Using Multiple Cursors in PHPStorm: A Beginner's Guide

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PHPStorm is widely regarded as one of the most feature-rich integrated development environments (IDEs) available today. One such powerful tool that can significantly boost your productivity while coding is multiple cursors, also known by other names like multi-cursor or multi-caret.

In this article, we will dive deep into how to use and configure PHPStorm's multiple cursor functionality effectively.

Why Use Multiple Cursors?

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Multiple cursors allow you to place several insertion points in a document at once. This means that any operation performed on one of these cursors affects all the others simultaneously. Imagine having ten instances of `echo 'Hello World!';` and wanting to change only the word 'World' without typing it out ten times each time.

Enabling Multiple Cursors

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To enable multiple cursor functionality in PHPStorm, simply press Ctrl+Alt + Shift + Up or Cmd+Shift+Option + Left/Right depending on your operating system (Windows/Linux vs. Mac respectively). You will notice that a pair of vertical lines appear at the cursor position.

Navigating Multiple Cursors

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Once you have multiple cursors active, navigating between them becomes easy using the following keyboard shortcuts:

* Shift+Up/Down: Move up or down one line.

* Ctrl + Up/Down (Windows) / Cmd + Shift + Up/Down (Mac): Jump to previous/next occurrence of a word.

Basic Operations with Multiple Cursors

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Now that you have multiple cursors active, let's see some basic operations you can perform:

### 1. Delete

To delete everything between two cursor positions simultaneously press Delete on your keyboard.

### 2. Copy

To copy the selected text, use Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd + C (Mac).

### 3. Paste

Paste the copied content using Shift+Insert for Windows or Cmd + Option + V for Mac.

Advanced Operations with Multiple Cursors

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PHPStorm's multiple cursor functionality doesn't stop at basic operations; it also supports more advanced features like:

* Renaming variables/expressions across an entire file (Press Shift+F6)

* Refactoring code

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In conclusion, PHPStorm's multiple cursors feature is a game-changer for any serious developer looking to increase their productivity while coding. Whether you're dealing with massive amounts of HTML/CSS or complex PHP applications, this powerful tool will be your best friend.

Remember that practice makes perfect; so go ahead and experiment with different keyboard shortcuts and operations today!

Phpstorm multiple cursors