Project tool window
The Project tool window lets you take a look at your project from various viewpoints and perform different tasks such as creating new items (directories, files, classes, and so on), opening files in the editor, navigating to the necessary code fragments, and more.
Most of the functions in this tool window are accessed as context menu commands in the content pane and via associated shortcuts.
Also, the view contains the Scratches and Consoles folder that lets you manage created scratch files, database consoles, and extension scripts.
Views
The tool window has several views:
Project view. This view displays all the project items along with their dependencies (SDKs and libraries). The emphasis is on the directory structure, although the packages are also shown.
Scope views (Project Files, Open Files, and so on). These views display the contents of the predefined and user-defined scopes. In other respects, depending on the currently selected view options, a scope view may resemble the Project view.
To switch between views, press Alt+Right/Alt+Left or select the desired view from the list on the title bar.
You can also display each view in a separate tab: click 
and disable the Group Tabs option.
To configure a view, use the corresponding options in the title bar context menu. The necessary options can also be accessed by clicking 
on the title bar.
Preview files
There are two ways to preview files without opening each one in a separate tab:
Use the file preview popup: select a file in the Project tool window and press Space.
Enable the preview tab: click
and select Enable Preview Tab.
Show file size and modification timestamp
You can view the size and modification timestamp for the files in the project tree.
Select from the main menu.
Show tree indent guides
In the Project tool window , you can display vertical lines that mark indent levels and help you better understand the hierarchy of the components in your project.
Go to
Set the Show tree indent guides checkbox.
Title bar context menu
The context menu that appears by right-clicking the title bar or clicking Options button () provides settings for project views, viewing modes, as well as for switching between the views, resizing the tool window, and more.
The following table lists and briefly explains the available commands and options.
Item | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
Select Next View or Tab | Alt+Right | Use this option to switch between different views. |
Select Previous View or Tab | Alt+Left | Use this option to switch between different views. |
Show List of Views or Tabs | Alt+Down | Use this option to switch between different views. |
Tree Appearance | ||
Show Members | If this option is on, the files in the tree that contain classes turn into nodes. When such node is unfolded, the contained classes with their fields, methods, and other members of the selected item are shown.  | |
Show Excluded Files | This option is available only in the Project view. Turn this option on or off to show or hide excluded folders and files.  | |
Show Scratches and Consoles | Hide or display the Scratches and Consoles node. This node contains your scratch files and query consoles. | |
Sort by Name | Sort files alphabetically by their names. The option does not affect the order of folders, they are always sorted alphabetically. | |
Sort by Type | Sort files by their extensions. The option does not affect the order of folders, they are always sorted alphabetically. | |
Sort by Modification Time (Newest First/Oldest First) | Sort files by the time they were modified. To display this information, select from the main menu. The option does not affect the order of folders, they are always sorted alphabetically. | |
Folders Always on Top | If the option is on, folders are shown above the files. Otherwise, all items are sorted alphabetically, and files and folders appear intermixed. | |
Enable Preview Tab | Enable the preview tab that allows you to view files in a single tab one by one without opening each file in a new tab. | |
Open Files with Single Click | Open an item in the editor by clicking it in the Project tool window once. Otherwise, you need to double-click items to open them. Note that you cannot disable this option if you enable the preview tab. | |
Open Directories with Single Click | Expand and collapse directories in the Project tool window by clicking them once. Otherwise, you need to double-click a directory to open it or use the | |
Always Select Opened File | If this option is on, PhpStorm automatically locates documents that you open in the editor in the current view of this window. | |
Edit Scopes | Open the Scopes dialog in which you can create and edit used-defined scopes. Note that this command is available only if the current view is a scope view. | |
File Nesting | Opens the File nesting dialog where you can configure presentation of files that have same names but different extensions. | |
Group Tabs | If this option is on, there is a list in the left-hand part of the title bar from which you can select the necessary view. If this option is off, the views are represented by tabs which appear in the left-hand part of the title bar.  | |
View Mode | This option lets you control general appearance and behavior of the tool window. For full information, refer to Tool window view modes. | |
Move to | To associate the tool window with a different tool window bar, select this command, and then select the destination tool window bar (Top, Left, Bottom or Right). For full information, refer to the Move tool windows chapter. | |
Resize | To resize the tool window by moving one of its borders, select this command, and then select the necessary Stretch to option. Note that this command is not available for the floating mode. | |
Remove from Sidebar | This command hides the tool window, removes the associated tool window button from the tool window bar and removes the tool window from the quick access menu ( To open the tool window again (and restore the associated features), use the main menu: or press Alt+1. | |
Hide | Shift+Escape | Hide the tool window. |
Help | This command opens the description of the Project tool window in the PhpStorm online help. | |
icon next to the directory's name.
