How to switch between terminals in Visual Studio Code?

Question

I'm looking to switch between terminals open in visual studio code.

With this "Switch focus between editor and integrated terminal in Visual Studio Code" question I correctly setup the focus, but I would like to switch between terminals, not only from code to terminal.

Is there a way to do it?

i still to this day avoid using the integrated console. hopefully someone could enlight me with a good workflow — GottZ, Jan 25 '18 at 10:31
@GottZ I think it's main use for when you are logged in to clusters. How else could you open your files without the integrated console? — gonidelis, Oct 13 '20 at 19:19
@giannisgonidelis since we are in 2020 now, i agree. the integrated console has evolved beyond xterm.js and is insanely capable now. — GottZ, Oct 13 '20 at 20:09

Serhii Popov · Answer 1 · 2020-08-20T04:19:20.573

159

Go to File → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts or just press Ctrl + k + Ctrl + s.

Then click the icon in upper right corner, it opens keybindings.json file:

Try adding the following two entries to this file:

{
    "key": "ctrl+pagedown",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
},
{
    "key": "ctrl+pageup",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
}

Note: On Mac change ctrl to cmd

edited Aug 20 '20 at 04:19

answered Feb 14 '20 at 10:34

Serhii Popov

3,326
2
25
36

5

Unfortunately, ```focusNext``` didn't work for me. Instead, ```focusNextPane``` worked like a charm. – squareRoot17 Jun 19 '20 at 06:24
13

`focusNextPane` works for split terminal, while `focusNext` works for different terminals in the dropdown list – fstang Oct 29 '20 at 10:02
2

`focusNext` --> `focusNextPane ` and `focusPrevious ` --> `focusPreviousPane` works for me to switch split terminal (left to right, right to left). – vikyd Mar 19 '22 at 14:56
It's `pageDown` and `pageUp` (case-sensitive). Tested on Ubuntu 20.04, works great! – WhaSukGO Oct 17 '22 at 09:09

score 153 · Accepted Answer · answered May 06 '21 at 05:54

153

As of Release 1.56.0, there is inbuilt support for switching terminals in VS Code:

New keybindings

The terminal has several new default keybindings this release:

Move to previous terminal - Ctrl+PageUp (macOS Cmd+Shift+])

Move to next terminal - Ctrl+PageDown (macOS Cmd+shift+[)

Focus terminal tabs view - Ctrl+Shift+\ (macOS Cmd+Shift+\) - Terminal tabs preview

As always, these default keybindings can be removed or custom keybindings can be added via the keybindings system.

answered May 06 '21 at 05:54

Shivam Jha

3,160
3
22
36

6

You could add the shortcuts to your answer: `workbench.action.terminal.focusNext` `workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious` and I find even better to remove the `terminalFocus` from the when expression, so you can change terminals without focusing the terminal – phil_lgr May 07 '21 at 20:06
3

On my international Spanish ISO keyboard, this doesn't seem to work, although if I switch to US Keyboard it does. (Neither works Cmd-AltGr-[ nor Cmd-Shift-AltGr-[ ). It seems to be Ctrl-Option-Cmd-ç – erny Jun 05 '21 at 10:09
2

Won't work for switching between split terminals, for that you need [@GabrielPetersson's answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/62941912/1168116) – Malcolm Aug 24 '21 at 18:11
I am running VSC on Windows and hitting `Ctrl + PgUp` will just print out `^[[5;5~` characters in my Terminal windows, but thanks for the `Ctrl + Shift + \\` reminder, at least with that shortcut I can switch to the Terminal tabs view and move around with the Up and Down arrow keys and then hitting ENTER to activate the Terminal I want to use next. – GWD Jan 04 '23 at 12:38
There's also alt-up and alt-down if you have split terminals – Mathieu Longtin Apr 12 '23 at 18:46
Worked for me with no changes needed whatsoever, thanks. – Hakun Jul 04 '23 at 08:47
If you don't have `PageUp` and `PageDown` keys on a condensed keyboard, try `fn+up` and `fn+down` – Elijah Mock Aug 31 '23 at 16:16

score 73 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 29 '19 at 08:41

73

Looking deeply I found it:

{
  "key": "shift+cmd+]",
  "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
  "when": "terminalFocus"
}

:)

edited Aug 29 '19 at 08:41

simhumileco

31,877
16
137
115

answered Jan 25 '18 at 13:31

baldarn

2,842
2
13
13

6

where do u add this? `settings.json` ? – Farid Alijani Apr 30 '20 at 22:14
2

To add that go to File > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts. Then Open 'keybindings.json'. Basically, the answer below by @Serhii is the right procedure – ewalel Aug 29 '20 at 08:39
1

For windows user "key": "shift+ctrl+]" @baldam thanks. It worked as expected. – rajakvk Dec 12 '20 at 05:17

Gabriel Petersson · Answer 4 · 2021-11-29T14:59:16.427

59

alt + up/down left/right arrows to switch between splitted terminals.

