Installing and Launching
On this page:
- Downloading and installing PhpStorm
- Starting PhpStorm on the various platforms
- Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version
Downloading and installing PhpStorm
You can download the latest version of PhpStorm from the JetBrains website. (There are the versions for Windows, OS X and Linux.)
Depending on your operating system:
- Windows: Run the
.exe
file and follow the instructions of PhpStorm Setup wizard. - OS X: Open the
.dmg
package, and drag PhpStorm to the Applications folder. - Linux: Unpack the
.tar.gz
archive into any directory within your home directory.
Refer to the section Starting PhpStorm on the various platforms for details.
Starting PhpStorm on the various platforms
Since 2016.1 PhpStorm uses Java 1.8.
Starting PhpStorm on Windows
If during the installation you selected to create a shortcut on your desktop, double-click that shortcut.
Otherwise, go to the <PhpStorm>\bin
folder
(e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\PhpStorm 2016.3\bin
) and
run phpstorm.exe
, phpstorm64.exe
, or phpstorm.bat
.
See also, Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version.
Starting PhpStorm on OS X
See Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version.
Also, if you wish to change JDK PhpStorm is running on, use the action Switch boot JDK. To invoke this action, use Searching Everywhere or Find Action.
Starting PhpStorm on Linux
-
Download the
PhpStorm-*.tar.gz
file from the Download page. - Unpack the
PhpStorm-*.tar.gz
file to a different folder, if your current "Download" folder doesn't support file execution:tar xfz PhpStorm-*.tar.gz <new_archive_folder>
The recommended install location according to the filesystem hierarchy standard (FHS) is
/opt
. For example, it's possible to enter the following command:sudo tar xf PhpStorm-*.tar.gz -C /opt/
- Switch to the
bin
directory:For example,cd <new archive folder>/PhpStorm-*/bin
cd opt/PhpStorm-*/bin
- Run
phpstorm.sh
from thebin
subdirectory.
Creating a desktop shortcut
To create a desktop shortcut for PhpStorm, use the Create Desktop Entry command. This command is available:
- In the Customize PhpStorm wizard - when you run PhpStorm for the first time.
- On the Welcome screen: .
- In the main menu: .
You can choose to create the shortcut:
-
For all of your computer users:
In this case, the
jetbrains-phpstorm.desktop
entry file is created in/usr/share/applications
. - Only for yourself:
the
jetbrains-phpstorm.desktop
entry file is created in~/.gnome/apps
and~/.local/share/applications
.
Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version
When you start PhpStorm for the first time, the Complete Installation dialog opens, and you have an option of importing PhpStorm usage preferences and license information from a previous version.
Select one of the following options and click OK.
- I want to import my settings from a previous version (<path>). If this option is present in the dialog, the directory that contains the PhpStorm settings and license information is found at its default location. (The corresponding path is shown within the option name in parentheses.) Most likely, this is the option that you want.
- I want to import my settings from a custom location. You may have the directory with the settings and license information available but not at its default location. If the option discussed above is missing, PhpStorm doesn't know where this directory is; the path initially shown in the field is just a guess, and there's no guarantee that the necessary folder is really there. To import the settings in this case, you can specify the folder with the settings (if you know where it is) , or an installation folder of the previous PhpStorm version. To do that, click and select the folder in the dialog that opens .
- I do not have a previous version of PhpStorm or I do not want to import my settings. If this is your case, select this option.
See also, Exporting and Importing Settings.