or 
).Title bar actions
Item | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
Select Next View or Tab Select Previous View or Tab | Alt+Right Alt+Left | If the views are currently shown as tabs (the Group Tabs option is off), this button appears to the right of the last visible tab. Open the list of views, for example, to select a different view. |
| Navigate from a file in the editor to the corresponding node (file, class, field, method, and so on) in the Project tool window. This icon is not available if the Always Select Opened File option is currently on. | |
| Ctrl+NumPad + | Expand all nodes. |
| Ctrl+NumPad - | Collapse all nodes. |
| Open the menu for configuring the current view and changing the tool window viewing modes. The available options are a subset of the title bar context menu items. Note that most of the menu items are options that you can turn on or off. An option which is on has a check mark to the left of its name. | |
| Shift+Escape | Hide the tool window Shift+Escape. To hide all the tool windows, press Ctrl+Shift+F12. |
Content pane
The content pane shows the project items such as directories, files, and other elements.
The icons for the main categories (node types) are shown and briefly explained in the following table. The icons used for the main symbols (classes, fields, methods, and so on.) , visibility modifiers, and bookmarks are shown in Icon reference.
Item | Description |
|---|---|
| A package |
| A folder (directory). Different folder categories have different colors.
|
| Under the External Libraries node, PhpStorm lists the loaded bundled PHP stubs and third party files (libraries) whose functions and methods are added to PhpStorm's internal knowledge to enhance coding assistance. For more information, refer to Configure include paths and Configure JavaScript libraries. |
| Your scratch files and consoles are grouped under this node. |
| Files marked as plain text. |
Context menu commands for the content pane items
The context menu of an item provides access to all the functions available for this item.
Item | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
New | Alt+Insert | Create a new item (directory, file, or class) within the selected one. (project or directory). |
Cut | Ctrl+X | Move the selected item or items from the current location to the clipboard. |
Copy | Ctrl+C | Copy the selected item or items to the clipboard. |
Copy Path/Reference | Use this command and one of the following options to copy the selected item(s) to the clipboard:
| |
Paste | Ctrl+V | Insert the contents of the clipboard into the selected location. |
Jump to Source | F4 | Open the selected file in the editor. If the file is already open, the corresponding editor tab will become active. |
Find Usages | Alt+F7 | Search for the usages of the selected item. (The Find Usages dialog will open.) |
Find in Files | Ctrl+Shift+F | Perform a text search. (Find in Files dialog will open.) |
Replace in Files | Ctrl+Shift+R | Perform text search-and-replace. (Replace in Path dialog will open.) |
Refactor | Perform one of the refactorings available for the selected item. | |
Bookmarks | Add the selected item to an existing or new list of bookmarks. | |
Show Thumbnails | View thumbnails for image files located in the selected directory. (The Thumbnails tool window will open.) | |
Reformat Code | Ctrl+Alt+L | Reformat the source code in the selected file or in all files in the current directory. See also, Reformat code. |
Delete | Delete | Delete the selected item. Use with care! |
Change Dialect (<CurrentDialect>) | For SQL files and database consoles, change the SQL dialect associated with the file or console. | |
Override File Type | Change the type of the selected file, for example, to Plain Text to exclude it from project, so it is ignored by inspections, code completion, navigation, and so on. The file will be indicated with a special icon | |
Run '<item_name>' | Ctrl+Shift+F10 | For an SQL file or query console: execute all the statements contained in the selected file or console. |
Local History | View local history for the selected file or directory, or to create a label for the current version of your project. | |
Synchronize '<item_name>' | Synchronize the view in the tool window with the view saved in the file system. If you change a file or directory contents externally, PhpStorm, under certain circumstances, may not be aware of the corresponding changes unless you use this command. | |
Open in Right Split | Shift+Enter | Split the editor into two parts and show the file in the right section. For more information, refer to Split screen. |
Open in | Open a file in your system file manager or in Terminal. | |
Compare With | Ctrl+D | Compare the selected file or directory with another file or directory. See Compare files, folders, and text sources and Diff Viewer for folders. |
