Bookmarks and mnemonics

At a glance

A bookmark remembers a location in your solution. A mnemonic bookmark is a bookmark identified by one digit (0 through 9) or one letter (A through Z). This makes important locations easy to reach without repeatedly searching for a filename or symbol.

An anonymous bookmark has no unique mnemonic. You can create many of them, so they are useful when you only need to collect locations for later review.

Shortcut reference

Action	Shortcut (IntelliJ-style keymap)
Toggle anonymous bookmark	`F11`
Assign a digit or letter mnemonic	`Ctrl+F11`
Toggle a numbered mnemonic	`Ctrl+Shift+0–9`
Jump directly to a numbered bookmark	`Ctrl+0–9`
Show all bookmarks	`Shift+F11`
Go to any mnemonic	`Ctrl+Shift+F11`
Open Bookmarks tool window	`Alt+2`
Next / previous bookmark	`Ctrl+J, X` / `Ctrl+J, Z`

These are not universal shortcuts. A Visual Studio keymap, custom bindings or some OS/window-manager key combinations may differ.

Create and jump to a mnemonic

Open a file and place the caret at the method you want to revisit.
Press Ctrl+F11, then choose a letter or digit in the popup. For example, use P for player movement.
Work elsewhere in the solution.
Press Ctrl+Shift+F11, then your mnemonic to return. For digits, Ctrl+digit is a faster direct jump.
When the work is finished, remove the bookmark from the gutter or Bookmarks window.

If you reuse an existing mnemonic, Rider may ask before replacing the old location. Choose identifiers carefully because there are only ten digits and 26 letters in a solution.

A Unity example

Imagine debugging a bug where the character sometimes slides after colliding with a wall. You can mark PlayerMovement.FixedUpdate() with mnemonic M, then jump to CollisionResolver with another mnemonic. Unlike a code comment, these temporary markers do not need to change the source file.

private void FixedUpdate()
{
    // Bookmark this method while testing movement and collisions.
    ApplyMovement();
}

The comment above is explanatory for this guide. In a real project, add the bookmark in Rider’s gutter rather than inserting a comment that says where to return.

Organize and remove bookmarks

Open View → Tool Windows → Bookmarks (Alt+2) to see bookmarked lines, files and folders. Use lists to group related investigations. Select a bookmark and jump to it from the tool window; delete ones that no longer help. Rider also shows breakpoints and pinned debugger items in separate lists there.

Bookmarks versus TODO comments

Bookmark	TODO comment
Temporary navigation marker in the IDE	Text tracked in source control
Does not explain unfinished work to teammates	Records something to implement or fix
Best for returning to a location	Best when there is an action to complete

If a change needs an owner, priority or discussion, use your issue tracker rather than relying entirely on a comment.

Try it yourself

Bookmark two methods with A and B. Navigate between them, then remove both. Next, place an anonymous bookmark with F11 and find it from Shift+F11.