CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studio-code
jjcm
jjcm

Reputation: 4387

How do I press and hold a key and have it repeat in VSCode?

I use the vim plugin and I typically scroll in vim by just holding j. In VSCode holding j just does a single j command, no matter how long it's held for.

Even in vanilla vscode this also doesn't work - problematic if you're trying to type long blocks of ########################### for comment separators. Any idea how to enable this functionality?

Upvotes: 403

Views: 125102

Answers (14)

user27399257
user27399257

Reputation: 1

If it's not working for you in macos, try to log out your macos and log in again. It drove me crazy it didn't work though everyone said to run the same command until I log out the macos.

Upvotes: 0

mspices
mspices

Reputation: 459

If on mac, you should refer to the extension's Mac-specific instructions: https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim#mac

At the moment (Aug 2022), it says:

To enable key-repeating, execute the following in your Terminal, log out and back in, and then restart VS Code:

For VS Code users:

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

For VS Code Insider users:

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCodeInsiders ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

For VS Codium users:

defaults write com.visualstudio.code.oss ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

For VS Codium Exploration users:

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCodeExploration ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

If necessary, reset global default:

defaults delete -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled

We also recommend increasing Key Repeat and Delay Until Repeat settings in System Preferences -> Keyboard.

Upvotes: 14

Saqib Naveed
Saqib Naveed

Reputation: 51

For my M1 MacBook Pro, I had to run

sudo defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

as noappleonhead said

Then had to restart/relogin Mac. And it started to work fine.

Upvotes: 5

syntactic
syntactic

Reputation: 196

If you are on Mac M1 what I had to do was run what @NoAppleOnHead said of:

sudo defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Then after doing so restart your Mac and you should be good to go

Upvotes: 1

Hamid Shoja
Hamid Shoja

Reputation: 4768

Operating System : Mac

To enable key-repeating execute the following in your Terminal and restart VS Code:

$ defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false         # For VS Code
$ defaults write com.microsoft.VSCodeInsiders ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false # For VS Code Insider
$ defaults write com.visualstudio.code.oss ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false    # For VS Codium
$ defaults delete -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled                                      # If necessary, reset global default

We also recommend increasing Key Repeat and Delay Until Repeat settings in System Preferences -> Keyboard.

this is all in our readme https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim/blob/master/README.md#mac-setup

Upvotes: 18

Weidong Fang
Weidong Fang

Reputation: 79

None of the above worked for me with my new laptop, instead I had to use:

defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Upvotes: 6

NoAppleOnHead
NoAppleOnHead

Reputation: 62

The best answer from Steve doesn't work for my mac 'defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false', however below works for me:

sudo defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

reference: https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim/issues/345

Upvotes: 3

Will
Will

Reputation: 1640

For those of you on VS Code Insiders, just change the Bundle identifier to:

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCodeInsiders ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Upvotes: 2

satyavvd
satyavvd

Reputation: 39

Though I reset with above mentioned commands and even after reboot, Once I open
VSCode they are getting reset, so I had 'code' script to set them back
every time I open VSCode editor.

 $ cat code
VSCODE_CWD="$PWD" open -n -b "com.microsoft.VSCode" --args $* &
defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false
defaults delete -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled

Upvotes: 0

Kyle Chesney
Kyle Chesney

Reputation: 148

If you're on a mac and using VSCodium:

defaults write com.visualstudio.code.oss ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Other answers targeting com.microsoft.VSCode do not work because you're not running MS VSCode. The command default write generates/updates files in ~/Library/Preferences/ appended with .plist, you have to target the right file.

My software and versions:
macOS Mojave 10.14.6
VSCodium 1.41.1
- Vim (by vscodevim) 1.12.4 with neovim enabled
Neovim 0.4.3 Vim 8.1.2250

Upvotes: 10

Steve Burns
Steve Burns

Reputation: 8594

To disable the Apple press and hold for VSCode only, run this command in a terminal:

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Then restart VSCode.

To re-enable, run this command in a terminal:

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true

Upvotes: 857

Moyuan Huang
Moyuan Huang

Reputation: 749

The official vim-plugin for VS Code mentions how to set it up on macOS

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false
defaults delete -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled  # If necessary, reset global default

Upvotes: 69

Babakness
Babakness

Reputation: 3134

The answer by Steve above didn't quite work for me because of global settings. It also left me curious about where to find the com.microsoft.VScode domain name for an app. Here is what worked for me and a generalized formulation:

To enable repeats for a specific app, like VSCode, first make sure that there isn't an overriding global setting.

defaults delete -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled

Then enable the setting for the specific app, you can find the domain name of an app by finding it in the Info.plist document under the Contents folder where it is installed.

Example

<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.microsoft.VSCode</string>

Then set the setting on the command line.

defaults write com.microsoft.VSCode ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

You can use this pattern other app specific settings as well. Just make sure that your settings aren't being overwritten globally.

For more information on defaults type defaults help. One more note, you don't need to run this as sudo if your user is already an admin.

Upvotes: 21

kwood
kwood

Reputation: 10914

You are on OSX, correct? If so, the issue might be Apple's "Press&Hold", where you can select alternative characters on long presses.

You can disable this "feature" with a defaults command in the terminal:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

You have to restart VSCode afterwards.

To reenable the previous behaviour:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true

Upvotes: 106

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