Compare File with Editor | Compare the selected file with the file open on an active editor tab. See Compare files, folders, and text sources and Diff Viewer for files. | |
Mark Directory As | Make the selected directory a source root or a test source root , to make the directory excluded, and so on. The necessary category for the directory is selected from the submenu. For more information about the categories for directories, refer to Content root. | |
Diagrams | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+U or Ctrl+Alt+U | Open a diagram (for example, a UML diagram) for the selected item. |
and shown as plain text in the editor. For more information, refer to File status highlights
If VCS integration is enabled for the current project, PhpStorm uses colors to denote VCS file status in the Project tool window.
You can configure VCS file status colors on the Version Control | File Status Colors page of the IDE settings Ctrl+Alt+S.
The table below lists default file status colors and their meanings in some of the color schemes.
Color | File Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Added | The file in the active changelist is scheduled for addition to the repository. |
| Added in not active changelist | The file in an inactive changelist is scheduled for addition to the repository. This file status is available if the Highlight files from non-active changelists option is enabled in . |
| Changelist conflict | The file in an inactive changelist has been modified in the active changelist. In this case, a new dialog will open, prompting you to resolve the changelist conflict. This file status is available if all options are enabled in . |
| Copied | If a file is a copy of another file, its metadata is tracked, and such a file is marked as copied. |
| Deleted | The file is scheduled for deletion from the repository. |
| Deleted from file system | The file has been deleted locally but hasn't been scheduled for deletion, and it still exists in the repository. |
| Have changed descendants | If a file is modified, the IDE will recursively highlight all directories containing that file. This status is available if the Highlight directories that contain modified files in the Project tree option is enabled in . |
| Have immediate changed children | If a file is modified, the IDE will highlight its parent directory. This status is available if the Highlight directories that contain modified files in the Project tree option is enabled in . |
| Hijacked | [Perforce, ClearCase, VSS] The file is modified without checkout. |
| Ignored | A file is intentionally untracked by VCS. |
| Merged | The file is merged by your VCS as a result of an update. |
| Merged with conflicts | During the last update, the file has been merged with conflicts. |
| Merged with property conflicts | During the last update, the IDE has detected differences between the properties of the local file and its server version. |
| Merged with text and property conflicts | Text and property conflicts happen when two or more developers modify the same lines of a file and the same file properties. |
| Modified | The file has changed since the last synchronization. |
| Modified in not active changelist | The file in an inactive changelist has been modified. This file status is available if the Highlight files from non-active changelists option is enabled in . |
| Obsolete | The file should no longer be in your working copy of the repository. |
| Renamed | Since the last update, the file has been renamed. |
| Switched | [SVN] The file is taken from a different branch than the whole project. |
| (Unknown) Unversioned | The file exists locally but is not in the repository and is not scheduled for addition. |
| Up to date | The file hasn't been changed. |
None (default color)Color | File Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Added | The file in the active changelist is scheduled for addition to the repository. |
| Added in not active changelist | The file in an inactive changelist is scheduled for addition to the repository. This file status is available if the Highlight files from non-active changelists option is enabled in . |
| Changelist conflict | The file in an inactive changelist has been modified in the active changelist. In this case, a new dialog will open, prompting you to resolve the changelist conflict. This file status is available if all options are enabled in . |
| Copied | If a file is a copy of another file, its metadata is tracked, and such a file is marked as copied. |
| Deleted | The file is scheduled for deletion from the repository. |
| Deleted from file system | The file has been deleted locally but hasn't been scheduled for deletion, and it still exists in the repository. |
