep 16 '16 at 13:34

Markus

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Note: this is for Visual Studio __Code__. The question is about Visual Studio. There is a [separate question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30097634/how-do-i-jump-to-a-closing-bracket-in-visual-studio-code) for VS Code. – General Grievance Dec 29 '21 at 22:16

score 2 · Answer 25 · answered Nov 06 '12 at 08:42

2

On the Swiss-French keyboard : use CTRL + SHIFT + ^

answered Nov 06 '12 at 08:42

Fabio Salvalai

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score 2 · Answer 26 · answered Aug 29 '13 at 07:25

2

On Spanish (Spain) keyboard with VS2012 is Ctrl + ¡ as stated by @Keith but if you use Ctrl + ¿ (typed as Ctrl + Shift + ¡) then goes to Matching Brace plus selects all the code within the two braces and then you can't go again to the other brace.

answered Aug 29 '13 at 07:25

David Oliván

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score 0 · Answer 27 · answered Jun 15 '21 at 00:49

June 2021

On a Mac running Windows 10 under parallels for Visual Studio 2019 and c# and with US keyboard the solution which worked for me was to edit the shortcut in" Tools Options Keyboard Edit.GoToBrace

On my system that shortcut was blank...

Press the Ctl key and the ] key and save the shortcut

score 0 · Answer 28 · answered May 19 '23 at 15:51

0

Windows, Visual Studio 2017, C++, Hungarian keyboard, Ctrl+ú

In Options/Environment/Keyboard, check Editor.GotoBrace.

answered May 19 '23 at 15:51

TrueY

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Go to Matching Brace in Visual Studio?

28 Answers28

Details that can benefit everyone (Linux/Win/Mac)

Etc.

Linked

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