Basic Xcode keyboard shortcuts every developer should know

Using keyboard shortcuts is key of being productive and efficient when working with a development environment like Xcode.

In this post, I share my most used basic Xcode shortcuts. If you are already working with Xcode for a long time, you may be more interested in my post on the advanced Xcode shortcuts.

Before starting, here is a quick key reference:

• ⌘ — Command
• ⇧ — Shift
• ⌥ — Option/Alt
• ⌃ — Control

Let’s do some ground work.

1. Product

The most basic shortcuts are those for running, testing and cleaning.

• Run ⌘ R
• Test ⌘ U
• Clean Build Folder ⇧ ⌘ K
• Stop ⌘ .

You will find them in Xcodes Product menu item. When you are working with Xcode for some time now, you most certainly use them already.

2. Navigate

Quickly navigating back and forth when working on different files is a real time saver. Same for jumping to a definition.

• Go forward ⌃ ⌘ →
• Go back ⌃ ⌘ ←
• Jump to definition ⌃ ⌘ J

You can lookup these actions in Xcodes Navigate menu.

3. Open quickly

Another essential shortcut is the one for opening a file quickly with ⇧ ⌘ O.
You can find it in Xcodes File menu.

4. Find

Searching is another basic action. You can search in the file that is currently open or in the project / workspace.

• Find ⌘ F
• Find and replace ⌥ ⌘ F
• Find in project / workspace ⇧ ⌘ F

5. View

Being able to show and hide different Xcode areas quickly is really useful especially when working on smaller screens.

• ⌘ 0 to show and hide the project navigator
• ⌘ ⇧ Y to show and hide the debug console
• ⌘ ⌥ 0 to show and hide the inspectors

Inside those views, yoo have even more options, for example switching between different navigators with ⌘ 1, ⌘ 2 ... ⌘ 9. Check them out in Xcodes View menu.

Many of those shortcuts can be easily found and looked up directly in Xcodes menu right next to their action names. I can only recommend to take some time and look up more interesting actions on your own.

When you are motivated to boost up your productivity even more, checkout my post on the advanced Xcode shortcuts.

Also checkout my quick tip on how to learn Xcode shortcuts efficiently.

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Originally published at https://www.tanaschita.com on October 23, 2019.