| Have changed descendants | If a file is modified, the IDE will recursively highlight all directories containing that file. This status is available if the Highlight directories that contain modified files in the Project tree option is enabled in . |
| Have immediate changed children | If a file is modified, the IDE will highlight its parent directory. This status is available if the Highlight directories that contain modified files in the Project tree option is enabled in . |
| Hijacked | [Perforce, ClearCase, VSS] The file is modified without checkout. |
| Ignored | A file is intentionally untracked by VCS. |
| Merged | The file is merged by your VCS as a result of an update. |
| Merged with conflicts | During the last update, the file has been merged with conflicts. |
| Merged with property conflicts | During the last update, the IDE has detected differences between the properties of the local file and its server version. |
| Merged with text and property conflicts | Text and property conflicts happen when two or more developers modify the same lines of a file and the same file properties. |
| Modified | The file has changed since the last synchronization. |
| Modified in not active changelist | The file in an inactive changelist has been modified. This file status is available if the Highlight files from non-active changelists option is enabled in . |
| Obsolete | The file should no longer be in your working copy of the repository. |
| Renamed | Since the last update, the file has been renamed. |
| Switched | [SVN] The file is taken from a different branch than the whole project. |
| (Unknown) Unversioned | The file exists locally but is not in the repository and is not scheduled for addition. |
| Up to date | The file hasn't been changed. |
None (default color)
Color | File Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Added | The file in the active changelist is scheduled for addition to the repository. |
| Added in not active changelist | The file in an inactive changelist is scheduled for addition to the repository. This file status is available if the Highlight files from non-active changelists option is enabled in . |
| Changelist conflict | The file in an inactive changelist has been modified in the active changelist. In this case, a new dialog will open, prompting you to resolve the changelist conflict. This file status is available if all options are enabled in . |
| Copied | If a file is a copy of another file, its metadata is tracked, and such a file is marked as copied. |
| Deleted | The file is scheduled for deletion from the repository. |
| Deleted from file system | The file has been deleted locally but hasn't been scheduled for deletion, and it still exists in the repository. |
| Have changed descendants | If a file is modified, the IDE will recursively highlight all directories containing that file. This status is available if the Highlight directories that contain modified files in the Project tree option is enabled in . |
| Have immediate changed children | If a file is modified, the IDE will highlight its parent directory. This status is available if the Highlight directories that contain modified files in the Project tree option is enabled in . |
| Hijacked | [Perforce, ClearCase, VSS] The file is modified without checkout. |
| Ignored | A file is intentionally untracked by VCS. |
| Merged | The file is merged by your VCS as a result of an update. |
| Merged with conflicts | During the last update, the file has been merged with conflicts. |
| Merged with property conflicts | During the last update, the IDE has detected differences between the properties of the local file and its server version. |
| Merged with text and property conflicts | Text and property conflicts happen when two or more developers modify the same lines of a file and the same file properties. |
| Modified | The file has changed since the last synchronization. |
| Modified in not active changelist | The file in an inactive changelist has been modified. This file status is available if the Highlight files from non-active changelists option is enabled in . |
| Obsolete | The file should no longer be in your working copy of the repository. |
| Renamed | Since the last update, the file has been renamed. |
| Switched | [SVN] The file is taken from a different branch than the whole project. |
| (Unknown) Unversioned | The file exists locally but is not in the repository and is not scheduled for addition. |
| Up to date | The file hasn't been changed. |
File colors
Files that belong to different scopes (production files or test files, for example) can be highlighted in different colors in the Project tool window , search results, and editor tabs.
To each scope, you can assign its own color. For more information, refer to Associate scopes with colors.
