CLion 2017.1 Help

Finding and Replacing Text in File

The standard facility helps you find and replace text strings in the active editor.

On this page:

Search through the current file

  1. From the main menu, choose Edit | Find | Find, or press Ctrl+F. The search pane appears on top of the active editor.
  2. If necessary, specify the search options.
  3. In the search field, start typing the search string:
    /help/img/idea/2017.1/cl_findText.png

    As you type, the first occurrence of the search string after the current cursor position is selected; the other occurrences are highlighted in the editor. In addition, the matching occurrences are marked in the right gutter with stripes.

    /help/img/idea/2017.1/cl_findResults.png
  4. Explore the search results.

Replace in the current file

  1. From the main menu, choose Edit | Find | Replace, or press Ctrl+R. The search and replace pane appears on top of the active editor.
  2. If necessary, specify the search and replace options.
  3. In the search field, start typing the search string. As you type, the matching occurrences are highlighted in the editor, and a Replace pop-up dialog box opens at the first occurrence, suggesting you to replace the current occurrence, or all of them, with an empty string.
  4. Start typing the replacing string.
  5. Explore the search results, and, using the buttons of the replace dialog box, replace occurrences as required. See Search and replace options below.

Working with search results

  • To initiate a new search, do one of the following (depending on the current focus):
    • If the editor has the focus, press Ctrl+F.
    • If the search field has the focus, press Ctrl+A

    In both cases, the existing search string will be selected, and you can start typing a new one.

  • To jump between occurrences, do one of the following:
    • Press Shift+F3(jump to previous selection) or F3 (jump to next selection).
    • Use the img or img buttons in the Search pane.
    • Click the gutter stripes.
  • The search pane shows the number of found occurrences. If no matches are found, the search pane becomes red:
  • Use the recent search history: with the search pane already open, click /help/img/idea/2017.1/find1.png to show the list of recent entries.
  • Use Code completion in the Find and Replace panes. Start typing a search string, press Ctrl+Space, and select the appropriate word from the suggestion list.
  • With the Find and Replace pane already opened, use Ctrl+R or Ctrl+F to toggle between panes. Thus, the search and replace strings are preserved.
  • To cancel the operation and close the pane, press Escape.
  • Use multiple selection (multiselection). For example, if a certain string has been highlighted as a search result, it is possible to add an occurrence of this string to multiple selection by clicking /help/img/idea/2017.1/add_selection_icon.png (Alt+J), delete an occurrence from multiple selection using /help/img/idea/2017.1/remove_selection_icon.png (Shift+Alt+J), or add all found occurrences to multiple selection using /help/img/idea/2017.1/select_all_occurrences_icon.png (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J).

Search and replace options

ItemDescriptionSearch/Replace
/help/img/idea/2017.1/find1.pngClick this button to show the history of the recent entries.Search, replace
/help/img/idea/2017.1/closeBlack.pngClick this button to clear the search field.Search, replace
/help/img/idea/2017.1/arrowUp.png /help/img/idea/2017.1/arrowDown.pngClick these buttons to navigate through the occurrences of the search string.Search, replace
/help/img/idea/2017.1/add_selection_icon.pngClick this button to add the next found occurrence to a multiple selection.Search
/help/img/idea/2017.1/remove_selection_icon.pngClick this button to remove the found occurrence from a multiple selection.Search
/help/img/idea/2017.1/select_all_occurrences_icon.pngClick this button to create a selection that contains all the found occurrences.Search
exportToTextFileClick this button to show search results in the Find tool window.Search, replace
Match CaseIf this check box is selected, CLion will distinguish between upper and lowercase letters while searching.Search, replace
Regex If this check box is selected, the search string will be perceived as a regular expression, and the replacement preview is shown in a tooltip . Search, replace
Wordsif this check box is selected, CLion will search for whole words only, that is, for character strings separated with spaces, tabs, punctuation, or special characters.
This check box is disabled, if the Regular expressions check box is selected.
Search, replace
Preserve CaseIf this check box is selected, CLion retains the case of the first letter and the case of the initial string in general. For example, MyTest will be replaced with Yourtest if you specify yourtest as the replacement.
This check box is disabled, if Regular expressions check box is selected.
Replace
In SelectionIf this check box is selected, search and replacement will be confined to the selected text only.Replace
ReplaceClick this button to replace the current occurrence and proceed to the next one.Replace
Replace allClick this button the replace all found occurrences in the current file, or in the selection.Replace
Exclude/IncludeClick Exclude button to skip the current occurrence and exclude it from the Replace all operation. The button for this occurrence changes to Include.Replace
/help/img/idea/2017.1/cogwheel_blue_with_arrow.pngClick this button to invoke the list of additional options. Checking the corresponding option confines the search to the specified scope, while the other occurrences are ignored.Search, replace

See Also

Last modified: 19 July 2017