How to move from Sublime Text to WebStorm

Switch to the Sublime Text keymap

If you aren’t ready to say goodbye to Sublime Text shortcuts just yet, you can switch to the Sublime Text keymap. To do so, go to Preferences / Settings | Keymap, set Sublime Text or Sublime Text (macOS) as your default keymap, and save the changes.

Learn WebStorm shortcuts

Learning WebStorm shortcuts will come in handy even if you decide to switch to another JetBrains IDE later on – the shortcuts are the same in almost all of them. Here’s what can help you learn them faster:

• Memorize WebStorm’s most universal shortcut – double Shift or Search Everywhere. You can use it to find any file, action, class, or symbol, and see all the matches in one place.

• Install Key Promoter X – This extension helps you learn essential shortcuts while working. When you use the mouse on a button inside the IDE, Key Promoter X shows you the shortcut you could have used instead.

• Use the WebStorm shortcut cheat sheet – You can download the default WebStorm keymap reference for macOS or Windows and Linux and print it out as a card.

WebStorm suggests a predefined keymap based on your environment. You can find this keymap in Preferences / Settings | Keymap. If you change the shortcut for an action, WebStorm will store those changes in a copy of the predefined keymap and use that copy by default moving forward.

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There are two predefined keymaps for macOS. You can learn about the differences between them here and choose the one that suits you best.

Install plugins

WebStorm's plugins work pretty much the same way packages do in Sublime Text, allowing you to extend the built-in functionality and customize your IDE. To explore the available plugins, go to the Marketplace tab under Preferences / Settings | Plugins. You can then install a plugin by clicking the Install button next to its name.

Here’s what WebStorm looks like with the popular Rainbow Brackets plugin installed. You can read this blog post to learn about some other popular plugins, including the minimap one.

Change the UI theme

WebStorm comes with only a few predefined themes, but there’s a variety of custom options to choose from. To explore them, go to Preferences / Settings | Plugins and search for theme in the Marketplace tab.

You can then go back to the editor and check what the themes you’ve installed look like. Select View | Quick Switch Scheme from the main menu or press Ctrl+` and select Theme. From there, you’ll be able to preview the available themes all in one go, as shown here.

Switch to distraction-free mode

You can switch to distraction-free mode whenever you want to focus on coding. In the main menu, go to View | Appearance and select Enter Zen Mode or Enter Distraction Free Mode. The former works the same way Distraction Free mode works in Sublime Text. The latter doesn’t turn on the full-screen view.

Go through the same steps but select Exit Zen Mode or Exit Distraction Free Mode when you’re done.

Command Palette

Search Everywhere is your replacement for Sublime Text’s Command Palette. You can use it to find any file, action, class, or symbol, and see all of the matches in one place. Open it from Navigate | Search Everywhere in the main menu or by clicking the magnifying glass in the top right-hand corner of the editor.

Find and replace

WebStorm lets you find and replace text strings within both specific files and entire projects. To get started, in the main menu go to Edit | Find and select Find (for specific files) or Find in Files (for entire projects). To replace a text string, select Replace or Replace in Files under the same submenu instead.

Change the defaults for the Project view

WebStorm has the Project view, which lets you see the structure of your current projects and browse them. Its default behavior differs from that of Sublime Text. For instance, you need to double-click a file to open it in the editor. Here’s how you can change the default setup to match what you were used to in Sublime Text:

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You can go to the Project view settings and select any or all of these options:

• Open Files with Single Click – Open files in the editor with one click.

• Always Select Opened File – Auto-select the file that’s currently open in the Project view.

• Enable Preview Tab – Preview files you have selected in the Project view in the editor.

Explore available code editing actions

WebStorm supports many of the code editing actions that you are used to from Sublime Text, such as extending selection, multiple cursors, adding comments, and more. You can find some of them under Edit in the main menu. You can also explore our collection of tips and tricks.

Set up actions on save

You can configure WebStorm to perform a specific action or run a tool like Prettier or ESLint every time you save your modified file. To do this, go to Preferences / Settings | Tools | Actions on Save and tick the necessary boxes there. To learn more about performing actions on save, see this section.

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By default, WebStorm automatically saves changes that you make in your files. There’s no need to install a similar plugin for this. You can learn more about it here.