If alt unfocuses your terminal and focuses the menu, add this to the settings file

// settings.json
"window.titleBarStyle": "custom",
"window.customMenuBarAltFocus": false

edited Nov 29 '21 at 14:59

answered Jul 16 '20 at 19:08

Gabriel Petersson

8,434
4
32
41

2

you might also need to press alt to gain focus – Gabriel Petersson Dec 06 '20 at 15:12
This solution did not work for me on unix. However @badran's did: `shift` + `cmd` + `]` – rsmets Jul 07 '21 at 15:34
Nvm found the alt unfocus problem, added solution – Gabriel Petersson Nov 29 '21 at 14:59

Osinachi · Answer 5 · 2020-12-11T15:36:45.093

35

Improving on @Serhii Popov's answer

Use up and down instead of pageup and pagedown

Go to File → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts or just press Ctrl + k + Ctrl + s.

Then click the icon in upper right corner to open the keybindings.json file:

Then add the objects below to the array in the file:

[
  ...
  {
    "key": "ctrl+down",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+up",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  }
  ...
]

Note: On Mac change ctrl to cmd

edited Dec 11 '20 at 15:36

answered Oct 07 '20 at 19:03

Osinachi

656
8
14

1

I'm not sure this counts as "improving" on their answer. You copy-pasted it and changed one thing. – devrobf Mar 26 '21 at 13:58
1

Thanks for the answer, I'm on Ubuntu and it had "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPreviousPane", need to remove the Pane at the end. – Aindriú May 15 '21 at 19:28
Still valid. Thank you. I used alt instead since I remote into windows from a mac most of the day and ctrl+ controls worksapces. – CursedGoat Aug 10 '22 at 19:49

score 10 · Answer 6 · answered May 02 '21 at 17:58

10

On Windows

to switch terminal ctrl + ~

to switch back to code editor ctrl + 1

answered May 02 '21 at 17:58

Yusuf Khan

3,032
3
24
31

1

the most underrated anwser – mati kepa May 02 '22 at 19:59
For windows, this should be the exact answer. Thanks! – mshsayem May 20 '22 at 09:00

score 9 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 30 '21 at 09:42

9

On Windows 10 (not sure about Linux and Mac):

To switch between split terminal windows in Visual Studio Code use

Alt + Right arrow / Left arrow

answered Nov 30 '21 at 09:42

Tomas Zubrik

347
3
11

5

In Mac, it's CMD + Alt + Arrow Keys – zimmerbimmer Mar 18 '22 at 17:18
2

you can also use Alt + `Up` / `Down` arrow :) – starriet Apr 19 '22 at 02:48

score 8 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 04 '22 at 05:44

8

I believe the answer you are looking for is Cmd+Shift+[ (and Cmd+Shift+])

answered Oct 04 '22 at 05:44

Chris Miller

694
1
12
26

Yurii S · Answer 9 · 2022-10-24T14:16:23.303

6

I've got Ctrl+PageDown/Ctrl+PageUp in my IDE Keyboard Shortcut settings, which I believe is the default as I didn't change them.

To figure out the shortcuts on your machine, go to File>Preferences>Keyboard Shortcuts and in the search box paste workbench.action.terminal.focusNext or workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious

This would only switch between terminal groups. So if 2 terminals were in the same group (that is there were split to display side-by-side), it wouldn't switch between those. To switch between terminals in the same group, use "Alt+LeftArrow" or "Alt+RightArrow".

Credits to @Victory Ifebhor for the side-by-side case, clarified in the comments.

edited Oct 24 '22 at 14:16

answered Oct 19 '22 at 10:55

Yurii S

315
2
5

1

This worked for me. I also found that it only switches between terminal groups. So if 2 terminals were in the same group (that is there were split to display side-by-side), it wouldn't switch between those. To switch between terminals in the same group, use "Alt+LeftArrow" or "Alt+RightArrow". – Victory Ifebhor Oct 19 '22 at 17:15

score 5 · Answer 10 · edited Feb 09 '23 at 05:27

5

Ctrl+J can toggle(show/hide) the console.

edited Feb 09 '23 at 05:27

sideshowbarker

81,827
26
193
197

answered Dec 28 '21 at 21:26

Super Kai - Kazuya Ito

22,221
10
124
129

score 4 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 17 '20 at 14:59

Here is my approach, which provides a consistent way of navigating between active terminals as well as jumping between the terminal and editor panes. You can try adding this to your keybindings.json directly but I would recommend you go through the keybinding UI (cmd+K cmd+S on a Mac) so you can review/manage conflicts etc.

With this I can use ctrl+x <arrow direction> to navigate to any visible editor or terminal. Once the cursor is in the terminal section you can use ctrl+x ctrl+up or ctrl+x ctrl+down to cycle through the active terminals (note that moving between on-screen split terminals is done with ctrl+x left or ctrl+x right).

cmd-J is still used to hide/show the terminal pane.

    {
        "key": "ctrl+x right",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNextPane",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x left",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPreviousPane",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x ctrl+down",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x ctrl+up",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x up",
        "command": "workbench.action.navigateUp"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x down",
        "command": "workbench.action.navigateDown"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x left",
        "command": "workbench.action.navigateLeft",
        "when": "!terminalFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+x right",
        "command": "workbench.action.navigateRight",
        "when": "!terminalFocus"
    },

This is a work in progress as I'm trying to mimic my emacs behavior in VS Code, but some key elements are missing, like being able to navigate to a terminal buffer by name (without using a mouse/dropdown). Overall I'm pretty surprised by the poor editor group/pane navigation UX in an otherwise amazing product, but working on getting used to it.

Alex Bravo · Answer 12 · 2023-05-24T18:24:08.997

My personal settings to the keybindings.json file that works for me...

Steps:

Press Ctrl + k + s (windows).
Then click the icon in upper right corner, it opens keybindings.json file
Finally paste this code:

[
    {
        "key": "ctrl+win+down",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusNext",
        "when": "editorIsOpen && terminalHasBeenCreated && terminalIsOpen || terminalFocus && terminalIsOpen && terminalProcessSupported"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+win+up",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious",
        "when": "editorIsOpen && terminalHasBeenCreated && terminalIsOpen || terminalFocus && terminalIsOpen && terminalProcessSupported"
    }
]

This settings allows you to switch terminals without having the focus on terminal

Note: You can custom your keyboard shortcut as you want

You just made me realize that today, in 2023, on Linux, there are already shortcuts for these commands. Thanks! Ctrl + PgDown and Ctrl + PgUp — richardsonwtr, Jul 26 '23 at 16:12

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 03 '22 at 08:59

2

Pay attention to the the VS Code concept of Group, as that can trip you up when reading some of the answers here.

i.e there are different default shortcuts to switch between terminals in the same group (CMD+OPT+up/down) or between different terminal groups (SHIFT+CMD+[ / ])

answered Jun 03 '22 at 08:59

aragalie

175
2
9

Thanks for this. For me optimal flow from the editor to terminal is: 'ctrl + `', then 'cmd + opt + up/down', and then to get back to my code 'cmd + 1' (macOS) – Reece Daniels Dec 07 '22 at 11:24

wpp · Answer 14 · 2023-01-29T15:46:12.053

If anyone else is so used to switching between tabs with ⌘+[0-9] this mapping in your keybindings.json might useful:

  {
    "key": "cmd+1",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusAtIndex1",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+2",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusAtIndex2",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+3",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusAtIndex3",
    "when": "terminalFocus"
  },

You can also extend the conditional in case you're using the terminal editor (to avoid switching when focused).

  {
    "key": "cmd+1",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focusAtIndex1",
    "when": "terminalFocus && !terminalEditorFocus"
  },

score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Jan 18 '23 at 06:07

1

In current version of VSCode it is available like this. You can search this command in the Keyboard Shortcuts

workbench.action.terminal.focusNext

workbench.action.terminal.focusPrevious

answered Jan 18 '23 at 06:07

Rohit Kumar

983
9
11

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Jun 02 '22 at 05:59

You can set up an easy custom keyboard shortcut in Vs Code for this

You can Ctrl-P and type Keyboard Shortcuts
search for "Terminal: switch active terminal"
set any key combination you want, mine is Ctrl+K since it wasn't used

Now you can switch to focus on the sidebar terminal without using your mouse but if you just want to switch to the main terminal Ctrl+J

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Nov 16 '22 at 10:34

I have been trying to find the same shortcut, I found with VS code what helps is to know how the different UI components and actions are called.

In this case once "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab (where you can view and customize shortcuts) is open search for "prev terminal group" or "next terminal group".

We can see that VS Code has default shortcuts for:

Terminal: Focus Previous Terminal Group
Terminal: Focus Previous Terminal in Terminal Group

See results for my search: I am not sure which one you are the most interested in but, try each and once you found the shortcut you were looking for: use it or customize it to your likings.

Hope that helps

How to switch between terminals in Visual Studio Code?

17 Answers17

Linked