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VS Code includes Emmet, so you do not need an extension to expand abbreviations. By default, type an abbreviation in a supported file and choose its expansion from the suggestion list. Tab does not expand Emmet by default: enable emmet.triggerExpansionOnTab if you want that behavior, or run Emmet: Expand Abbreviation from the Command Palette.
VS Code Emmet shortcuts at a glance
| What you want to do | How | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Choose an Emmet expansion | Type an abbreviation in a supported language, then select the expansion in the suggestion list. | The default workflow. |
| Show suggestions manually | Press Ctrl+Space on Windows or Linux, or Control+Space on macOS. | When quick suggestions are disabled or you want to open the list on demand. |
| Expand with Tab | Set "emmet.triggerExpansionOnTab": true. |
If you prefer Tab as your expansion key. Tab still indents when there is no abbreviation to expand. |
| Run the expansion command | Open the Command Palette and choose Emmet: Expand Abbreviation. | Useful when you do not want to select from suggestions. |
| Use a dedicated keybinding | Assign a shortcut to editor.emmet.action.expandAbbreviation in Keyboard Shortcuts. |
If you want a repeatable key of your choice. |
How to expand an Emmet abbreviation
- Open a file whose language mode supports Emmet, such as HTML or CSS.
- Type an Emmet abbreviation where you want the generated markup or stylesheet code.
- Select the desired Emmet expansion from the suggestion list.
Emmet expansions appear in VS Code’s completion list. If the list is not visible, press Ctrl+Space on Windows or Linux, or Control+Space on macOS. VS Code’s Emmet documentation covers the built-in support and its settings.
Make Tab expand Emmet
Tab expansion is optional. To enable it, add this setting to your user or workspace settings:
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{
"emmet.triggerExpansionOnTab": true
}With the setting enabled, Tab expands an abbreviation when VS Code can identify one; otherwise, it remains available for indentation. This is particularly useful for standalone custom tags, which VS Code does not normally offer as Emmet suggestions because treating every word as a possible tag would create noisy completions.
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Tab is not a universal default for Emmet. In a 2017 post, VS Code team member Ramya Rao explained the historical decision to remove the default Tab binding: the suggestion list offered a more pleasant way to access Emmet expansions. That rationale is historical context; your current behavior depends on your settings and bindings. The VS Code announcement describes the Emmet 2.0 change.
Run or bind “Emmet: Expand Abbreviation”
Run it from the Command Palette
- Open the Command Palette.
- Search for and select Emmet: Expand Abbreviation.
The command ID is editor.emmet.action.expandAbbreviation.
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Assign your own shortcut
- Open Keyboard Shortcuts with Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts. The default shortcut is Ctrl+K, then Ctrl+S on Windows and Linux; on macOS, it is Command+K, then Command+S.
- Search for Emmet: Expand Abbreviation.
- Edit its keybinding and press the key combination you want to use.
Bindings can vary by platform, keyboard layout, and personal configuration. Check the shortcut displayed in your own Keyboard Shortcuts editor rather than assuming a universal Emmet key. The VS Code keybindings guide explains how to change, remove, and reset bindings.
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Which Emmet workflow should you use?
| Workflow | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Choose from suggestions | Seeing available expansions and using Emmet without changing settings. | You must select the desired completion; the list may not appear automatically if quick suggestions are off. |
| Tab expansion | Expanding abbreviations with a familiar, quick key. | Requires enabling the setting, and Tab’s role depends on whether VS Code recognizes an abbreviation at the cursor. |
| Command or custom keybinding | Invoking expansion on demand or assigning a dedicated key. | The command is less immediate than picking a visible suggestion; a custom binding takes setup and may differ across systems. |
Supported languages and settings
Emmet abbreviation and snippet expansion is enabled by default in html, haml, pug, slim, jsx, xml, xsl, css, scss, sass, less, and stylus, as well as languages that inherit from those modes, including Handlebars and PHP.
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Enable Emmet in another language
Use emmet.includeLanguages to map the language ID VS Code uses to a language Emmet supports. For example, the documentation shows mappings from javascript to javascriptreact, razor to html, and plaintext to pug:
{
"emmet.includeLanguages": {
"javascript": "javascriptreact",
"razor": "html",
"plaintext": "pug"
}
}Use the actual language identifiers, not display names. Mapping a general-purpose language can surface markup-oriented completions in contexts where they are distracting.
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Control where expansions appear
emmet.showExpandedAbbreviation controls whether expanded abbreviations appear in suggestions. Set it to never to hide them. Set it to inMarkupAndStylesheetFilesOnly to limit visibility to markup and stylesheet files when Emmet is mapped into other languages. The always option includes mapped modes but is not context-aware.
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Change suggestion ordering
If you want Emmet suggestions grouped with snippets and near the top, set emmet.showSuggestionsAsSnippets to true and editor.snippetSuggestions to top. These settings affect ordering, not whether Emmet can expand abbreviations.
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Troubleshoot Emmet expansions
No Emmet suggestion appears
- Check whether
editor.quickSuggestionsis disabled. If so, request the list with Ctrl+Space on Windows or Linux, or Control+Space on macOS. - Check whether
emmet.showExpandedAbbreviationis set tonever. - Confirm that the current language is supported or configured through
emmet.includeLanguages.
A custom tag does not appear as a suggestion
Standalone custom tags are omitted from suggestions to avoid offering every typed word as a possible tag. Enabling Tab expansion with emmet.triggerExpansionOnTab is a documented workaround.
A custom snippet no longer expands
Check emmet.extensionsPath and the format of snippets.json. For cursor positions, the current format uses TextMate tab stops such as ${1} or ${1:placeholder}; the older | and ${cursor} markers are no longer supported.
A snippet ending in a plus sign fails
Emmet 2.0 does not support certain HTML snippets that end in +, including select+ and ul+. For that scenario, create a custom snippet instead.
Other useful Emmet actions
VS Code supports most Emmet actions with multiple cursors. Emmet also includes filters useful beyond ordinary abbreviation expansion: |bem applies BEM-style class naming, |c adds comments around important tags by default, and the trim filter removes line markers when using Wrap with Abbreviation.
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