CLion 2021.1 Help

Search everywhere

You can find any item in the project or outside of it by its name. You can search for files, actions, classes, symbols, settings, UI elements, and anything in Git from a single entry point.

Search everywhere

  1. From the main menu, select Navigate | Search Everywhere or press Shift twice to open the search window. By default, CLion displays the list of recent files. Pressing double Shift again or Alt+N for mnemonics will select the Include non-project items checkbox and the list of search results will extend to non-project related items.

    search everywhere popup

  2. Start typing your query. You can use synonyms in your search. For example, typing toggle presentation mode to search for the presentation mode action will display Enter Presentation Mode in results.

    Search Everywhere: synonyms

    CLion lists all of the found results where your query is found. Press Ctrl+Down to jump to the bottom of the list for more... items or Ctrl+Up to return to the top of the search results.

    Click the Pin icon to list the search results in the Find tool window.

    Press Tab to switch the scope of your search to classes, files, symbols, or actions.

    You can use the following shortcuts to open the search window with the needed scope right from the start:

    • Ctrl+N: finds a class by name.

    • Ctrl+Shift+N: finds any file or directory by name (supports CamelCase and snake_case).
    • Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N: finds a symbol.

    • Ctrl+Shift+A(Help | Find Action): finds an action by name. You can find any action even if it doesn't have a mapped shortcut or appear in the menu. For example, Emacs actions, such as kill rings, sticky selection, or hungry backspace.

To narrow down your search, click the Filter icon Filter on the window toolbar and select the appropriate option.

For example, when you search symbols, you can exclude some file types from your search.

Exclude files from search

To see the results of your search in the Find tool window, click the Open in Find tool window icon the Open in Find tool window icon on the window toolbar. This icon is disabled when you search in the Actions scope.

Search for settings and plugins

You can search for a list of settings, their options,and plugins that you can quickly access, enable, or disable.

  1. Press Shift twice to open the search window and type /. CLion lists the available groups of settings.

  2. Select the one you need and press Enter.
    Search for Settings

    As a result, CLion gives you a quick access to the selected setting and its options.

    You can also search for plugins and enable or disable them. Type "/plugins " in the search field, in the list of the search results use ON/OFF control keys to enable or disable the needed plugin.

Search for actions

You can search for actions. For example, you can search for a VCS action and access its dialog.

  1. Press Shift twice to open the search window.

  2. In the search field, type, for example, push.
    Search for push action

    CLion displays the Push action in the Actions section together with the Ctrl+Shift+K shortcut, which lets you access the Push dialog.

    If the action doesn't have a shortcut, you can assign it without leaving the Search Everywhere window.

    After typing the action name in the search field, select it in the search results, press Alt+Enter and in the dialog that opens specify a new shortcut.

Search for abbreviations

You can assign a short code for the action and use it to search for such action and quickly access it. For example, assign an abbreviation for Color Picker.

  1. In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to Keymap. From the options on the right select Other | Show Color Picker.

  2. From the context menu, select Add abbreviation.

    Color Picker Add Abbreviation
  3. In the dialog that opens, specify the abbreviation you are going to use, for example, cp and click OK.

  4. Press Shift twice to open the search window.

  5. When you type cp in the search field, CLion will display the item to which you've assigned your abbreviation. Press Enter to access the Color Picker dialog.

Evaluate mathematical expressions

You can quickly type and evaluate simple mathematical expressions.

  1. Press Shift twice to open the search window.

  2. Enter an expression you want to evaluate, CLion will display the answer in the search results.

    Evaluate expression

    You can use basic arithmetic operators — +, -, *, /, as well as ^ for power — and basic math functions: sqrt(), sin(), cos(), tan().

Search Git

You can search for Git branches, commits, tags, messages, and so on.

  1. Press Shift twice to open the search window.

  2. Click the Git tab and enter your search query.

    the Git search results

    CLion displays the search results in the scope of Git.

Last modified: 20 July 2021