PhpStorm 2016.2 Help

Cutting, Copying and Pasting

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Basics

PhpStorm provides a number of handy Clipboard operations. You can copy, cut, and paste selected text, a path to a file, or a reference to a symbol or a line of code.

Because PhpStorm uses the system Clipboard, you can copy and paste between applications. So doing, when pasting Clipboard entries, PhpStorm removes any formatting from the text and any special symbols from the String values.

The Paste command smartly understands what is being inserted. If you paste a reference to a symbol, it is analyzed for possible imports, references, etc. So doing, PhpStorm provides the necessary brackets and places the caret at the appropriate insertion point. The Paste Simple command helps paste any Clipboard entry as a plain text, without any analysis.

PhpStorm enables Clipboard stacking, which means that you can store multiple Clipboard entries and access them with a single shortcut. The number of entries that can be kept in the Clipboard stack is customizable on the Editor page of the Settings/Preferences dialog.

Copying a selected fragment of text

Do one of the following:

  • On the main menu, choose Edit | Copy.
  • Press Ctrl+C.
  • Click the Copy button copy on the toolbar.

Note that the Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut clones a line at the caret or a selected arbitrary fragment of text.

Copying the path to a file

Do one of the following:

  • Open the desired file in the editor, then choose Edit | Copy Path on the main menu or press Ctrl+Shift+C.
  • Select the desired file in the Project tool window and choose Copy Path on the context menu of the selection.

Copying the reference to a line or a symbol

  1. Open the desired file in the editor.
  2. Place the caret at a certain line of code.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • On the main menu, choose Edit | Copy Reference
    • On the context menu of the line at caret, choose Copy Reference
    • Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C.

    PhpStorm creates a string in the format that depends on a symbol at caret. For example:

    \MyNamespace\Catcher for a PHP class

    \MyNamespace\Catcher::$name for a PHP variable

    \MyNamespace\Catcher::set_experience for a PHP method

Cutting a selected fragment of text

  1. Select the desired fragment in the editor.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • On the main menu, choose Edit | Cut.
    • Press Ctrl+X.
    • Click the Cut button cut on the toolbar.

Pasting the last entry from the clipboard

In the PHP context, you can paste fragments of code in two modes:

  • In the Paste Simple mode, the fragment is inserted without escaping single quotes ('), double quotes ("), backslashes (\), and <a href></a>.
  • In the Paste mode, PhpStorm escapes single quotes ('), double quotes ("), backslashes (\), and <a href></a> in the inserted fragment.

For example, if you insert <a href="http://www.google.com/">go google</a> into <?php public $a = "|"; ?>, where | indicates the cursor position, the result differs depending on the paste mode.

Paste Simple modePaste mode
<?php public $a = "<a href="http://www.google.com/">go google</a>"; ?>
<?php public $a = "<a href=\"http://www.google.com/\">go google</a>"; ?>

Depending on the chosen mode, do one of the following:

  • To apply the Paste Simple mode, place the caret in the location where you want to paste the content and choose Edit | Paste Simple on the main menu or press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+V.
  • To apply the Paste mode, place the caret in the location where you want to paste the content and choose Edit | Paste on the main menu, or press Ctrl+V, or click the Paste button paste on the toolbar.

Pasting a specific entry from the clipboard

  1. On the main menu, choose Edit | Paste from History or press Ctrl+Shift+V.
  2. In the Choose Content to Paste dialog box select the desired entry from the list of recent Clipboard entries, and click OK.

The depth of the Clipboard stack is configured in the Limits section on the Editor page of the Settings dialog box. When the specified number is exceeded, the oldest entry is removed from the list.

See Also

Last modified: 24 November 2016