Editor Tabs

Last modified: 30 June 2021

Settings/Preferences | Editor | General | Editor Tabs

Use this page to configure the appearance of the editor tabs and tab headers, specify their positioning on the screen, and define the opening and closing policy.

Appearance

ItemDescription
Tab placementUse the list to set the location of editor tabs. If you select None, no tabs will be displayed, and any new file will open in the current editor.
Show tabs in one rowSelect this option to see the tab headers in a single row.
Hide tabs if there is no spaceIf this checkbox is selected, IntelliJ IDEA shows as many tabs as the editor width allows; the rest are hidden and available under the Show Hidden Tabs Icons ide notification expand selector.
Hidden tabs
Clear the checkbox if you don't want to hide any tabs. Alternatively, you can choose Window | Editor Tabs | Show Hidden Tabs from the main menu to see hidden tabs.
Show pinned tabs in a separate rowSelect this option to automatically arrange pinned tabs in one row and unpinned tabs in other rows.
Use small fonts for labels

If this checkbox is selected, the font size on the editor tabs is set to the smaller value.

If this checkbox is not selected, the font size on the editor tabs is set to the default value, as in the project tree view.

Show file iconDisplay file type icons in editor tabs.
Show file extensionSelect if you want file extensions to be displayed in editor tabs.
Show directory for non-unique file namesIf this checkbox is selected, the editor tabs will show the filename together with the parent directory name if the filename is not unique.
Mark modified (*)Select to mark modified files with an asterisk Icons general modified.
Show full path on mouse hoverSelect to be able to see complete file paths in a tooltip. If you need to configure the tooltip duration, use the Tooltip delay option located at the bottom of the Code Editing page.
Close button positionSelect where you want the closing button Close new to be displayed on the tab.

Tab Order

ItemDescription
Sort tabs alphabeticallySelect this checkbox if you want the names of editor tabs to appear in the alphabetical order.
Open new tabs at the endSelect this checkbox to open a new tab at the end of the already opened one.

Opening Policy

ItemDescription
Opening Policy
Enable preview tabThe preview tab allows you to view files in a single tab one by one without opening each file in a new tab. Any other file that you select will replace the previous one in this tab.
Open declaration source in the same tabWhen you navigate to a method, class or a variable, the source file that contains their declaration will replace the current tab if there are no changes.

Closing Policy

ItemDescription
Tab limitSpecify the maximum number of editor tabs to be displayed.
When tabs exceed the limit:

In this area, specify which editor tab should be closed when the limit is reached and the user attempts to open a new file:

  • Close unchanged: IntelliJ IDEA examines the tabs in the order they were opened and closes the first tab that has not been modified.

  • Close unused: IntelliJ IDEA closes the tab with the less frequently modified content.

When the current tab is closed, activateSpecify which editor tab to activate when closing the current tab.

See also

Procedures