Xcode Reference

Kip Landergren

(Updated: )

My cheat sheet for Xcode covering common keyboard shortcuts, file templates, snippets, and comments.

Contents

Xcode Version Note

The following document refers to Xcode version 11.4.

macOS Keyboard Shortcuts

Note: all letter keys are displayed uppercase. Shortcuts requiring use of ⇧ Shift will be called out.

Fast Menu Item Access

Not every operation has a keyboard shortcut. In the event that you know the title of the menu item you wish to select you can use the following steps to quickly access it:
access Help menu, focusing search ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + /
access Menu Item type Menu Item and select from search results

Xcode
move cursor page up ⌥ Option + Page Up
move cursor page down ⌥ Option + Page Down
reindent code ⌃ Control + I
focus Active Scheme ⌃ Control + 0
focus Document Items ⌃ Control + 6
focus Project navigator in the Navigator area ⌘ Command + 1
focus Find navigator in the Navigator area ⌘ Command + 4
move cursor to end of line ⌘ Command + →
move cursor to begining of statement; second invocation moves cursor to beginning of line ⌘ Command + ←
move cursor to top of file ⌘ Command + ↑
move cursor to bottom of file ⌘ Command + ↓
find ⌘ Command + F
focus Editor area ⌘ Command + J
test ⌘ Command + U
jump to next issue ⌘ Command + '
add breakpoint / remove breakpoint ⌘ Command + </kbd>
rename in scope ⌘ Command + ⌃ Control + E
jump back to location ⌘ Command + ⌃ Control + ←
jump forward to location (does not wrap) ⌘ Command + ⌃ Control + →
clean build folder ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + K
show the snippets library ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + L
open quickly ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + O
show / hide the debug area ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + Y
jump to previous issue ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + "
find and replace ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + F
fold ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ←
unfold ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + →
automatically fix next issue ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⌃ Control + F
rerun last test ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⌃ Control + G
run single test in cursor context (note: I have found this to be flaky; trying to rerun last test sometimes works) ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⌃ Control + U
switch destination device “down” ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⌃ Control + [
switch destination device “up” ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⌃ Control + ]
fold all functions ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⇧ Shift + ←
unfold all functions ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + ⇧ Shift + →

Menu Command Shortcuts (By Menu) - Documentation Archive

Playgrounds
run playground ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + ↵ Return
run playground to current line ⇧ Shift + ↵ Return

Simulator
shake gesture ⌘ Command + ⌃ Control + Z

Turning on Dark Mode

Within the running simulator itself:

Through Xcode, when app is running:

Note: this latter method does not appear to take effect during UI tests.

Viewing Application Data

xcrun simctl get_app_container booted <app bundle identifier> [<container>]

Get application data directory:

xcrun simctl get_app_container booted <app bundle identifier> data

Debugger

Set language to swift:

(lldb) settings set target.language swift

Import UIKit:

(lldb) e import UIKit

Assign memory address to usable type:

e let $foo = unsafeBitCast(0xMEMORY_ADDRESS, to: FooType.self)

Xcode File Templates

Text Macros
___FILEHEADER___ the default author, project name, date, and copyright text
___FILEBASENAME___ the input filename, without extension
___UUID___ a universally unique identifier

A complete list is available from the official Xcode Text macros reference help article.

Editor Placeholders

Special text that fills a selectable region:

<#My Placeholder Text#>

Xcode Project Templates

This undocumented (at least as of March 2020) feature that allows you to create your own custom project templates similar to the Single View App already available.

The general problem of how to consistently create Xcode projects and project boilerplate is addressed in a few primary ways:

Although using custom templates is possible, I prefer to rely on a manual process because at the moment, my needs are not complex.

In addition, this allows me to:

If this Xcode feature becomes better supported in future, or a separate need arises, I will reevaluate.

Xcode Snippets

User-created snippets are stored as .codesnippet plist XML files in:

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/CodeSnippets

Considerations when creating:

Official Xcode Create and use code snippets help article.

Swift Package Management

Swift Comments and Xcode

Horizontal Delimiter

// MARK: -

creates a solitary horizontal delimiter in the Xcode jump bar and minimap

Headings

// MARK: Delegate Methods

creates a heading with text “Delegate Methods” in the Xcode jump bar and minimap

// MARK: - Delegate Methods

creates a horizontal delimiter, followed by a heading with text “Delegate Methods” in the Xcode jump bar and minimap

Action Items

Note: As far as I can tell there is no additional management of action items beyond special formatting in the jump bar

// TODO: finish implementing delegate methods

creates a to-do item with text “finish implementing delegate methods” in the Xcode jump bar

// FIXME: broken on horizontally compact

creates a fix-me item with text “broken on horizontally compact” in the Xcode jump bar

Xcode Terminology

destination
the architecture of the hardware for which the products are built
library
a collection of code or data that can be imported
product
the output of a build system, e.g. a module or test suite
scheme
either a collection of targets to build, a configuration to use when building, or a collection of tests to execute
target
two things: the desired product of a build and the set of source files and instructions to actually build it

FAQ

How to switch to an older iOS version for testing?

Create a simulator configuration via these steps.

How to perform a global find and replace?

A project-wide find and replace is possible by:

And using as needed.

How to fix a broken Xcode index?

Delete derived data and restart xcode.

Where is the derived data directory located?

In ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData.

Or, from within Xcode:

Resources