How do I comment selected lines in Visual Studio?

To comment selected lines in Visual Studio, you primarily use keyboard shortcuts that either toggle line comments or apply/remove line comments in a sequence. This allows for quick code management, especially when debugging or refactoring.

Efficiently Commenting and Uncommenting Code in Visual Studio

Visual Studio offers robust tools for managing code comments, which are essential for documentation, debugging, and temporarily disabling code sections. Understanding the default shortcuts and potential custom options will significantly boost your productivity.

Standard Line Commenting and Uncommenting

Visual Studio provides dedicated keyboard shortcuts to quickly comment out or uncomment selected lines of code. These are the most commonly used methods for line-by-line commenting:

1. Comment Selected Lines (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C)

To comment out one or more selected lines:

1. Select the lines of code you wish to comment.
2. Press Ctrl + K, then immediately press Ctrl + C.
   • Visual Studio will add the appropriate line comment syntax (e.g., // for C#, <!-- --> for HTML, # for Python) at the beginning of each selected line.

2. Uncomment Selected Lines (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+U)

To uncomment one or more selected lines:

1. Select the commented lines of code you wish to uncomment.
2. Press Ctrl + K, then immediately press Ctrl + U.
   • Visual Studio will remove the line comment syntax from the selected lines.

3. Toggle Line Comments (Ctrl+/)

Many developers prefer the Ctrl+/ shortcut as it acts as a toggle:

1. Select the lines of code you wish to comment or uncomment. If no lines are selected, it comments/uncomments the current line.
2. Press Ctrl + /.
   • If the selected lines are uncommented, it will comment them.
   • If the selected lines are commented (with line comments), it will uncomment them.
   • This shortcut is generally effective across various programming languages supported by Visual Studio.

For more details on default keyboard shortcuts in Visual Studio, you can refer to the official Microsoft documentation.

Block Commenting Strategies

While Visual Studio's Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+/ primarily handle line comments, "block comments" (like /* ... */ in C#/CSS/JavaScript or <!-- ... --> in HTML) are language-specific.

• Manual Block Comments: For multi-line comments that are not line-by-line, you often need to manually type the block comment delimiters. For example, in C#, you would type /* at the start of your block and */ at the end.
• Language-Specific Features: Some languages or extensions might offer shortcuts for specific block comments. For instance, in C#, typing /// above a function or class often generates an XML documentation comment block.
• Extensions: Many Visual Studio extensions provide enhanced commenting features, including shortcuts for wrapping selections in block comments. Search the Visual Studio Marketplace for "comment" extensions if you need more advanced capabilities.

Table of Standard Visual Studio Commenting Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut	Description
Comment Lines	Ctrl + K, Ctrl + C	Adds line comment syntax to selected lines.
Uncomment Lines	Ctrl + K, Ctrl + U	Removes line comment syntax from selected lines.
Toggle Lines	Ctrl + /	Toggles line comments on selected lines or current line.

Alternative or Custom Commenting Shortcuts

While the above are Visual Studio's default and most widely used shortcuts, specific environments, custom keybinding configurations, or extensions might introduce alternative shortcuts for commenting. Based on certain internal references, the following shortcuts have been identified for comment-related actions:

Action	Shortcut	Description (Inferred)
Comment Lines	Ctrl + #	An alternative shortcut for line commenting.
Uncomment Lines	Ctrl + Shift + #	An alternative shortcut for line uncommenting.
Block Commenting	Ctrl + Alt + #	An alternative shortcut for applying a block comment.
Block Uncommenting	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + #	An alternative shortcut for removing a block comment.

Note: The shortcuts involving # (hash key) are not part of Visual Studio's default keybindings and are likely custom-configured shortcuts or specific to a particular setup or extension. If these do not work for you, the standard shortcuts mentioned above are the most reliable methods.

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts

If you prefer different key combinations or want to assign a shortcut for a specific block commenting action, Visual Studio allows extensive customization:

1. Go to Tools > Options.
2. Navigate to Environment > Keyboard.
3. In the "Show commands containing" box, type "Comment" or "Uncomment" to find relevant commands (e.g., Edit.CommentSelection, Edit.UncommentSelection, Edit.ToggleLineComment).
4. Select a command, assign a new shortcut in the "Press shortcut keys" box, and click Assign.

This flexibility ensures you can tailor Visual Studio to your preferred workflow.