Tuning WebStorm
In this part:
- Tuning WebStorm
- File IDEA.Properties'
Changing WebStorm properties
You can make WebStorm work faster by editing the default
Java Virtual Machine (JVM) settings. These operations require certain understanding of
the JVM functionality and may cause unexpected problems. Therefore it is strongly
recommended that you address the
JetBrains Support
whereupon you will be provided with detailed instructions regarding which settings you need to update
and what values should be assigned to them.
See also Reporting Issues and Sharing Your Feedback.
WebStorm makes it possible to change *.vmoptions and
idea.properties files without editing them in the WebStorm installation folder.
To create an empty idea.properties file or to copy
*.vmoptions file, choose
the or
on the main menu respectively. Refer to the
menu items description for details.
Managing *.vmoptions file
The location of the *.vmoptions file depends on the operating system you are currently using:
- For Windows systems:
<WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm.vmoptionsor<WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm64.vmoptions - For *NIX systems:
<WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm.vmoptionsor<WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm64.vmoptions - For OS X systems,
you have to make a copy of the
webstorm.vmoptionsfile in the IDE preferences folder and then edit this copy. The reason is that app bundle is signed and you should not modify any files inside the bundle.- Since version 2016.1, the file
/Applications/WebStorm.app/Contents/bin/webstorm.vmoptionsshould be copied to~/Library/Preferences/WebStorm/webstorm.vmoptions. - For earlier versions, the file
/Applications/WebStorm<version>.app/Contents/bin/idea.vmoptionsshould be copied to~/Library/Preferences/WebStorm<version>/idea.vmoptions.
- Since version 2016.1, the file
To avoid editing files in the WebStorm installation folder, one should:
- Do one of the following:
- Use the main menu command to create a copy
of the
webstorm.vmoptionsfile in the user home. Refer to Edit Custom VM Options for details. - Copy the existing file from the WebStorm installation folder somewhere and save the
path to this location in the environment variable
WEBIDE_VM_OPTIONS. - Copy the existing file
<WebStorm installation folder>/bin/webstorm$BITS.vmoptionsfrom the WebStorm installation folder into the location under user home.
- Use the main menu command to create a copy
of the
- Edit this file in the new location.
If WEBIDE_VM_OPTIONS environment variable is defined, or the
*.vmoptions file exists, then this file is used instead of the one located in
the WebStorm installation folder.
Example: Increasing the heap size
To increase WebStorm heap size, you should copy the original webstorm.vmoptions file to the
above-mentioned location, and then modify the -Xmx setting.
Managing IDEA.properties file
The file idea.properties, located in the bin
directory of the WebStorm installation folder, should not be edited. Instead of editing the original
idea.properties, create file idea.properties
in the location specified below, open it for editing and add the required properties.
So, depending on your platform:
- For Windows: in
%USERPROFILE%\.WebStorm XX - For *NIX: in
~/.WebStorm XX - For OS X: in
~/Library/Preferences/WebStorm XX
Example: Changing case of unicode literals
WebStorm allows defining whether non-ascii characters should use literals like '\u00AB'
or '\00ab'.
This behavior is controlled by the system property idea.native2ascii.lowercase. By default,
upper case characters are used.
If it is desirable to use lower case characters, create the file idea.properties
in the location specified above, open it for editing and add the following line:
idea.native2ascii.lowercase=true
Specifying custom JDK, properties or vmoptions files across platforms
A custom JDK, *.properties and *.vmoptions files are specified across platforms in
a unified way.
All the launchers look at the following environment variables: