Visual Studio F6 stopped working. It no longer builds the project

Question

I'm using VS2008, been using it for quite some time now, and since I hate using the mouse while developing , I'm always using F6 to build the solution, or Shift + F6 to build the current project. What's weird though is for some strange reason, it simply stopped working over the last few days. In fact, when I pull down the Build menu, next to "Build MyProject" there's no longer a " Shift + F6 " shortcut there on the menu?!? Anyone ever experienced this? Is there a setting I need to change?

Answer 1

You can change keyboard bindings in the Tools->Options dialog. It's under Environment->Keyboard.

You can reset the binding here, and also check what might have stolen it by checking what's currently bound to those keys.

If you recently installed any add-ins, they're known to set (sometimes unwanted) keyboard shortcuts.

Answer 2

Your Keyboard Mapping Scheme has changed. Go to Tools -> Options. In Environments->Keyboard in the dropdown for "Apply the following additional mapping scheme" select "Visual C# 2005"

Answer 3

Have you tried : Tools -> Options -> Environment -> Keyboard

All the keyboard shortcuts have been shown there.

Answer 4

I'll add the proverbial "Is it plugged into the wall" question:

Do you have a fancy keyboard that replaces function keys with other things toggled incorrectly?

Answer 5

Just in case this bites anyone else: Parallels Desktop for OS X grabs F6 and uses it for "Show and hide Parallels Desktop". It can be disabled in Preferences -> OS X System Shortcuts

Answer 6

VMWare stole my Shift + F6 . Maybe that's your prob?

I fixed this by going to going to tool-options-environment-keyboard just like the other suggestions but I clicked "Reset" instead to restore the proper short cuts.

Answer 7

Resharper was annoying about this. I had to set BuildSolution to f6 then remove F6 from Resharper_Move

Answer 8

I know this question already has an answer but it is good to have this here for future reference:

On the Solution properties page, Configuration Properties -> Configuration, the list of projects will be displayed and the last column "Build" will have checkboxes, one for each project. If they are all unchecked, you will press F6 but nothing will happen. Check the projects you want to build, on that case and you are now good to hit F6.