Migrate from Sublime Text
In this section, you’ll find some tips on how to migrate from Sublime Text to PhpStorm.
If you’re looking for an overview of the features PhpStorm offers, check out this video:
Open or create your first project
One of the first things that you will notice once you download and install PhpStorm is that you need a project to get started. The project-first approach helps PhpStorm understand the context better and provide more advanced coding assistance.
To start with your first project, you can choose one of these options:
New Project: create an empty project or generate a project from one of the existing framework templates.
Open: open a project stored on your machine.
Get from VCS: get an existing project from a remote repository on a VCS hosting service like GitHub.
Once you have opened a project, you can start coding as usual.
Configure shortcuts
If you’ve never used PhpStorm or other JetBrains IDEs before, getting used to new shortcuts can be challenging. Here are a few tips that can help you with that.
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 Sublime Text or Sublime Text (macOS) as your default keymap, and save the changes.
, setLearn PhpStorm shortcuts
Learning PhpStorm 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 PhpStorm’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 PhpStorm shortcut cheat sheet – You can download the default PhpStorm keymap reference and print it out as a card.
Set up your work environment
One of the key differences between PhpStorm and Sublime Text is that you don’t need to install extensions to make PhpStorm powerful. Just about everything is already there.
Customize PhpStorm
You can customize almost any aspect of the PhpStorm UI and turn off anything you don’t need. You can find some tips on how to customize PhpStorm in this video:
Install packages (plugins)
PhpStorm'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 . You can then install a plugin by clicking the Install button next to its name.
Here’s what PhpStorm looks like with the popular CodeGlance Pro plugin installed.
You can find more plugins at JetBrains Marketplace.
Framework support
PhpStorm has extended support for many projects of the diverse PHP ecosystem, including Laravel, Symfony, WordPress, Joomla!, and more.
For more advanced support and extra features, you can check out framework-specific plugins from the community:
Laravel Idea plugin (paid)
Symfony Support plugin (freemium)
Magento plugin (free)
Change the UI theme
PhpStorm comes with only a few predefined themes, but there’s a variety of custom options to choose from. To explore them, go to theme
in the Marketplace tab.
You can then go back to the editor and check what the themes you’ve installed look like. Select
from the main menu or press Ctrl+` and select .Replicate common Sublime Text workflows
Let’s see how you can set up a few things to work like they do in Sublime Text.
Command Palette
Search Everywhere is your replacement for Sublime Text’s Command Palette. You can use it to search for files, actions, classes, or symbols. All matches are displayed in a single location.
To open the Search Everywhere dialog, double-press Shift.
Search and replace
Although PhpStorm’s search and replace workflow is slightly different from the one in Sublime Text, the principles are the same.
PhpStorm lets you find and replace text strings within both specific files and entire projects. To get started, in the main menu, go to
and select (for specific files) or (for entire projects). To replace a text string, select or under the same submenu instead.Change the defaults for the Project view
PhpStorm 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:
You can go to the Project view settings and select any or all of these options:
Enable Preview Tab – Preview files you have selected in the Project view in the editor.
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.
Set up a PHP Interpreter
In order to get the most out of PhpStorm for PHP projects, it makes sense to set PHP interpreter settings. This be your local PHP from the system, MAMP/XAMP, Laravel Valet, DDEV, Docker, and so on.
You can add PHP interpreters under Configure local PHP interpreters.
. Learn more about configuring PHP development environments inHow to get support
You can check out community forum to find answers to many common questions and ask other PhpStorm users for help.
Also, you can always get in touch with our support team if you get stuck. To submit a new ticket, select here.
from PhpStorm’s main menu. To report a bug or ask for a new feature, create a new issue