VS Code Markdown Guide

Ctrl+Shift+V  (Cmd+Shift+V on Mac)
→ Opens preview in a new tab

Ctrl+K V  (Cmd+K V on Mac)
→ Opens preview side by side with editor

✅ Standard markdown (headings, bold, italic, lists)
✅ GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM)
✅ Syntax highlighting in code blocks
✅ Tables and task lists
✅ LaTeX math (KaTeX, since VS Code 1.58)
✅ Emoji shortcodes
✅ Mermaid diagrams (with extension)
❌ HTML iframes (sandboxed)

# Scroll sync is automatic

As you scroll the editor, the preview
follows — and vice versa.

Toggle via the preview toolbar icon
or set in settings:
"markdown.preview.scrollEditorWithPreview": true

Publisher: Yu Zhang
ID: yzhang.markdown-all-in-one

Adds:
• Ctrl+B / Ctrl+I — bold / italic
• Ctrl+K — insert link
• Alt+Shift+F — format table
• Ctrl+Shift+P → "Create TOC"
• Auto-continue lists on Enter

Publisher: Prettier
ID: esbenp.prettier-vscode

Configure in .prettierrc:
{
  "proseWrap": "always",
  "printWidth": 80
}

Settings: "editor.formatOnSave": true

Publisher: Yiyi Wang
ID: shd101wyy.markdown-preview-enhanced

Features:
• Mermaid, PlantUML, Chart.js diagrams
• KaTeX + MathJax math
• Export to PDF, HTML, PNG
• Custom CSS themes
• Presentation mode

Publisher: David Anson
ID: DavidAnson.vscode-markdownlint

Catches:
• Missing blank lines around headings
• Inconsistent heading levels
• Trailing spaces
• Bare URLs (should be linked)
• Hard tabs in markdown

Ctrl+Shift+V   (Cmd+Shift+V)  → Preview in new tab
Ctrl+K V       (Cmd+K V)      → Side-by-side preview
Ctrl+Shift+P → "Markdown: Open Preview"

Ctrl+B  (Cmd+B)  → Toggle bold
Ctrl+I  (Cmd+I)  → Toggle italic
Ctrl+K  (Cmd+K)  → Insert link (on selected text)
Alt+C           → Toggle task list checkbox
Alt+Shift+F     → Format table

Ctrl+Shift+O  (Cmd+Shift+O)  → Outline / Go to heading
Ctrl+G                      → Go to line
Alt+Z                       → Toggle word wrap
Ctrl+Shift+P → "Markdown: Create TOC"
F12 on [link](url)          → Follow link in preview

Ctrl+Shift+P → "Format Document"  → Auto-format entire file
Ctrl+/                           → Toggle comment
Alt+↑ / Alt+↓                    → Move line up/down
Shift+Alt+↓                      → Duplicate line
Ctrl+D                           → Select next occurrence

// keybindings.json
[
  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+m",
    "command": "markdown.showPreviewToSide",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  }
]

// .vscode/markdown.code-snippets
{
  "Front matter": {
    "prefix": "front",
    "body": [
      "---",
      "title: $1",
      "date: $CURRENT_YEAR-$CURRENT_MONTH-$CURRENT_DATE",
      "tags: [$2]",
      "---",
      "",
      "$0"
    ]
  }
}

// .vscode/tasks.json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [{
    "label": "Export to PDF",
    "type": "shell",
    "command": "pandoc ${file} -o ${fileBasenameNoExtension}.pdf",
    "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true }
  }]
}

// Run with Ctrl+Shift+B

# Opening a markdown diff:
1. Open Source Control panel (Ctrl+Shift+G)
2. Click any changed .md file
3. VS Code shows inline word diffs

Or from the terminal:
git diff HEAD README.md

// To view file history:
1. Open any .md file
2. Click "Timeline" in the Explorer panel (bottom)
3. Each commit appears with message + date
4. Click any entry to see the diff at that point

// Or via command palette:
Ctrl+Shift+P → "Git: View File History"