VSCode insert tab character manually

Question

When using VSCode, most of my files are set to be indented using spaces. However I sometimes wish to insert a literal tab. When I was using vim I'd use <Ctrl>+v <Tab> but that doesn't work with VSCode.

I've been searching and searching and cannot find anything. Please help!

Answer 1

Quick-and-dirty solution: Find a tab somewhere else, then copy-paste.

Chances are that you already have a tab character in the file you are editing, but if not you can generate one in another application or text editor.

You can also generate a tab programmatically in a bash shell with the following command (the brackets are optional):

echo -e [\\t] 

For your more immediate needs, I have inserted a tab character below...

     There is a tab character between these brackets: [	] 

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Another approach is to change the tab mode temporarily, as shown here.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if there is a generic solution, but you can setup a keybinding for this:

{     "key": "ctrl+v tab",     "command": "type",     "args": { "text": "\t" },     "when": "editorTextFocus" } 

This keybinding will insert an tab character even when the current mode is spaces.