20+ VSCode Tricks to Boost Your Productivity Instantly

It's been 5 years now, But When I first started out as a junior developer, every time I opened my code editor, it felt like everyone around me had a PhD in "VSCode Sorcery." Every fellow developer made me feel like I was trying to build a rocket with a hammer. Fast forward a bit—and now I’m the one answering “how did you do that?” in meetings. Funny how that works.

AI is the hot topic these days—whether it’s a breakthrough or just another tech fad, we’ll save that debate for another time. But one thing’s certain: using AI and productivity tools wisely can give you a serious edge. While you’re getting comfortable with AI, there’s something even more practical you can do right now—stop ignoring the tools and shortcuts that make your life easier.

I’ve noticed that a lot of junior to mid-level developers skip over basic but powerful productivity features. So here’s my final draft—a curated list to help you code faster, cleaner, and smarter. It might take some time to build the habit, but trust me, your future self (and your team) will thank you.

Must-Have VSCode Extensions

🛠️ Coding & Productivity

1. Error Lens – Highlights errors and warnings inline, making them hard to ignore.
2. Auto Close Tags – Automatically closes HTML/JSX tags for you.
3. Auto-Rename Tags – When you rename an opening tag, the corresponding closing tag updates automatically.
4. Auto Complete Tag – Suggests tags as you type.
5. Auto Hide – Hides unnecessary panels to keep your workspace clean.
6. Auto Save on Window Change – Saves your file when you switch windows (great for multitasking).
7. Bracket Pair Colorizer – Color codes matching brackets, especially helpful for nested code.
8. Prettier / Pretiffy JSON / Prettify TypeScript Error – Format everything nicely and make your error messages more readable.

🎨 Visual Enhancements

1. Color Highlight – Highlights color codes with their actual color.
2. Color Tag Name – Adds color to tag names based on their type or purpose.

🔍 Code Quality & Linting

1. ESLint – Keep your code clean and consistent with JavaScript/TypeScript linting rules.
2. Jest & Jest Runner – Write and run tests with ease. Jest Runner allows you to run tests directly from the code editor.
3. Code Spell Checker – Catches common spelling mistakes that might slip into your code or comments.
4. Template String Converter – Converts string concatenations to template literals for cleaner, modern code.

🧠 Smart Suggestions & Snippets

1. ES7+ React/Redux/React-Native snippets – Get handy code snippets for React and Redux development.
2. jsDoc – Easily document your functions and code with auto-generated JSDoc comments.
3. Paste JSON as Code – Instantly convert JSON into TypeScript interfaces—an absolute time-saver.

📁 Navigation & File Management

1. Path Intellisense – Auto-completes file paths as you type.
2. Git Essentials – A set of essential Git utilities to improve version control workflows.
3. GitHub Copilot – Your AI pair programmer. Writes code, suggests solutions, and helps you autocomplete logic on the fly.
4. Console Ninja – Enhances your console output readability and productivity.
5. css-auto-prefix – Automatically adds vendor prefixes to your CSS.

Recommended VSCode Settings

1. 🗺️ Minimap for Scrollbar – Navigate large files quickly.
2. 📐 Format on Save – Auto-format your code every time you save the file.
3. 🔤 Word Wrap on Window Resize – Adjusts line wrapping based on the window width.
4. 🔠 Font Ligatures – Enables stylish ligatures for supported fonts.
5. 🌐 Auto Fetch – Keeps your Git repo updated by fetching changes regularly in the background.

Essential VSCode Shortcuts

Ctrl + J Close the terminal
Ctrl + B Toggle the sidebar
Ctrl + D Select and replace the next occurrence of a word
Alt + Click Multi-cursor selection
Ctrl + Up / Down Scroll line by line
Ctrl + P Open Command Pallete ( @ To search symbol, > To Find Settings, : To Go to any line number)
Shift + Home / End Select line start/end
Alt + Up / Down Move current line up or down
Ctrl + L Select the whole line
Ctrl + Shift + F Global search across files
Shift + Alt + Up / Down Clone line(s)
Ctrl + F Find in current file (To search in file (Shift + Enter) previous instance (Enter) next instance)
Ctrl + K + W Close all open editors
Shift + Alt + F Format current file
Ctrl + Shift + K Delete current line
Ctrl + Shift + L Select all occurrences of a word
Ctrl + I Open inline GitHub Copilot chat
Ctrl + Alt + I Open full GitHub Copilot chat panel
Ctrl + Shift + ` Open a new terminal tab

VSCode is more than just a code editor; when set up right, it becomes your coding command center.

So take the time to install a few of these extensions, try out the shortcuts, and tweak your settings. You don’t need to remember everything overnight, but with consistent use, these small tweaks will lead to big gains in your productivity.

And who knows? One day, a new developer might look over at your screen and say,

"Whoa... how did you do that?"

Happy coding! 👨‍💻✨

You can follow my journey for more.
My LinkedIn: roshancodes
My Github: RoshanSharmaCodes