Question

Visual Studio 2010 allows toggling the Intellisense mode between the “completion mode” and the “suggestion mode” (aka “low-impact mode”) using the Ctrl+Alt+Space shortcut. I like to work in the regular completion mode, but it seems I keep hitting Ctrl+Alt+Space by mistake, as silly as that sounds!

Is there any way to disable the Intellisense suggestion mode (or the Ctrl+Alt+Space shortcut) so that I always work in the regular completion mode?

Answer 1

The IntelliSense options differ in Visual Studio depending on the language that you’re targeting.

But the universal, language-neutral solution is to disable the offending Ctrl+Alt+Space shortcut altogether (or remap it to something else). There is an extensive UI for customizing keyboard shortcuts built into Visual Studio.

The command you’re looking for is called Edit.ToggleCompletionMode. To change or remove the keyboard shortcut attached to it, follow these steps:

1. Click on the “Tools” menu, then click “Options”.

2. Expand the “Environment” category, and then click the “Keyboard” item.

3. Type in a portion of the name of the command you wish to modify. In this case, typing togglecompletion is enough.

4. Click the relevant match in the list below (Edit.ToggleCompletionMode).

5. The combo box displays all of the keyboard shortcuts assigned to that command.

   To remove one, ensure that it is selected and click the “Remove” button.

   To assign a new one, set focus to the text box labeled “Press shortcut keys” and type the desired shortcut keys. If that shortcut is currently in use by another command, it will be displayed in the combo box below. To assign a shortcut to the active command, click the “Assign” button.

   

It’s nearly one of the most complicated dialog UIs that I’ve ever seen in a commercial product, and it’s infuriatingly non-resizable. Join the crowd of complainers and maybe there’s hope that it will change.