Column and block text selection :
Using SHIFT to Select Text –
In this post we will have a look on “SQL Server Shortcut keys”. with some other details. It is well known that using the SHIFT key you can perform normal text selection in SSMS. If you put your cursor to the left of “Person.Address” and hold the SHIFT key and then put your cursor at the end of “Person.CountryRegion” it will select the first three lines of code as shown below.
Using SHIFT+ALT to Select Columns
If you would like to select columns or blocks then Microsoft SQL Server offers a solution for you. You can use the key shortcut SHIFT+ALT as described in the following steps. Please note that this feature works using SSMS for SQL Server 2008 and up.
Place your cursor to the left of “[Person].[Address]”, press SHIFT+ALT then click at the end of “Person” in “[Person].[CountryRegion]”. This will select columns or blocks in SQL Server Management Studio as shown below.
Using SHIFT+ALT to Select Columns and Insert Text
In SSMS for SQL Server 2012 and up, you can also use SHIFT+ALT to insert text in this block mode.
First place the cursor in the first row where you would like to insert the text (to the left “[Person].[Address]“in our example). Press SHIFT+ALT and click in the last line where you would like to append this text (left of “[Person].[CountryRegion]“.). Now type “SELECT * FROM ” and this text will be inserted for each line as shown below.
SQL Server Shortcut keys enlisted below
| Bookmarks: Clear all bookmarks. | CTRL-SHIFT-F2 |
| Bookmarks: Insert or remove a bookmark (toggle). | CTRL+F2 |
| Bookmarks: Move to next bookmark. | F2 |
| Bookmarks: Move to previous bookmark. | SHIFT+F2 |
| Cancel a query. | ALT+BREAK |
| Connections: Connect. | CTRL+O |
| Connections: Disconnect. | CTRL+F4 |
| Connections: Disconnect and close child window. | CTRL+F4 |
| Database object information. | ALT+F1 |
| Editing: Clear the active Editor pane. | CTRL+SHIFT+ DEL |
| Editing: Comment out code. | CTRL+SHIFT+C |
| Editing: Copy. You can also use CTRL+INSERT. | CTRL+C |
| Editing: Cut. You can also use SHIFT+DEL. | CTRL+X |
| Editing: Decrease indent. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Editing: Delete through the end of a line in the Editor pane. | CTRL+DEL |
| Editing: Find. | CTRL+F |
| Editing: Go to a line number. | CTRL+G |
| Editing: Increase indent. | TAB |
| Editing: Make selection lowercase. | CTRL+SHIFT+L |
| Editing: Make selection uppercase. | CTRL+SHIFT+U |
| Editing: Paste. You can also use SHIFT+INSERT. | CTRL+V |
| Editing: Remove comments. | CTRL+SHIFT+R |
| Editing: Repeat last search or find next. | F3 |
| Editing: Replace. | CTRL+H |
| Editing: Select all. | CTRL+A |
| Editing: Undo. | CTRL+Z |
| Execute a query. You can also use CTRL+E (for backward compatibility). | F5 |
| Help for SQL Query Analyzer. | F1 |
| Help for the selected Transact-SQL statement. | SHIFT+F1 |
| Navigation: Switch between query and result panes. | F6 |
| Navigation: Switch panes. | Shift+F6 |
| Navigation: Window Selector. | CTRL+W |
| New Query window. | CTRL+N |
| Object Browser (show/hide). | F8 |
| Object Search. | F4 |
| Parse the query and check syntax. | CTRL+F5 |
| Print. | CTRL+P |
| Results: Display results in grid format. | CTRL+D |
| Results: Display results in text format. | CTRL+T |
| Results: Move the splitter. | CTRL+B |
| Results: Save results to file. | CTRL+SHIFT+F |
| Results: Show Results pane (toggle). | CTRL+R |
| Save. | CTRL+S |
| Templates: Insert a template. | CTRL+SHIFT+INSERT |
| Templates: Replace template parameters. | CTRL+SHIFT+M |
| Tuning: Display estimated execution plan. | CTRL+L |
| Tuning: Display execution plan (toggle ON/OFF). | CTRL+K |
| Tuning: Index Tuning Wizard. | CTRL+I |
| Tuning: Show client statistics | CTRL+SHIFT+S |
| Tuning: Show server trace. | CTRL+SHIFT+T |
| Use database. | CTRL+U |
