How Can I Override Visual Studio's Menu Accelerator Shortcuts?

Question

I'm a Mac-based .Net developer so over the years I've got into the habit of remapping certain common functions to a more 'Macish' set of keyboard shortcuts:

CUT: Ctrl + X => Alt + X
COPY: Ctrl + C => Alt + C
PASTE: Ctrl + V => Alt + V
SELECT ALL: Ctrol + A => Alt + A
SAVE: Ctrl + S => Alt + S

and so on.

with this fancy schmancy VS 2010 Premium edition we've just got we've got extra menus e.g.

 Test
 Data  

whose menu accessor (accelerator?)shortcuts are Alt + S and Alt + A which take precedence over my user-defined shortcuts for SAVE and SELECT ALL.

Is there a way of disabling these accessors so my overrides will work?

Answer 1

Here's how to change the shortcut key for a Visual Studio menu, using the 'Test' menu as an example:

1. Go to Tools, Customize.
2. Click the Commands tab.
3. Ensure the Menu bar option is selected, and that Menu Bar is chosen for editing from the drop-down (this is the primary application menu bar).
4. In the Controls section, click on the Test menu.
5. Click on the Modify Selection ▼ button.
6. Change the text for the Name property:
   • Any letter prefixed with an '&' ampersand will act as the shortcut key.
   • The ampersand is not required if you don't need to reach this menu with the keyboard.
7. Press Enter to keep the setting.

'Modify Selection' for the Test menu

Answer 2

Isn't this something the fault of the Windows API, not Visual Studio? I think the Alt (and nothing else) keyboard shortcuts are directed through Windows API, so the OS will probably not let you do this; it'll select the menu with the respective mnemonic (underlined letter).

You could try using a custom keyboard layout that would swap the left ctrl and left alt keys, allowing you to use "ctrl-S" but it feels like command-S.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

go to tools -options - keyboard(you may have to choose show all option or something like that to be able to see this one) and you can change the shortcuts