Recently I have been on the LEAN improvement quest to make a 2 second improvement in my process every day.
Part of that improvement is to avoid switching to the mouse when you don’t have to. Here are some shortcut keys that I find very useful in SQL Server Management Studio, some of which I just discovered recently.
Window + L – Lock my Computer
F5 – My all time favorite – in a query window execute the query.
CTRL+M – Turn on/off Actual Execution Plan
CTRL-F6 switch between top tabs
F6 switch between tabs (ie Editor, Results, Messages…)
CTRL-TAB window manager
Alt+F1 for sp_help and a list of its fields
CTRL+SHIFT+U – shift word to uppercase
CTRL+SHIFT+L – shift word to lowercase
Ctrl+K+C – Comment block of text
Ctrl+K+U – UnCommnet block of text
What are your favorite keyboard shortcuts in SSMS?
Please post your favorites.
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My tip is not so much specific to SSMS but it can help with it and any Windows app: use the “context” key (if you have one, or shift-f10) to do the equivalent of a right-click, to open the context menu of anything supporting one.
For instance, while moving down the list of databases, or tables in a dB, or indexes in a table, you may want to open the menu for each, one after the other. You can do it all on the keyboard, using down arrow to select the next and then instead of right-click, hit the context key (or shift-f10).
For those not familiar, the context key, if you have one, is that one with a box on the right of the space bar, often between ctrl and alt. Try it. You may like it, if you too like to spurn the mouse. :-)
Ugh, typos. Of course I meant ssms. I see no means for me to edit a comment. Steve, if you’re willing to edit that and delete this, feel free. :-)
Thanks Charlie. I just did a quick typo fix on your post. No worries.
My Favorute is shift + Alt. It allows you to select a contiguous block of text from the cursor location by holding the keys down and then clicking a second location with your mouse. Can be used to edit multiple lines at the same time!
Alt + x – Same as F5
CTRL + R: show and hide results