Editor basics
The IntelliJ IDEA editor is the main part of the IDE that you use to create, read and modify code.
The editor consists of the following areas:
The scrollbar shows errors and warnings in the current file.
Breadcrumbs help you navigate inside the code in the current file.
The gutter shows line numbers and annotations.
Tabs show the names of the currently opened files.
Navigation
You can use various shortcuts to switch between the editor and different tool windows, change the editor size, switch focus, or return to the original layout.
Maximize editor pane
In the editor, press Ctrl+Shift+F12. IntelliJ IDEA hides all windows except the active editor.
Switch the focus from a window to the editor
Press Escape. IntelliJ IDEA moves the focus from any window to the active editor.
Return to the editor from the command-line terminal
Press Alt+F12. IntelliJ IDEA closes the terminal window.
If you need to keep the terminal window open when you switch back to the active editor, press Ctrl+Tab.
Return to the default layout
Press Shift+F12.
To save the current layout as the default, from the main menu select
. You can use the same shortcut Shift+F12 to restore the saved layout.
Jump to the last active window
Press F12.
Use the switcher for navigation
To jump between the opened files and tool windows with the switcher, press Ctrl+Tab.
Keep Ctrl pressed to leave the switcher popup open.
Press Tab to move between elements. Press Backspace to remove the selected file from the list and close it in the editor.
Change the IDE appearance
You can switch between schemes, keymaps, or viewing modes.
Press Ctrl+`.
In the Switch menu, select the option you need and press Enter. Use the same shortcut Ctrl+` to undo your changes.
You can also find and adjust the color scheme settings including the high contrast color scheme for people with eyesight deficiency on the of the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S.
page and the keymap settings on the pageJump to the navigation bar
Press Alt+Home.
Editor tabs
You can close, hide, and detach editor tabs. Every time you open a file for editing, a tab with its name is added next to the active editor tab.
To configure the settings for editor tabs, use the of the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S. Alternatively, right-click a tab and select Configure Editor Tabs from the list of options.
pageOpen or close tabs
To close all opened tabs, select
from the main menu.To close all inactive tabs, press Alt and click on the active tab. In this case, only the active tab stays open.
To close only the active tab, press Ctrl+F4. You can also click the mouse's wheel button anywhere on a tab to close it.
To reopen the closed tab, right-click any tab, and from the context menu, select Reopen Closed Tab.
To open a new tab at the end of the already opened one, select the Open new tabs at the end in the tab settings.
Move, remove, or sort tabs
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To move or remove the icon on a tab, in the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to and select the appropriate option in the Close button position field.
To move between tabs, press Alt+Right or Alt+Left.
To place the editor tabs in a different part of the editor frame or hide the tabs, right-click a tab and select Configure Editor Tabs to open the Editor Tabs settings. In the Appearance section, in the Tab placement list, select the appropriate option.
To sort the editor tabs alphabetically, right-click a tab and select Configure Editor Tabs to open the Editor Tabs settings. In the Tab order section, select Sort tabs alphabetically.
Pin or unpin a tab
You can pin an active tab in the editor so that it will stay open when the tab limit is reached or when you use the Close Others command.
To pin or unpin an active tab, right-click it and select Pin Tab or Unpin Tab form the context menu.
If necessary, you can assign a keyboard shortcut for this action. To do this, in the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to , find the Pin Active Tab action, right-click it, select Add Keyboard Shortcut, and press the key combination you want to use.
Detach a tab
To detach an active tab, press Shift+F4.
Drag the tab you need outside of the main window and drag the tab back to attach it.
You can also use Alt+mouse for the same action.
In the Project tool window, select a file you want to detach and press Shift+Enter.
Switch between tabs
You can switch between recently viewed tabs or files.
In the editor, press Ctrl+Tab. Keep pressing Ctrl for the Switcher window to stay open. Use Tab to switch between tabs and other files.
Assign a shortcut for the opened tab
Change the default tab limit
IntelliJ IDEA limits number of tabs that you can open in the editor simultaneously (the default tab limit is 10).
Hide editor tabs if there is no more space
Split screen
You can use several options to split your screen.
In the editor, right-click the desired editor tab and select how you want to split the editor window (Split Vertically or ). IntelliJ IDEA creates a split view of the editor and places it according to your selection.
As an alternative, from the main menu, select Split and Move Right or Split and Move Down option.
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Useful editor configurations
You can use the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S to customize the editor's behavior.
Check the following popular configurations:
Configure code formatting
Configure fonts, size, and font ligatures
Change the font size in the editor
Configure the color scheme settings for different languages and frameworks
Open the Color Scheme node and select the needed language or framework. You can also select the General option from the node's list to configure the color scheme settings for general items such as code, editor, errors and warnings, popups and hints, search results, and so on.
Configure code completion options
Configure the caret placement
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to . In the Virtual Space section, you can configure the caret placement options.
Select the Allow placement of caret after end of line option to place the caret at the next line in the same position as the end of the previous line. If this option is cleared, the caret at the next line is placed at the end of the actual line.
Select the Allow placement of caret inside tabs option to help you move the caret up or down inside the file while keeping it in the same position.
Configure the behavior of trailing spaces on save
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to . In the Other section, you can configure options for trailing spaces.
For example, when you save your code either manually or automatically and want to preserve trailing spaces on the caret line regardless of what option is selected in the Strip trailing spaces on save list, select the Always keep trailing spaces on caret line option.
Configure the editor appearance options
Manage the appearance for long lines
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In the Soft Wraps section, specify the appropriate options.
For example, you can specify file types to which you want to apply soft wraps. It might be helpful when you write documentation in markdown files.
Configure smart keys
You can configure a certain behavior for different basic editor actions depending on the language you use.
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, go to .
For example, for Java, SQL or Python, you can select the Jump outside closing bracket/quote with Tab option to enable navigation outside the closing brackets or quotes with Tab when you type your code.