Top 10 Visual Assist features to improve productivity
Blog|by Leanne Bevan|4 June 2019

Whole Tomato Software’s Visual Assist is an add-on tool for C++ developers that use Visual Studio.
Here’s a list of the top 10 features that Whole Tomato recommend can help to improve productivity:
- Open any file (Shift+Alt+O)
Find and open any file using a simple dialog and some search tokens.

2. Find any symbol (Shift+Alt+S)
Find any symbol within a dialog that supports similar filtering.

3. Go to implementation (Alt+G)
Identify definitions and declarations, and open a menu when multiple targets are available.

4. Go to things that are related (Shift+Alt+G)
Go to anywhere that is related to the symbol, jump into a hierarchy or directly to vase or derived class.

5. Open corresponding file (Alt+O)
Open the file most related to the active document.

6. Look for references (Shift+Alt+F)
A faster, more powerful and complete reference finder – you can even clone results windows to run additional finds without overwriting initial results.

7. Quick actions and refactoring menu (Shift+Alt+O)
Use features applicable to the current context and experiment with symbols of different types, white space, lines and expressions. Use VA Snippets to refactor and generate code demands. Furthermore, disable floating buttons.



8. List methods within the file (Alt+M)
Use a simple drop-down of classes and method to navigate your current file, and filter using the strings.


9. Rename feature (Shift+Alt+R)
Visual Assist’s Rename feature is faster and more powerful than Visual Studio – rename the definition and declaration of symbols, references to them, and even occurrences in comments and strings.

10. Use hashtags
Add hashtags to comments and navigate among them via toll window (Shift+Alt+H) or the go-to command. The hashtags act as bookmarks and tasks that move alongside your code.

So there we have it, 10 tips to optimise your productivity when using Visual Assist alongside Visual Studio.
Give them a try and let us know how you get on.
Grey Matter is a Whole Tomato Software Reseller Partner, if you’d like a free trial or would like to discuss pricing, please get in touch.
Contact Grey Matter
If you have any questions or want some extra information, complete the form below and one of the team will be in touch ASAP. If you have a specific use case, please let us know and we'll help you find the right solution faster.
By submitting this form you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and Website Terms of Use.
Leanne Bevan
Related News
We attend CyberSmart Live
Helping ensure you’re using the best tools for your business and technical needs is important to us. That’s why keeping our team on top of the latest trends, learning about product updates and improving partnerships are integral. This week we...
The Developer’s Guide to Leveraging DevOps and Cloud Solutions
We’ve found implementing DevOps practices to have been a key aim for our customers so far in 2025. And there’s no better way to implement better DevOps practices than to leverage cloud services. In fact, according to Google Cloud’s State...
InstallShield free trial links
Looking to download an InstallShield free trial? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve also provided a breakdown of what InstallShield is and what’s included in each of the editions. What is InstallShield? Revenera InstallShield is a software tool for...
Data science in 2025: Beyond the LLM hype
Has AI killed data science? In this episode of our podcast (Grey Matter Talks Tech), we welcome data science expert, Dr Jodie Burchall to tell us about the current landscape of data science in 2025, looking beyond the headlines dominated...