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Refactoring & Code Navigation

type: conceptconfidence: highupdated: 2026-06-19sources: 3

Navigation

Go to Definition (F12) / Peek Definition (Alt+F12) — jump to or inline-view where a symbol is defined.
Go to References / Find All References — every usage of a symbol.
Go to Symbol (Ctrl+Shift+O) in a file, or across the workspace (Ctrl+T).
Go to File (Ctrl+P) — fuzzy quick-open.
Breadcrumbs and the Outline view for structural navigation.
Back/Forward navigation through your jump history.

Refactoring

VS Code exposes language-server refactorings via the Refactor menu / lightbulb code actions:

Rename Symbol (F2) — rename across all references safely.
Extract method/function/variable/constant.
Move to a new file, inline, and other language-specific refactors.
Quick Fixes for diagnostics (add import, implement interface, etc.).

Available refactorings depend on the language extension.

Search & glob patterns

The Search view does workspace-wide find/replace (regex supported). Scope it with glob patterns in files.include/files.exclude and search.exclude settings: **/*.ts (all TS files), **/node_modules (exclude), {a,b} brace expansion. The same glob syntax governs file watching, file associations, and many extension configurations — learning it pays off across the editor.