Tuning WebStorm

In this part:

• Tuning WebStorm
  • Changing WebStorm properties
  • Managing *.vmoptions file
    • Example: Increasing the heap size
  • Managing idea.properties file
    • Example: Changing case of unicode literals
  • Specifying custom JDK, properties or vmoptions files across platforms
• File 'idea.properties'

Changing WebStorm properties

You can make WebStorm work faster by editing the default Java Virtual Machine (JVM) settings. These operations require certain understanding of the JVM functionality and may cause unexpected problems. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you address the JetBrains Support whereupon you will be provided with detailed instructions regarding which settings you need to update and what values should be assigned to them.

See also Reporting Issues and Sharing Your Feedback.

WebStorm makes it possible to change *.vmoptions and idea.properties files without editing them in the WebStorm installation folder.

To create an empty idea.properties file or to copy *.vmoptions file, choose the Help | Edit Custom Properties or Help | Edit Custom VM Options on the main menu respectively. Refer to the menu items description for details.

Managing *.vmoptions file

The location of the *.vmoptions file depends on the operating system you are currently using:

• For Windows: <WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm.exe.vmoptions or <WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm64.exe.vmoptions
• For *NIX: <WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm.vmoptions or <WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm64.vmoptions
• For macOS, you need to make a copy of the webstorm.vmoptions file in the IDE preferences folder and then edit this copy. The reason is that the app bundle is signed and you should not modify any files inside the bundle.
  • Since version 2016.1, the /Applications/WebStorm.app/Contents/bin/webstorm.vmoptions file must be copied to ~/Library/Preferences/WebStorm/webstorm.vmoptions.
  • For earlier versions, the /Applications/WebStorm<version>.app/Contents/bin/idea.vmoptions file must be copied to ~/Library/Preferences/WebStorm<version>/idea.vmoptions.
  
  

To avoid editing files in the WebStorm installation folder, do one of the following:

• From the main menu, choose Help | Edit Custom VM Options to create a copy of the webstorm.vmoptions file in the user home directory. Refer to Edit Custom VM Options for details.
• Copy the existing file from the WebStorm installation folder somewhere and save the path to this location in the WEBIDE_VM_OPTIONS environment variable .
• Copy the existing <WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm.exe.vmoptions or the <WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm64.exe.vmoptions file from the WebStorm installation folder into your user home directory.

Then edit this file in the new location.

If the WEBIDE_VM_OPTIONS environment variable is defined, or the *.vmoptions file exists, this file is used instead of the one located in the WebStorm installation folder.

Example: Increasing the heap size

To increase WebStorm heap size, you should copy the original webstorm.vmoptions file to the above-mentioned location, and then modify the -Xmx setting.

Managing idea.properties file

The idea.properties file located in the bin directory of the WebStorm installation folder should not be edited. Instead of editing the original idea.properties file, create an idea.properties file in the following location, open it for editing and add the required properties:

• For Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.WebStorm XX
• For *NIX: ~/.WebStorm XX
• For macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/WebStorm XX

Example: Changing case of unicode literals

WebStorm allows defining whether non-ascii characters should use literals like '\u00AB' or '\00ab'.

This behavior is controlled by the system property idea.native2ascii.lowercase. By default, upper case characters are used.

If it is desirable to use lower case characters, create the file idea.properties in the location specified above, open it for editing and add the following line:

Specifying custom JDK, properties or vmoptions files across platforms

A custom JDK, *.properties and *.vmoptions files are specified across platforms in a unified way.

All the launchers look at the following environment variables:

• $<IDE-NAME>_JDK (<IDE-NAME>_JDK_64)
• $<IDE-NAME>_PROPERTIES
• $<IDE-NAME>_VM_OPTIONS