Changing assignments for Editor keyboard shortcuts
If the key combinations for the shortcuts do not suit you, you can change them. By default, the Editor has a set of global keyboard shortcuts set. These shortcuts are available no matter what kind of file you are working on in the Editor.
In addition, it is possible to set keyboard shortcuts by individual type of editor (Java, Plain, HTML, and JSP). If you use assign a keyboard shortcut for one of these individual editors that has the same key combination as a global shortcut, the shortcut for the specific editor will override the global shortcut for that editor.
For example, the Alt+f key combination is set as a global keyboard shortcut for reformatting text. If you wanted to use this keyboard shortcut for something else when editing Java files (but keep it the same when editing any other types of files), you could reassign Alt+f to a different action on the property sheet for the
Java Editor
node.Note: The Editor's shortcuts are distinct from other IDE shortcuts, which can be configured by selecting Tools | Configure Shortcuts from the main menu. See Customizing IDE shortcuts for information on configuring non-Editor shortcuts.
To change the Editor's global keyboard shortcut assignments:
- Choose Tools | Global Options... from the main menu.
- Select the
Editor Settings
node in the Global Options window.- Select the
Global Key Bindings
property and click on the ... button. This will bring up the Key Bindings custom property editor.![]()
- In the custom property editor, select the shortcut assignment you want to change and press Edit.
- In the Edit dialog box that appears, type the new Key for the shortcut. Use the following abbreviations for special keys and separate the special keys from the final character in the key combination with a hyphen (-). Press OK to confirm the change.
The special keys should be entered in the following form:
- Shift key - S
- Ctrl key - C
- Alt key - A
- ENTER key - ENTER
- SPACE key - SPACE
- BACKSPACE key - BACK_SPACE
- TAB key - TAB
- INSERT key - INSERT
- DELETE key - DELETE
- LEFT arrow key - LEFT
- RIGHT arrow key - RIGHT
- UP arrow key - UP
- DOWN arrow key - DOWN
- HOME key - HOME
- END key - END
- Page up key - PAGE_UP
- Page down key - PAGE_DOWN
Multi-step keyboard shortcuts (where a combination of keys of pressed and released and then another key is pressed) are marked in the form
AltU-P,f
(meaning press ALT+u and then press f).Note: You cannot set a keyboard shortcut for anything that is not in the Action combo box in the Edit dialog box.
To change keyboard shortcuts for a specific editor type:
- Choose Tools | Global Options... from the main menu.
- Expand the
Editor Settings
node in the Global Options window and select the subnode for the editor type you want to set the shortcut for.- Select the
Key Bindings
property and click on the ... button. This will bring up the Key Bindings custom property editor.- Follow steps 4 and 5 of the previous procedure.
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