VS Code Zoom Reset: Fix the Missing Ctrl+0 / Cmd+0 Shortcut

Presenting from Visual Studio Code (VS Code)? Same. I always zoom in so the room can read — and then later I’m stuck with a comically large editor because Cmd/Ctrl+0 doesn’t reset zoom as it does in browsers or Microsoft Teams.

Some keyboard shortcuts are universal, like zoom in, zoom out, or reset the zoomed view. Here are the “universal” Zoom shortcuts most apps follow (and why VS Code feels odd here):

• Zoom in:
  ctrl++ on Windows, cmd++ on Mac

• Zoom out:
  ctrl+- on Windows; cmd+- on Mac

• Zoom reset:
  ctrl+0 on Windows; cmd+0 on Mac

Zoom in and zoom out work in VS Code, but the “reset” shortcut is the one that trips me up. When I present, I zoom in so everyone can readm, then I’m stuck fiddling to get back to normal afterwards.

The solution to VS Code zoom

Since I work nearly 100% on my Mac Keyboard and the trackpad, there must be a solution to reset the view.

One solution is to use the menu for that. It can be found under View, Appearance, and Reset Zoom. I wanted to have the new keyboard shortcut for that.

There is already one to reset the Zoom, but this required pressing the zero key on a numeric keypad, which a Mac keyboard does not have.

I redefined the keyboard shortcut to cmd+0, or ctrl+0 under Code, Settings, Keyboard Shortcuts. VS Code told me that there are already shortcuts defined for that. None of those I actually used, so I overwrote those.

Now I can reset the zoom in like in any other application once the presentation is finished.

Official VSCode Resources

• Visual Studio Code Keyboard Shortcuts Reference (MacOS PDF)
• Visual Studio Code Keyboard Shortcuts Reference (Windows PDF)
• Visual Studio Code Docs: User Interface
• Visual Studio Code Docs: Keyboard Shortcuts

also check out more links on Visual Studio Code on my blog.