IntelliJ IDEA 2018.1 Help

Searching Everywhere

IntelliJ IDEA lets you search for files, actions, classes, settings, elements of the UI using the Search Everywhere dialog.

  1. Double-press Shift to open the Search Everywhere dialog.
    ij search everywhere dialog
    Pressing double Shift again will select the Include non-project items checkbox and the list of search results will extend to non-project related items.
    Clicking the gear icon icon will enable you to configure a scope for your search.
    ij search everywhere scope
  2. Start typing your query. You can see that IntelliJ IDEA lists the results dividing them into sections where your query is found (classes, actions, files, symbols, etc.)
    search everywhere results
    Press Tab to move the selection to more... or to the first element of the next section. Press arrowUp or arrowDown to navigate between the elements in the list.
  3. If you need to see the history of your searches, put caret in the search field (at the 0 position) and press left arrow key.
  4. Type # to see the list of settings that you can quickly access. Select the one you need and press Enter.
    search for settings
    As a result, IntelliJ IDEA gives you a quick access to the selected setting and its options.
    settings search result
  5. You can search for abbreviations. You can assign a short code for the action and use the Search Everywhere dialog to search for such element and quickly access it. For example, assign an abbreviation for Color Picker.
    1. Open Settings | Keymap and from the options on the right select Other | Show Color Picker.
    2. From the context menu, select Add abbreviation.
      keymap color picker
    3. In the dialog that opens, specify the abbreviation you are going to use, for example, "cp" and click OK.
    IntelliJ IDEA adds the abbreviation to the item and when you type "cp" in the Search Everywhere dialog, IntelliJ IDEA will display the item to which you've assigned your abbreviation. Press Enter to access the Color Picker dialog.
    search everywhere abbreviation results
  6. You can search for actions. For example, you can search for a VCS action and access its dialog.
    In the Search Everywhere dialog, in the search field, type, for example, push.
    search push action
    IntelliJ IDEA displays the result in the Action section, IntelliJ IDEA also displays a shortcut Ctrl+Shift+K against the action that lets you access the Push dialog.
    You can use a shortcut located against the Action section to narrow your search to the specified action and options where the name of the action is mentioned.
    search and options dialog
Last modified: 24 July 2018

See Also