Is there a way to create a shortcut for a custom tool in visual studio? At the moment I have to navigate to the tool in the solution, right click and run custom tool. It would be nice if I could either bind a shortcut key or run the tool from the toolbar. Does anyone know of a way to do this?
Asked
Active
Viewed 6,130 times
2 Answers
30
I think you are looking for this:
- Go to
Tools
->External tools
- Configure your tool
- Go to
Tools
->Options
->Environment
->Keyboard
- In Show commands containing type: Tools.ExternalCommand
- Choose the command you want and set a shortcut for it.
In the External tools
, the gotcha is that the number of the external tool is the position in the list.

JiBéDoublevé
- 4,124
- 4
- 36
- 57
-
1I tried this but it will only run .exe files, I should have explained that mine is just a .tt template. I did discover the "Transform All T4 Templates" command but I only want to do them one at a time. – Steji Feb 28 '13 at 16:57
-
Sorry, right now I can't help you further: T4 Templates are in my "Things to learn" stack. – JiBéDoublevé Feb 28 '13 at 18:16
3
Yes, go to Tools
-> Options
-> Environment
-> Keyboard
..
Look for command Project.RunCustomTool
or the command you actually want.

Michal Klouda
- 14,263
- 7
- 53
- 77
-
2Ah that's good. The thing is with this method I still have to navigate to my custom tool in the solution first, is there a way I can quickly access it in the toolbar like a shortcut or to bind the shortcut key without having the tool selected first? – Steji Oct 17 '12 at 15:16