Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.1 You can navigate between editor tabs in a number of ways: by retracing your steps in the
editor's history, by using the manual Next Tab and Previous Tab operations, and by visiting recently
opened files.
Operation
Shortcut
Description
Back
Ctrl+Alt+Left arrow
Steps backward through previous navigation operations
Forward
Ctrl+Alt+Right arrow
Steps forward through previous navigation operations
Next Tab
Alt+Right arrow
Changes the editor's focus to the editor tab to the right of
the current tab
Previous Tab
Alt+Left arrow
Changes the editor's focus to the editor tab to the left of
the current tab
Last Edit Location
Ctrl+Shift+Backspace
Steps backward through the locations of previous modifica-
tions (across any file)
Recent Files
Ctrl+E
Brings up a pop-up menu that lets you navigate to a
recently opened file
You may want to consider Timur Zambalayev's excellent TabSwitch
plugin for
IDEA
. This plugin emulates the Windows
Alt+Tab
feature
(though it's mapped to
Alt+A
so it doesn't interfere), allowing you to cy-
cle through the list of most recently used tabs. You can download it
through the integrated Plugin Manager, accessed through the
IDE
Set-
tings
window.
TIP
How IDEA manages its editor tabs
When you open a file, a new tab appears in the editor window. If the file is already
opened, its tab becomes selected as the active file. New tabs are added immedi-
ately after your currently selected tab. When the number of open tabs reaches the
maximum allowed (as specified by the editor settings option
Tab limit
), the edi-
tor begins closing tabs to make room for the new files.
Tabs are closed in least recently used (
LRU
) order unless you've enabled the
editor settings option
Close non-modified files first
. This option tells the editor
to close any files you haven't changed first, presuming that you're probably
through with them. When there are no more nonmodified tabs, tabs are closed
least recently modified first.
If you want to ensure that a tab isn't removed from the editor window, regardless
of its modification status or the order in which it was loaded, you can
pin
the tab to
the editor by right-clicking it and selecting the
Pin Tab
option. An icon appears in
the tab to show that it has been pinned. Select it again to unpin it. This feature is
