Installing and Launching

On this page:

• Downloading and installing PhpStorm
• Starting PhpStorm on the various platforms
  • Starting PhpStorm on Windows
  • Starting PhpStorm on OS X
  • Starting PhpStorm on Linux
    • Additional launchers
      • Creating a desktop shortcut
• Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version

Downloading and installing PhpStorm

You can download the latest version of PhpStorm from the JetBrains website. (There are the versions for Windows, OS X and Linux.)

Depending on your operating system:

• Windows: Run the .exe file and follow the instructions of PhpStorm Setup wizard.
• OS X: Open the .dmg package, and drag PhpStorm to the Applications folder.
• Linux: Unpack the .tar.gz archive into any directory within your home directory.

Refer to the section Starting PhpStorm on the various platforms for details.

Starting PhpStorm on the various platforms

Since 2016.1 PhpStorm uses Java 1.8.

Starting PhpStorm on Windows

If during the installation you selected to create a shortcut on your desktop, double-click that shortcut.

Otherwise, go to the <PhpStorm>\bin folder (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA 2016.1\bin) and run idea.exe or idea.bat.

See also, Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version.

Starting PhpStorm on OS X

See Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version.

Also, if you wish to change JDK PhpStorm is running on, use the action Switch boot JDK. To invoke this action, use Searching Everywhere or Find Action.

Starting PhpStorm on Linux

To launch PhpStorm on Linux, follow these steps:

1. Download the PhpStorm-*.tar.gz file from the Download page.
2. Unpack the PhpStorm-*.tar.gz file to an empty directory using the following command:
   tar xfz PhpStorm-*.tar.gz
3. Because running PhpStorm from wherever you downloaded the file to may be inconvenient, it is recommended that you move the extracted or unpacked archive folder to the desired location using the mv command in one of the following formats:
   • mv <path to extracted archive folder> <new archive folder>
     For example:
     mv /downloads/PhpStorm-* my/desired/location
   • mv <path to PhpStorm-*.tar.gz> <new archive folder>
     For example:
     mv /downloads/PhpStorm-*.tar.gz my/desired/location
4. Switch to the bin directory in the new location:
   cd <new archive folder>/PhpStorm-*/bin
   For example,
   cd my/desired/location/PhpStorm-*/bin
5. Run phpstorm.sh from the bin subdirectory.

Additional launchers

Additionally, you can create a desktop shortcut and use it to start PhpStorm:

• Creating a desktop shortcut

See also, Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version.

Creating a desktop shortcut

To create a desktop shortcut for PhpStorm, use the Create Desktop Entry command. This command is available:

• In the Customize PhpStorm wizard - when you run PhpStorm for the first time.
• On the Welcome screen: Configure | Create Desktop Entry.
• In the main menu: Tools | Create Desktop Entry.

You can choose to create the shortcut:

• For all of your computer users: In this case, the jetbrains-phpstorm.desktop entry file is created in /usr/share/applications.
• Only for yourself: the jetbrains-phpstorm.desktop entry file is created in ~/.gnome/apps and ~/.local/share/applications.

Importing PhpStorm usage preferences from a previous version

When you start PhpStorm for the first time, the Complete Installation dialog opens, and you have an option of importing PhpStorm usage preferences and license information from a previous version.

Select one of the following options and click OK.

• I want to import my settings from a previous version (<path>). If this option is present in the dialog, the directory that contains the PhpStorm settings and license information is found at its default location. (The corresponding path is shown within the option name in parentheses.) Most likely, this is the option that you want.
• I want to import my settings from a custom location. You may have the directory with the settings and license information available but not at its default location. If the option discussed above is missing, PhpStorm doesn't know where this directory is; the path initially shown in the field is just a guess, and there's no guarantee that the necessary folder is really there. To import the settings in this case, you can specify the folder with the settings (if you know where it is) , or an installation folder of the previous PhpStorm version. To do that, click and select the folder in the dialog that opens .
• I do not have a previous version of PhpStorm or I do not want to import my settings. If this is your case, select this option.

See also, Exporting and Importing Settings.