IntelliJ IDEA - multiple carets?

Question

Sometimes I have to write Java class where I need to define multiple fields of the same type. For example, I know that I will need to duplicate private final String on the next 4 lines.

Is it possible to spawn multiple carets in IntelliJ editor, so I can type on mutliple lines at the sime time?

Answer 1

IntelliJ IDEA 14.1 & 15

You can press Alt + Shift and using the mouse left click you can put many carets.

E.g.:

will become

typing "added" only once.

If you want to have a continuous vertical line, it's enough to press Alt + drag your mouse vertically. If there are lines with a length lower than the current position, the vertical line will be broken (carets will be placed at the end of every line) if "Allow placement of caret after end of line" is disabled (in File > Settings... > Editor > General > Virtual Space).

Another way to add a continuous vertical line is to hit Ctrl twice and then press up or down arrow key (supported in JetBrains 2016.X products, and possibly earlier).

If you cannot get the shortcuts working, check what they're currently assigned to under Settings > Keymap Add or Remove Caret, Clone Caret Above and Clone Caret Below. If they look right and you're on Linux, your window manager may be capturing the combination, e.g., for Alt + window drag operations.

See:

• http://blog.jetbrains.com/idea/2015/02/multiple-selections-in-editor-using-mouse/

• https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/2016.3/multicursor.html

Answer 2

I think "Column Selection Mode" could help you. You can enable it in the context menu in the editor. Then you can select multiple lines and type same text at once.