Useful Eclipse Shortcut Keys

Shortcut keys make life that little bit quicker! They aid you in working faster and become very handy when programming in Eclipse.

For a full list of shortcuts, in Eclipse 3.1 and above you can press Ctrl+Shift+L for a handy popup.


Shortcuts:


Ctrl+Shift+T

Find Java Type

Start typing the name and the list gets smaller. Try typing the capital letters of the class only (e.g. type "CME" to find "ConcurrentModificationException")

Ctrl+Shift+R

Find Resource

Use this to look for XML files, text files, or files of any other type. which are in your workspace.

Ctrl+E

Open Editor Drop-Down

Presents a popup window listing currently opened files. Start typing to limit the list or simply use the down arrow key.

Ctrl+O

Quick Outline

Use this to find a method or a member variable in a class. Start typing to limit the choices. Press Ctrl+O a second time to include inherited methods.

Ctrl+Space

Content Assist

Context sensitive content completion suggestions while editing Java code.

Ctrl+Shift+Space

Context Information

If typing a method call with several parameters use this to show the applicable parameter types. The current parameter where the cursor is will be shown in bold.

Ctrl+Shift+O

Organize Imports

After typing a class name use this shortcut to insert an import statement. This works if multiple class names haven't been imported too.

F3

Open Declaration

Drills down to the declaration of the type, method, or variable the cursor is on. This works much like a browser hyperlink.

Alt+Left

Backward History

This works like a browser's Back button.

Alt+Right

Forward History

This works like a browser's Forward button

Ctrl+L

Go to Line

Go to a specific line number.

F4

Open Type Hierarchy

Show the type hierarchy (downward tree) or the supertype hierarchy (upward tree).

Ctrl+Alt+H

Open Call Hierarchy

Show where a method is called from. In the Call Hierarchy view keep expanding the tree to continue tracing the call chain.

Ctrl+H

Open Search Dialog

Opens a search dialog with extensive search options for Java packages, types, methods, and fields.

Alt+Shift+R

Rename - Refactoring

Use this to rename type, method, or field. All existing references will be refactored as well.

Alt+Shift+L

Extract Local Variable

Use this to create a local variable from the selected expression. This is useful for breaking up larger expressions to avoid long lines.

Alt+Shift+M

Extract Method

Use this to extract a new method from existing code. The parameter list and return type will be automatically created.

Alt+Shift+Up
Alt+Shift+Down
Alt+Shift+Left
Alt+Shift+Right

Select Enclosing Element / Restore Last Selection / Select Previous Element /
Select Next Element

Useful for selecting context-sensitive blocks (e.g. surrounding loop, method, class, etc.)

Ctrl+Up
Ctrl+Down

Scroll Line Up / Scroll Line Down

Very handy if you want to scroll by 1 line without changing your cursor position or using the mouse.

Ctrl+Shift+U
Alt+Shift+U

Go to Previous Member / Go to Next Member

Great for stepping down through the methods of a Java source file.

Ctrl+Shift+U
Alt+Shift+U

Show Occurrences in File / Remove Occurrences Annotations

Use this to search within the same file - useful for occurrences of private fields and methods.

Ctrl+Shift+P

Go to Matching Bracket

Helps to find the closing bracket of lengthly if-else statements.

Ctrl+J
Ctrl+Shift+J

Incremental Find / Reverse Incremental Find

The first matching occurrence is shown with each typed letter. Press again and the next matching occurrence is shown.

Shift+Enter
Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Insert Line Below / Insert Line Above

Insert a line above or below the current line.

Ctrl+/
Ctrl+\

Add Block Comment / Remove Block Comment

Comment in/out blocks of code with a key stroke.

Ctrl+M

Maximize Active View or Editor

Maximize the current view or editor at the expense of all other currently shown views. Press again to restore to normal view.

Ctrl+F6
Ctrl+F7
Ctrl+F8

Next Editor / Next View / Next Perspective

Learn these to switch among edited files, open views and perspectives.

Ctrl+Alt+Up
Ctrl+Alt+Down

Duplicate Lines / Copy Lines

Doesn't seem like it at first but a great shortcut once you learn to use it. Instead of select, copy and paste simply select and duplicate without affecting the clipboard.

Alt+/

Word Completion

This is excellent for code editing or writing plain help files with variables and other words having no English language equivalents. The word completion is based on the set of words already present in the current file.

Ctrl+I

Correct Indentation

Select a block of Java code or an entire class file and use this shortcut to correct its indentation.