Visual Studio Code shortcut to display autocomplete list before typing

Question

I am trying to display all possible words after putting the cursor in certain place in the code.

The autocomplete (suggestions) list appears when I start writing/typing:

However, I would like to see all suggested words even before typing.

I tried command + space, however it was a system shortcut for Search in macOS:

Any thoughts?

Farinaceous

It's Ctrl + space: code.visualstudio.com/shortcuts/keyboard-shortcuts-macos.pdf (Also described on the keybindings page) – Maypole

Related: #56143739 – Hawk

It's called trigger suggest, default to ctrl + space, could change in File -> Preference -> Keyboard shortcuts – Weeden

docs: code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/… – Antecedency

Answer 1

In case you are a CJK user using Mac, Ctrl+Space will not work, since it is used to switch IMEs.

There is another keyboard shortcut for triggering suggestions:

• Option+Esc (Mac)
• Alt+Esc (Windows)

Also see this post.

---

VS code version: 1.41.1

Hawk

Confirmed ! Awesome. I upgraded VS Code to 1.141.1, and Option + esc works like a charm. – Farinaceous

Do I have to press control + space every time? In my previous system it used to show without pressing. Any idea why it's not working anymore? – Lennielenno

Pardon my ignorance, but what is CJK and IMEs ? – Derose

@Derose CJK means China, Japan and Korea, which have similar character systems. IME stands for input method which is necessary to input CJK characters, contrary to the English language. – Hawk

Thank you, I have no words. Upvoted you, of course. It works on Mac Studio, Ventura, M1 Max – Eighth

Oops! This did not work for me because Option-Esc is tied to "Read selected text out loud" on my macOS. Fn-Control-Space and Command-I worked. – Tang

Not sure why you single out CJK languages. This is true for ANY multi-language setup. For example, I am using SWE keyboard and I have to use ALT+ESC. – Raceway

@DanieleTesta Thanks for pointing out, I am a CJK user, so I can only test for CJK – Hawk

Answer 2

I solved this problem using fn+control+space.
Hope it helps you.

Atone

The question is about MacOS, also , fn does not exist with touchbar (Macbook 2018) – Farinaceous

Thank you Sir! That is a correct answer for OSX users! – Reiterant

It works on Macbook pro 2019 on BigSur. Thanks a lot! – Pickett

Worked for Macbook pro 2019 on Monterey too. Thanks! – Twiddle

Works for MBP (M2 Pro) 2023 – Robson

Works for everyone using Mac – Payne

Thank you, it works on Mac Studio, Ventura, M1 Max – Eighth

Answer 3

"change input source" keyboard shortcut should be disabled

To disable it->

• Go to system preferences -> keyboard -> input sources
• add a new input source (choose ABC)
• Go to shortcuts tab (inside of keyboard settings)
• Click on input sources on the left
• disable the "select previous input source" shortcut

restart your vs code and now ctrl+space will show quick suggestions.

Amaras

wow. thank you so much!! – Pires

Worked for a German QWERTZ keyboard layout! Thank you very much!! – Carthy

Worked great, I struggled a lot finding this keyboard shortcut, thank you very much! ❤️ – Richers

One super import thing: Change that in your macOS System settings!! – Hamo

Answer 4

You can use the following alternative keyboard shortcuts:

• ⌘+i (mentioned in the official VS Code documentation for "Trigger suggestion")
• ⌥+esc
• fn+control+space

Nina

Best answer: ⌘ +I – Escritoire

I like ⌘ + I – Flood

Unluckily, it is for copilot inlineChat.start – Saucy

cmd+i conflicts with Copilot chat – Rubbish

Answer 5

The shortcut for the "Trigger Suggest" command is ⌃Space (ctrl+space) — as mentioned in the comments.

Most default shortcuts can be found in the documentation, which will automatically show the correct keybindings for the system you're on. In other words, if you visit the page on a Mac, you'll see Mac keybindings.

Additionally, you can:

• go to Code > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts (on a Mac) and search for keybindings based on the command you want to execute
• open up "show all commands" (⇧⌘P on a Mac) and search for the command there, allowing you to either view the keybinding for that command, or simply navigate to it directly from the search

Of course you'd have to have some idea of what the command's name might be. And in this case, a search for "suggest" would suffice.

Microfiche

To add to this response, if the hotkey is set, even if disabled, it will not work. To fix it you have to enable it, remap and disable it back again. – Kodiak

Answer 6

If you use too many keyboard layouts, maybe the MacOS shortcut might be active. You can disabled ^(Ctrl)+Space shortcuts for MacOS.

• System Preferences>Keyboard>Shorcuts>Input Sources> Disable Select the previous input source.

You can use next shortcut for change input sources.Ctrl+Alt+Space

Regatta

Great! I was getting language change on CTRL + Space in VS Code, but after disabling the change language shortcut from System Preferences AND restarting the VS Code it started to work as expected. – Frazzled

Answer 7

when I was set up 2 keyboards with different layouts, and it turn out it overrides the ^+Space behavior, so this is how fix it:

• Go to system preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard shortcuts
• Click on input sources
• and disable the "select previous input source" shortcut

Puppetry

Answer 8

MacOs 14.4.1

cmd+i

or to change it

open vscode keyboard shortcut, find Trigger Suggest (source: user), change it to cmd+space

then on Mac,System Settings -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Spotlight -> disable Show Spotlight Search

Starlet