Installing and Launching

On this page:

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

Downloading and installing WebStorm

You can download the latest version of WebStorm 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 WebStorm Setup wizard.
• OS X: Open the .dmg package, and drag WebStorm to the Applications folder.
• Linux: Unpack the .tar.gz archive into any directory within your home directory.

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

Starting WebStorm on the various platforms

Since 2016.1 WebStorm uses Java 1.8.

Starting WebStorm on Windows

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

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

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

Starting WebStorm on OS X

See Importing WebStorm usage preferences from a previous version.

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

Starting WebStorm on Linux

To launch WebStorm on Linux, follow these steps:

1. Download the WebStorm-*.tar.gz file from the Download page.
2. Unpack the WebStorm-*.tar.gz file to an empty directory using the following command:
   tar xfz WebStorm-*.tar.gz
3. Because running WebStorm 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/WebStorm-* my/desired/location
   • mv <path to WebStorm-*.tar.gz> <new archive folder>
     For example:
     mv /downloads/WebStorm-*.tar.gz my/desired/location
4. Switch to the bin directory in the new location:
   cd <new archive folder>/WebStorm-*/bin
   For example,
   cd my/desired/location/WebStorm-*/bin
5. Run WebStorm.sh from the bin subdirectory.

Additional launchers

Additionally, you can create a desktop shortcut and a command-line launcher, and use them to start WebStorm:

• Creating a desktop shortcut
• Creating a command-line launcher

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

Creating a desktop shortcut

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

• In the Customize WebStorm wizard - when you run WebStorm 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-webstorm.desktop entry file is created in /usr/share/applications.
• Only for yourself: The jetbrains-webstorm.desktop entry file is created in ~/.gnome/apps and ~/.local/share/applications.

Importing WebStorm usage preferences from a previous version

When you start WebStorm for the first time, the Complete Installation dialog opens, and you have an option of importing WebStorm 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 WebStorm 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, WebStorm 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 WebStorm version. To do that, click and select the folder in the dialog that opens .
• I do not have a previous version of WebStorm or I do not want to import my settings. If this is your case, select this option.

See also, Exporting and Importing Settings.