16 Eclipse Shortcut Keys for Workspace and Project

Details: Written by Nam Ha Minh; Last Updated on 07 August 2019 | Print Email

In continuation with a series of articles about Eclipse shortcut keys, today we compile a list of useful shortcuts for working with workspace and projects using Eclipse IDE.

Let’s start with the shortcuts related to workspace first.

1. Ctrl + F6/Ctrl + Shift + F6:Switches between editors. It’s very usual that we open as many code editors as many source files we want to work on. Press Ctrl + F6 helps us moving forward between them. And press Ctrl + Shift + F6 to move backward between the opening editors:

switching editors

2. Ctrl + F7/Ctrl + Shift + F7:Switches between views. This allows you to move between open views in the current perspective:

switching views

3. Ctrl + F8/Ctrl + Shift + F8:Switches between perspectives. This allows you to move back and forth among open perspectives. For example, move from Java EE perspective to Team Synchronization perspective to update/commit your code. Hold down the Ctrl key and press the F8 key to move around the list of open perspective. Release the keys when you decide to move to the selected one. Press Ctrl + Shift + F8 lets you move reveresly:

switching perspectives

4. Ctrl + M:Toggles maximize/restore the current view. This shortcut is very useful when you want to quickly maximize the current view, e.g. the currently editing code editor. Press Ctrl + M again will restore the maximized view. This is equivalent to double clicking on tab header of the view.

5. F12: Activates Editor. Let say, if you are currently at the Project explorer view and you want to jumpo to the editor view, press F12 will activate the currrently selected code editor.

Here are other shortcuts that let you quickly move to frequently-used views:

6. Alt + Shift + Q, C:Jumps to Console view (Hold down Alt, Shift and Q; then release all and press C):

Console view

7. Alt + Shift + Q, O:Jumpsto Outline view:

Outline view

8. Alt + Shift + Q, S:Jumpsto Search view:

Search view

9. Alt + Shift + Q, Q: BringsShow View selection dialog that lets you to choose a specific view:

Show View selection dialog

Now, let’s go to other shortcuts related to working with projects in Eclipse.

10. Ctrl + N:Opens the New wizard dialog that lets you create new project or file:

New Wizard

11. Alt + Shift + N:Shows context menu for creating new objects. This gives you quick access to the frequently used items:

New context menu

12. Alt + Enter: Shows Properties dialog of the current selected project, or the currently active code editor.

Properties dialog

13. Ctrl + W: Closes the currently active code editor.

14. Ctrl + Shift + W: Closes all opening code editors.

15. Ctrl + S: Saves currently editing file.

16. Ctrl + Shift + S: Saves all editing files.

About the Author:

Nam Ha Minh is certified Java programmer (SCJP and SCWCD). He began programming with Java back in the days of Java 1.4 and has been passionate about it ever since. You can connect with him on Facebook and watch his Java videos on YouTube.