F12 Jump to method -> go back to previous method after making the jump?

While Ctrl- and CtrlShift- are indeed the shortcuts to navigate to the previous/next cursor position, in this particular case (i.e., going back after F12 or similar) this shortcut might be more useful:

CtrlShift8 (=View.PopBrowseContext)

It will jump back to the place where you pressed F12, ignoring any cursor locations after you pressed F12.

(NOTE: currently using VS 2013, and hoping this shortcut entry also exists in VS 2010...)


@Oded is correct, but wait, there's more!

  • If F12 sent you to a new tab window you can Ctrl + Tab to get back to your original tab. If you hold down Ctrl you can cycle through tab windows
  • In VS 2010 you can Ctrl + Click to Go To Definition, in addition to F12.
  • You can also hold down Ctrl and move your mouse over identifiers to highlight which ones you can jump to

In Visual Studio Code, you can also use Alt + Left-Arrow to return to your original location in the source code after navigating with F12.


Ctrl + - : (that's Ctrl and Minus) will navigate back (maps to View.NavigateBackward).

See this list of pre-defined keyboard shortcuts on MSDN.