WebStorm 2019.2 Help

Search for a target within a file

You can search for a text string in a currently opened file in the editor. Using different options, you can narrow your search process, use regular expressions in your search, and manage your search results.

Find occurences of a text string

  1. Open your file in the editor.

  2. From the main menu, select Edit | Find | Find Ctrl+F.

  3. In the search field that opens, enter your search string. WebStorm highlights the results of your search in the file. Alternatively, in the editor, highlight the string you want to find and press Ctrl+F. WebStorm places the highlighted string into the search field.

    search string

See the usages of a symbol in the current file

Position the caret at a symbol and press Ctrl+F7. WebStorm displays all the usages of the symbol in the file.

To turn off this highlighting, in the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to Editor | General and clear the Highlight usages of element at caret checkbox.

Manage your search

  • To see the list of previous searches, press ⌥+↓ in the search field.

    search history

  • To enter a multi-line string, click the Enter a new line icon in the search field for a new line.

  • To navigate to the previous or to the next occurrence, use the Previous occurence and Next occurence arrows.

  • Work with the list of occurrences Alt+F7 in the Find tool window, where you have other options, for example, to group your results or to open them in a separate window.

    Found Occurrences in the Find tool window

  • To add a selection of the next occurrence or deselect the previous occurrence, click Add selection for the next occurence or deselect the previous occurrence Alt+J or Shift+Alt+J.

  • To quickly replace the target of your search in the whole file, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J and type the replacement string.

  • To narrow your search, select the Words or Match case checkbox on the search pane, or click filter Filter and select a scope for your search.

  • To quickly select or clear the Regex checkbox, press ⌥X (previously known as ⌥G). Use regular expressions for more challenging searches.

Replace the search string in a file

  1. Press Ctrl+R to open the Replace in File window.

  2. In the top field, enter your search string. In the bottom field, enter your replacement string.

    Replace in file pane
    Click Multi-line for a multi-line replace. For example, if you want to replace a comma with a comma and a new line, enter a comma in the search field and a comma and the new line in the replace field.

  3. Click Replace to replace items one by one, Replace all to replace all items in your file, and Exclude to omit some items from replacing.

The options that appear in the Replace window, are similar to the Find window and you can refer to the manage the search results section.

Last modified: 17 September 2019

See Also