Editor basics
The PhpStorm 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 left 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. PhpStorm hides all windows except the active editor.
Switch the focus from a window to the editor
Press Escape. PhpStorm moves the focus from any window to the active editor.
Return to the editor from the command-line terminal
Press Alt+F12. PhpStorm 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 page and the keymap settings on the page of the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S).
Jump 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 page of the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S).
Open 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.
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, select from the main menu.
To sort the editor tabs, select from the main menu.
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
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
In the list of directories, click the directory and from the list of tabs, select the one for which you need to add a shortcut. The limit of tabs to which you can assign shortcuts is 9.
PhpStorm limits number of tabs that you can open in the editor simultaneously (the default tab limit is 10).
Change the default tab limit
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
In the Tab closing policy section, adjust the settings according to your preferences and click OK.
Hide editor tabs if there is no more space
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
Select the Hide tabs if there is no space option. Extra tabs will be placed in the list located in the upper right part of the editor.
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 ). PhpStorm creates a split view of the editor and places it according to your selection.
If you want to move the file without splitting the editor, from the main menu, select and the Move Right or Move Down option.
Useful editor configurations
You can use the Settings/Preferences(Ctrl+Alt+S) dialog to customize the editor's behavior.
Check the following popular configurations:
Configure code formatting
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
From the list of languages select the appropriate one and on the language page, configure settings for tabs and indents, spaces, wrapping and braces, hard and soft margins, and so on.
Configure fonts, size, and font ligatures
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
Change the font size in the editor
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to (Mouse section).
Select the Change font size (Zoom) with Ctrl+Mouse Wheel option.
Return to the editor, press and hold Ctrl (⌘ on macOS), and using the mouse wheel, adjust the font size.
Configure the color scheme settings for different languages and frameworks
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
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
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to . Here you can configure the case sensitive completion, auto-display options, code sorting, and so on.
Configure the caret placement
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to . Use the Virtual Space section to 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 . Use the Other section to 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
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
For example, you can configure showing the hard wrap guide, or showing parameter hints.
Manage the appearance for long lines
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to
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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.
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In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to
.For example, 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.