---
title: "How do you auto format code in Visual Studio?"  
description: "How do you auto format code in Visual Studio?"  
author: "Steilla Mitchel"  
published: 2023-07-19  
updated: 2023-07-19  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159160/how-do-you-auto-format-code-in-visual-studio  
category: "visual studio"  
tags: ["visual studio", "format"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# How do you auto format code in Visual Studio?

How do you [auto](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/33810/remote-view-in-android-auto-cancel-custom-notification)-[format code in Visual](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159163/indent-format-code-in-visual-studio-code-on-mac) [Studio](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/116181/google-launches-workspace-studio-to-create-automated-gemini-powered-agents)?

## Replies

### Reply by Aryan Kumar

There are a few ways to auto [format](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/162083/how-to-convert-ost-files-into-pst-format) [code](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/85458/alan-turing-the-mastermind-behind-cracking-the-enigma-code-during-world-war-ii) in [Visual Studio](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12378/visual-studio-for-mac-is-out-of-beta-preview-now-officially-available).

## 1. Using the keyboard shortcut

- To auto-format the current document, press **Ctrl + K**, **Ctrl + F**.

## 2. Using the Command Palette

- To open the Command Palette, press **Ctrl + Shift + P**.
- Type "format" and then select the "Format Document" command.

## 3. Changing the settings

You can also change the default settings so that Visual Studio automatically formats code when you save a file. To do this, open the Settings editor by pressing **Ctrl + ,**. In the settings editor, search for the "editor.formatOnSave" setting. The "editor.formatOnSave" setting controls whether Visual Studio should automatically format code when you save a file.

For example, to enable automatic formatting, you would set the "editor.formatOnSave" setting to true.

Here are the steps on how to auto format code in Visual Studio using the settings:

1. Open Visual Studio.
2. Open the code file you want to auto-format.
3. Press **Ctrl + ,** to open the Settings editor.
4. In the Settings editor, search for the "editor.formatOnSave" setting.
5. In the "editor.formatOnSave" setting, set the value to true.
6. Save your changes.

Once you have saved your changes, Visual Studio will automatically format code when you save the file.

In addition to the built-in formatting features, you can also install third-party code formatters. A popular code formatter is Prettier, which can be installed from the Visual Studio Marketplace. Prettier is a popular code formatter that can be used to format code in a variety of languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, and HTML.

To install Prettier, open the Visual Studio Marketplace and search for "Prettier". Once you have found Prettier, click the "Install" button. Once Prettier has been installed, you can use it to format code in Visual Studio by pressing **Ctrl + K**, **Ctrl + F**.


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Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159160/how-do-you-auto-format-code-in-visual-studio

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