Core feature · 01Verified 2 Nov 2026

Inline suggestions & ghost text

Copilot predicts the next characters, lines or whole blocks as you type and shows them as dimmed ghost text. Next edit suggestions go further — predicting where your next edit should happen and what it should be.

Ghost text in action

Type a signature, pause, and Copilot proposes the rest. Accept all of it, a word at a time, or dismiss it.

copilot-masterclass — Visual Studio Code

price.tscart.ts

1// Format a price for display in the user's currency
2export function 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7

mainTypeScript

Typing…

Getting multi-line suggestions

Copilot decides the length of a suggestion from context. These patterns reliably produce full blocks.

Keep typing

Suggestions appear automatically as dimmed ghost text after a short pause. They can be single-line or a whole block.

Write a comment

A descriptive comment above an empty function body is the most reliable multi-line trigger: Copilot completes the implementation below it.

Start a signature

A typed function name and parameters (e.g. function formatPrice() give strong intent. Good names beat long comments.

Press Enter inside a block

A new line inside a function, object or loop body often yields a multi-line suggestion for the rest of the block.

Trigger manually

Press ⌥+\ (macOS) or Alt+\ (Windows/Linux) to request a suggestion when none is showing.

See alternatives

Hover the suggestion for the toolbar, or cycle with ⌥+] / ⌥+[. Ctrl+Enter opens a pane with more suggestions.

Accepting, partially accepting and cycling (VS Code)

Partial acceptance lets you take the part of a suggestion you trust and keep typing.

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Accept inline suggestion editor.action.inlineSuggest.commit	`Tab`	`Tab`
Dismiss inline suggestion editor.action.inlineSuggest.hide	`Esc`	`Esc`
Accept next word of suggestion editor.action.inlineSuggest.acceptNextWord	`⌘`+`→`	`Ctrl`+`→`
Accept next line of suggestion Accept Next Line Of Inline Suggestion	—	—
Show next suggestion editor.action.inlineSuggest.showNext	`⌥`+`]`	`Alt`+`]`
Show previous suggestion editor.action.inlineSuggest.showPrevious	`⌥`+`[`	`Alt`+`[`
Trigger inline suggestion editor.action.inlineSuggest.trigger	`⌥`+`\`	`Alt`+`\`
Open more suggestions in a separate pane github.copilot.generate	`Ctrl`+`Return`	`Ctrl`+`Enter`
Jump to next edit suggestion	`Tab`	`Tab`
Accept next edit suggestion	`Tab`	`Tab`
Reject next edit suggestion	`Esc`	`Esc`

Accept next line has no default key

The command editor.action.inlineSuggest.acceptNextLine exists but is unbound. Add your own binding — see the snippet.

keybindings.json

// keybindings.json — bind "accept next line", which has no default key
[
  {
    "key": "ctrl+alt+right",
    "command": "editor.action.inlineSuggest.acceptNextLine",
    "when": "inlineSuggestionVisible && !editorReadonly"
  }
]

Next edit suggestions (NES)

NES predicts the location and content of your next edit based on edits you just made — even far from the cursor.

geometry.ts — next edit suggestion

geometry.ts

1interface Point3D { x: number; y: number; z: number; }
2 
function distance(a: Point3D, b: Point3D) {
4  return Math.hypot(a.x - b.x, a.y - b.y);
4  return Math.hypot(a.x - b.x, a.y - b.y, a.z - b.z);
5}

You added z to the interface → Copilot NES proposes the matching change. Tab to jump, Tab to accept.

mainTypeScript

An arrow in the gutter marks a pending suggestion. Press Tab to jump to it, then Tab again to accept, or Esc to dismiss.

Typical wins: propagating a renamed variable, adding a new field everywhere it's needed, fixing a typo pattern, or updating call sites after a signature change.

Enable it with github.copilot.nextEditSuggestions.enabled. NES is generally available in VS Code and Visual Studio, and in preview in JetBrains, Eclipse and Xcode.

Settings that matter

.vscode/settings.json

{
  // Turn inline suggestions on/off globally or per language
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*": true,
    "markdown": false,
    "plaintext": false
  },
  // Next edit suggestions (NES)
  "github.copilot.nextEditSuggestions.enabled": true,
  // Editor-level behaviour for all inline suggestions
  "editor.inlineSuggest.enabled": true,
  "editor.inlineSuggest.showToolbar": "onHover"
}

Custom instructions don't apply here

Repository and personal instructions are used by chat, agents and code review — not by inline suggestions. Shape completions with good names, comments, types, and the files you keep open.

Context = what's open

Inline suggestions draw on the current file and related open tabs. Open the interfaces, tests or examples you want Copilot to follow; close unrelated files.