Recently whilst coding with Visual Studio I found a new feature called Peek Definition. This is similar to Go To Definition, but Peek Definition shows in a pop-up window.
This feature is available in C#, Visual Basic and C++ code.
Important: You can't see this feature in Visual Studio 2014 express edition.
Please see the following screen to open a peek definition window.
If you want a peek at the Student class in the following code:
![]()
Then right-click on Student and click on Peek Definition as in the following:
![]()
![]()
If there are multiple portions of the class (a partial class) for Student then a list of portions are displayed at the right of the code definition view and also it starts changing the code in the peek window that is opened as a separate tab.
![]()
![]()
The following are the shortcuts for the Peek Definition window:
Functionality |
Keyboard shortcut |
Open the definition window |
Alt+F12 |
Close the definition window |
Esc |
Promote the definition window to a regular document tab |
Shift+Alt+Home |
Navigate between definition windows |
Ctrl+Alt+- and Ctrl+Alt+= |
Navigate between multiple results |
F8 and Shift+F8 |
Toggle between the code editor window and the definition window |
Shift+Esc |
I hope this helps your productivity whilst using Visual Studio.