PhpStorm 2022.2 Help

Run applications

To be able to run an application from PhpStorm, you first need to configure a PHP interpreter as described in Configure local PHP interpreters and Configure remote PHP interpreters. After that, you can do any of the following:

Switch between configured PHP interpreters on the fly

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A and start typing Change PHP interpreter. In the suggestions list, select the Change PHP interpreter action.

    If necessary, you can assign a keyboard shortcut for this action either directly in the suggestions list by pressing Alt+Enter, or at a later point as described in Configure keyboard shortcuts.

  2. In the popup menu that opens, select one of the configured local or remote PHP interpreters.

The selected interpreter will be set as the default project interpreter on the PHP page of the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S). This will also affect the run/debug configurations, test frameworks', and quality tools' configurations that are set to use the default project interpreter.

Switching the PHP interpreter

Quick way

Run a single script

If you are not going to pass any parameters to your program, and your program does not require any specific actions to be performed before start, you can run it right from the editor.

  • Right-click in the code editor, select Run from the context menu, and then select <script name> the Debug PHP script icon from the submenu.

    Run PHP script from the editor
  • To run a script, open it in the editor or select it in the Project tool window, and then select Run <script file name> from the context menu.

The script will run, and a temporary run/debug configuration will be created for it.

Run the current file

On top of running applications from the editor, you can run single files using a dedicated option on the toolbar. The run and debug buttons are active and allow you to instantly run the currently opened file.

  1. In the editor, open the file that you want to run.

  2. Click Run next to the Current File option on the toolbar.

    Running a single file from the toolbar

You can access other runners from the submenu as well: expand the list and click the right arrow next to Current File. From the menu that opens, you can debug the code, run it with coverage, or open the run configuration to specify more options.

More options for running current file

Customizable way

Use a run/debug configuration

If you are going to pass parameters to your program or otherwise customize the startup of your program, use a run/debug configuration.

  1. Create a run/debug configuration.

  2. On the main toolbar, select the run/debug configuration you are going to use.

    Ps run config menu
  3. Click The Run button or press Shift+F10.

    Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, select the desired run configuration from the list, and press Enter.

    the Choose Run Configuration popup

When the application starts, you can view its output and interact with it in the Run tool window. Every run/debug configuration creates a separate tab when you run it.

A tabs in the Run tool window

To learn more about tool windows and how to manage them, see the Tool windows topic.

Open a file in a web browser

PhpStorm has a built-in web server that can be used to preview and debug your application. This server is always running and does not require any manual configuration. All the project files are served on the built-in server with the root URL http://localhost:<built-in server port>/<project root>, with respect to the project structure.

The built-in server can only serve static content like HTML, JavaScript and CSS. To use it with PHP files, you need a local PHP interpreter specified for your project. When the interpreter is configured, PhpStorm will automatically start the PHP Built-In Web Server and redirect all PHP requests to it as soon as you run your PHP application.

To open a file that is intended to be rendered by a web browser (HTML, XML, JSP, and so on), do one of the following:

  • Press Alt+F2.

  • Right-click a file and select Open in Browser.

  • From the main menu, select View | Open in Browser.

  • Use the browser popup in the top right part of the editor window. Click the browser button to open the web server file URL, or Shift+Click it to open the local file URL.

    Show in browser

The Open in Browser action is not available for other file types. However, you can still execute it using Find Action Ctrl+Shift+A.

Re-run applications

  • On the toolbar of the Run tool window, click the Rerun button or press Shift+F10

Stop and pause applications

When you stop a program, its process is interrupted and exits immediately. When you pause a program, it continues running in the background, but its output is suspended.

Stop a program

  • In the Run tool window, click the Stop button on the toolbar. Alternatively, press Ctrl+F2 and select the process to stop.

Pause a program

  • Right-click in the Run tool window and select Pause Output from the context menu. Use the same toggle to resume the program.

Show running processes

You can view the list of all active run or debug sessions and navigate between them.

  • From the main menu, select Run | Show Running List. In the top-right corner of the editor, PhpStorm shows a list with all active applications.

    A list of running applications
Last modified: 28 July 2022