PyCharm 2018.2 Help

Appearance

File | Settings | Appearance and Behavior | Appearance for Windows and Linux
PyCharm | Preferences | Appearance and Behavior | Appearance for macOS
Ctrl+Alt+S icons general settings svg


Use this page to change the overall look and feel of your IDE.

UI Options

Option

Description

Theme

Use this drop-down list to select the desired theme from the list.

Adjust colors for red-green vision deficiency

Select this option to adjust the IDE colors (code highlighting in the editor, text notifications, etc.) for people with the red-green color deficiency.

Override default fonts by (not recommended)

Select this checkbox to enable specifying font family and size to be used instead of the default one.

When first installed, PyCharm takes Windows default font size and style.

Cyclic scrolling in list

Select this checkbox to enable scrolling through a list by jumping from the last item to the first one and vice versa.

Show icons in quick navigation

Select this checkbox to have icons shown in the quick navigation pop-up menu (Ctrl/Ctrl+Shift/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N).

Automatically position mouse cursor on default button

Select this checkbox to have the mouse pointer placed at the default button when a dialog opens. If the checkbox is not selected, the pointer location does not change.

If this checkbox is selected, the navigation pop-up frames (go to class/file/symbol) close, when any other PyCharm component gets the focus.

If this checkbox is not selected, the navigation pop-up frames persist on changing the focus, and the only way to close such pop-up lays with pressing Escape.

Drag-n-Drop with ALT pressed only

If this checkbox is not selected (by default), PyCharm allows moving editor tabs, tool window buttons, files and folders in the Project Tool Window, using drag-n-drop.
Select this checkbox to avoid accidental moving of a file or folder, or a UI component. Thus drag-n-drop only works while ALT key is pressed.

Background Image

This option allows you to configure a custom background image for the IDE.

Tooltip initial delay (ms)

Use this slider to specify the time to pass between the moment you hover the mouse over an item in the editor and the moment when the tooltip with its value appears. This settings is especially important during debugging. If the delay is too short using the mouse becomes inconvenient because every mouse move across the screen brings forward a number of tooltips with the values of all the variables.

Antialiasing

Option

Description

IDE

From this drop-down list, select which antialising mode you want to apply to the IDE (including menus, tool windows, etc.):
  • Subpixel: this option is recommended for LCD displays and takes advantage of the fact that each pixel on a colour LCD is composed of red, green and blue sub-pixels. This allows smoothing text and rendering it with greater detail.

  • Greyscale: this option is recommended for non-LCD displays or displays positioned vertically. It deals with text at the pixel level.

  • No antialiasing: this option can be used for displays with high resolution, where non-antialiased fonts are rendered faster and may look better.

Editor

From this drop-down list, select which antialiasing mode you want to apply to the Editor:
  • Subpixel: this option is recommended for LCD displays and takes advantage of the fact that each pixel on a colour LCD is composed of red, green and blue sub-pixels. This allows smoothing text and rendering it with greater detail.

  • Greyscale: this option is recommended for non-LCD displays or displays positioned vertically. It deals with text at the pixel level.

  • No antialiasing: this option can be used for displays with high resolution, where non-antialiased fonts are rendered faster and may look better.

Window Options

Item

Description

Animate windows

Select this checkbox to have undocked tool windows slide with the animation effect.

This option applies only when a tool window is undocked.

Show memory indicator

Select this checkbox to show the Memory Indicator on the Status Bar.

Disable mnemonics in menu

Select this checkbox to hide underlining of hot keys in the PyCharm menus.

Disable mnemonics in controls

Select this checkbox to hide underlining of hot keys in the PyCharm controls.

Display icons in menu items

If this checkbox is selected (by default), the icons are displayed to the left of the menu commands.
If this checkbox is not selected, the menu commands are displayed without icons.

Side by side layout on the left/right

When these checkboxes are selected, the way the tool windows are positioned is optimized for a wide-screen display.

Side-by-side layout is OFF:

side_by_side_left_off

Side by side layout is ON:

side_by_side_left

Toggle layout by Ctrl+MouseClick on splitter between the tool windows.

This only applies to the tool windows located on the left and right sides, but not at the top and bottom of the PyCharm window.

Smooth scrolling

Select this option to enable by-pixel scrolling instead of by-line scrolling when you turn your mouse wheel.

Show tool window bars

Select this checkbox to display tool window bars.

Show tool window numbers

Select this checkbox to show tool window quick access numbers on the tool window buttons.

You can use the Alt+number shortcuts regardless of this setting and change the shortcuts on the Keymap page.

Note that the tool window mnemonics show up only when the corresponding keybindings have the format Alt+n, where n is an integer number in the range from 1 to 9. In the case of a different keyboard shortcut, the mnemonics are not displayed.

Allow merging buttons on dialogs

If this checkbox is selected, the multiple commands in a dialog box are grouped under a single button with a down arrow. You can view all merged commands by clicking the drop-down list, or pressing Shift+Alt+Enter.

If this checkbox is not selected, the buttons will be shown in a row. Compare:

mergeButtons

Small labels in editor tabs

If this checkbox is selected, the font size on the editor tabs is set to the smaller value.

If this checkbox is not selected, the font size on the editor tabs is set to the default value, as in the project tree view.

Widescreen tool window layout

If this checkbox is selected, the way the tool windows are positioned is optimized for a wide-screen display.

Widescreen tool window layout is OFF:

WideScreenOFF

Widescreen tool window layout is ON:

WideScreenON

Presentation Mode

Item

Description

Font size

Use the drop-down list to select the font size for the presentation mode.

Last modified: 21 November 2018

See Also