WebStorm 2017.2 Help

Editor Tabs

File | Settings | Editor | General | Editor Tabs for Windows and Linux
WebStorm | Preferences | Editor | General | Editor Tabs for macOS
Ctrl+Alt+S settings


Use this page to configure the appearance of the editor tabs and tab headers, specify their positioning on the screen, and define the tab closing policy.

ItemDescription
Tab Appearance
PlacementUse this drop-down list to define the location of the editor tab. The available options are:
  • Top - the default setting.
  • Bottom
  • Right
  • Left
  • None - select this option to have single editor without any tabs displayed.

Refer to the section Changing Placement of the Editor Tab Headers for details.

Show tabs in single rowSelect this checkbox to have headers of currently opened editor tabs displayed in a single row. As a result, some tab headers may become invisible. To cope with this problem, use the command Window | Editor Tabs | Show All Tabs. Refer to the section Navigating Between Editor Tabs.

If this checkbox is selected, the sorting in alphabetical order mode becomes available for the top and bottom placement of the editor tabs.

If this checkbox is not selected, headers of all the currently opened tabs are displayed, possibly, in several rows.

Hide tabs if there is no spaceIf this checkbox is selected, WebStorm shows as many tabs as fits into the current WebStorm frame; the rest of the tabs are hidden under the hide tabs drop-down:
hidden tabs on

If this checkbox is not selected, all the editor tabs are shown; so doing, each tab's size reduces:

hidden tabs off

This checkbox becomes enabled when Show tabs in single row checkbox is selected.

Hide file extensions in editor tabsSelect this checkbox to have only file names displayed in editor tab headers.
Show directory in editor tabs for non-unique file namesIf this checkbox is selected, the editor tabs will show the file name together with the parent directory name;
if this checkbox is not selected, only the file name will be included in the editor tab.
Show "close" button on editor tabsSelect this checkbox to have the Close Active Editor button close1 displayed in editor tab headers.
Mark modified tabs with asterisk If this checkbox is selected, changed but yet unsaved files have an asterisk asterisk marker on their editor tabs.
Show tabs tooltipsIf this checkbox is selected, a tooltip with the complete path to a file displays on hovering the mouse pointer over a tab.
If this checkbox is not selected, a tooltip is not shown.
Tab Closing Policy
Tab limitIn this text box, specify the maximum number of the editor tabs to display.
Navigation from non-modified tab will reuse itUse this option to specify the WebStorm behaviour on Ctrl+Click

This option allows you to avoid cluttering of the editor space.

If this checkbox is selected, then, if a file in an editor tab has not been modified and the users has navigated from this file, the target file opens in the same tab. If a file has been modified, then the target file opens in a new tab.

If this checkbox is not selected, the target file always opens in a new tab.

Note that a file is considered modified if its VCS status has changed.

When number of opened editors exceeds tab limitIn this area, specify which editor tab should be closed when the tab limit is reached and the user attempts to open a new file. The available options are:
  • Close non-modified files first - if this option is selected, WebStorm examines the tabs in the order they were opened and closes the first tab with content that has not been modified.
  • Close less frequently used files - if this option is selected, WebStorm closes the tab with the less frequently modified content.
When closing active editorIn this area, specify which editor tab to activate when closing the currently active tab. The available options are:
  • Activate left neighbouring tab - if this option is selected, WebStorm activates the closest tab to the left from the tab being closed.
  • Activate right neighbouring tab - if this option is selected, WebStorm activates the closest tab to the right from the tab being closed.
  • Activate most recently opened tab - if this option is selected, WebStorm activates the tab with the file which was opened last.
Last modified: 29 November 2017

See Also

Getting Started: