Knowing how to use keyboard shortcuts while working in Visual Studio can help us save a lot of time navigating a plethora of menu options.  Today I was on the hut to find out what the keyboard shortcut was for the “SmartTag” feature in visual studio 2010.  I had no idea it was called “SmartTag” until after I found the shortcut though.

The “SmartTag” feature is basically a drop down list of options Visual Studio can auto complete.  To access this feature using the mouse however can be frustrating.  First, you need to click somewhere on the text so that a small coloured rectangle will appear under the first letter of the word.  Then, you then need to hover over that rectangle to get the drop down list header to show up along with the tool tip “Options to help bind the selected item”.  Now you can actually select the drop down list to see the options you have available.

To simplify all this, you can use the keyboard shortcut “Shift + Alt + F10” and get direct access to the drop down options.

A big thanks to Perry Tribolet for posting this shortcut.