Install PhpStorm

Last modified: 11 October 2023

PhpStorm is a cross-platform IDE that provides consistent experience on the Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

System requirements

Requirement

Minimum

Recommended

RAM

2 GB of free RAM

8 GB of total system RAM

CPU

Any modern CPU

Multi-core CPU. PhpStorm supports multithreading for different operations and processes making it faster the more CPU cores it can use.

Disk space

3.5 GB

SSD drive with at least 5 GB of free space

Monitor resolution

1024×768

1920×1080

Operating system

Officially released 64-bit versions of the following:

  • Microsoft Windows 10 1809 or later

    Windows Server 2019 or later

  • macOS 10.15 or later

  • Any Linux distribution that supports Gnome, KDE , or Unity DE.

    PhpStorm is not available for the Linux distributions that do not include GLIBC 2.27 or later.

Pre-release versions are not supported.

Latest 64-bit version of Windows, macOS, or Linux (for example, Debian, Ubuntu, or RHEL)

You do not need to install Java to run PhpStorm because JetBrains Runtime is bundled with the IDE (based on JRE 17).

Install using the Toolbox App

The JetBrains Toolbox App is the recommended tool to install JetBrains products. Use it to install and manage different products or several versions of the same product, including Early Access Program (EAP) and Nightly releases, update and roll back when necessary, and easily remove any tool. The Toolbox App maintains a list of all your projects to quickly open any project in the right IDE and version.

Install the Toolbox App

  1. Download the installer .exe from the Toolbox App web page.

  2. Run the installer and follow the wizard steps.

  3. After you run the Toolbox App, click its icon Toolbox App icon in the notification area and select which product you want to install.

    To install a specific version, click App actions more and select Available versions.

PhpStorm in the Toolbox App

Log in to your JetBrains Account from the Toolbox App, and it will automatically activate the available licenses for any IDE that you install.

note

If you installed PhpStorm via the Toolbox App, you can find the installation directory in the app: open the settings of the IDE instance in the Toolbox App, expand Configuration, and look for the Install location field.

Standalone installation

Install PhpStorm manually to manage the location of every instance and all the configuration files. For example, if you have a policy that requires specific install locations.

  1. Download the installer .exe.

    note

    There is a separate installer for ARM64 processors.

  2. Run the installer and follow the wizard steps.

    On the Installation Options step, you can configure the following:

    • Create a desktop shortcut for launching PhpStorm.

    • Add the directory with PhpStorm command-line launchers to the PATH environment variable to be able to run them from any working directory in the Command Prompt.

    • Add the Open Folder as Project action to the system context menu (when you right-click a folder).

    • Associate specific file extensions with PhpStorm to open them with a double click.

    The Installation Options step of the installation wizard

To run PhpStorm, find it in the Windows Start menu or use the desktop shortcut. You can also run the launcher batch script or executable in the installation directory under bin.

When you run PhpStorm for the first time, you can take several steps to complete the installation, customize your instance, and start working with the IDE.

For more information, refer to Run PhpStorm for the first time.

For more information about the location of the default IDE directories with user-specific files, refer to Directories used by the IDE.

Silent installation on Windows

Silent installation is performed without any user interface. It can be used by network administrators to install PhpStorm on a number of machines and avoid interrupting other users.

To perform silent install, run the installer with the following switches:

  • /S: Enable silent install

  • /CONFIG: Specify the path to the silent configuration file

  • /D: Specify the path to the installation directory

    This parameter must be the last in the command line, and it should not contain any quotes even if the path contains blank spaces.

For example:

PhpStorm-*.exe /S /CONFIG=d:\temp\silent.config /D=d:\IDE\PhpStorm

To check for issues during the installation process, add the /LOG switch with the log file path and name between the /S and /D parameters. The installer will generate the specified log file. For example:

PhpStorm-*.exe /S /CONFIG=d:\temp\silent.config /LOG=d:\JetBrains\PhpStorm\install.log /D=d:\IDE\PhpStorm

Silent configuration file

You can download the default silent configuration file for PhpStorm at https://download.jetbrains.com/webide/silent.config

The silent configuration file defines the options for installing PhpStorm. With the default options, silent installation is performed only for the current user: mode=user. If you want to install PhpStorm for all users, change the value of the installation mode option to mode=admin and run the installer as an administrator.

The default silent configuration file is unique for each JetBrains product. You can modify it to enable or disable various installation options as necessary.

note

It is possible to perform silent installation without the configuration file. In this case, omit the /CONFIG switch and run the installer as an administrator. Without the silent configuration file, the installer will ignore all additional options: it will not create desktop shortcuts, add associations, or update the PATH variable. However, it will still create a shortcut in the Start menu under JetBrains.

Install as a snap package on Linux

You can install PhpStorm as a self-contained snap package. Since snaps update automatically, your PhpStorm installation will always be up-to-date.

note

To use snaps, install and run the snapd service as described in the installation guide.

On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and later, this service is pre-installed.

PhpStorm is distributed via two channels:

  • The stable channel includes only stable versions. To install the latest stable release of PhpStorm, run the following command:

    sudo snap install phpstorm --classic

    The --classic option is required because the PhpStorm snap requires full access to the system, like a traditionally packaged application.

  • The edge channel includes EAP builds. To install the latest EAP build of PhpStorm, run the following command:

    sudo snap install phpstorm --classic --edge

When the snap is installed, you can launch it by running the phpstorm command.

To list all installed snaps, you can run sudo snap list. For more information about other snap commands, refer to the Snapcraft documentation.