Experiment! ⚗

I conducted a little experiment where I logged the keyboard shortcuts I used in Intellij from roughly a days dev. The list below contains the top 50 keybinds I used in order of count.

Note: I removed a few keybinds that are not strictly Intellij e.g. ctrl + shift + arrow keys for highlighting text, ctrl + c, ctrl + v, among many others.

No.	Keybind (Mac)	What it does	Count
1	`Alt+Up/Down` `(^Up/Down)`	Jump to next method	137
2	`Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right` `(⌥[/])`	Go back/forward location	101
3	`Alt+Left/Right`	Switch to next file	65
4	`Alt+Enter` `(⌥Enter)`	Show action intentions	56
5	`Ctrl+B` `(⌘B)`	Go to declaration	51
6	`Ctrl+Shift+F` `(⇧⌘F)`	Find in path	47
7	`Ctrl+Alt+L` `(⌥⌘L)`	Reformat code	44
8	`Ctrl+Alt+O` `(^⌥O)`	Organise Imports	44
9	`F8`	(In debug) Step over	43
10	`Ctrl+F` `(⌘F)`	Search current file	32
11	`Alt+Insert` `(⌘N)`	Generate code (can be done in multiple views)	31
12	`Ctrl+Alt+M` `(⌥⌘M)`	(With code highlighted) Extract method	28
13	`Alt+F8` `(⌥F8)`	(In debug) Open evaluation window	26
14	`Ctrl+/` `(⌘/)`	Comment code	26
15	`F7`	(In debug) Step into	22
16	`Ctrl+Shift+N` `(⇧⌘O)`	Search classes/files/symbols/actions	22
17	`Ctrl+F4`	Close current tab	21
18	`Alt+F7` `(⌥F7)`	Find all usages	17
19	`Ctrl+F8` `(⌘F8)`	Add breakpoint	17
20	`Ctrl+Up/Down`	Move view	16
21	`Alt+1` `(⌘1)`	Opens up file explorer	15
22	`Ctrl+D` `(⌘D)`	Duplicates line	14
23	`Ctrl+Space` `(^Space)`	Basic code completion	14
24	`Shift+F9` `(^D)`	Begin debugger	11
25	`F9` `(⌥⌘F9)`	(In debug) Resume Program	11
26	`Ctrl+Shift+Space` `(^⇧Space)`	Complete current statement	9
27	`Alt+1, Alt+Insert` `(⌘1, ⌘N)`	Create new file	7
28	`shift + alt + up/down` `(⌥⇧Up/Down)`	Move code	6
29	`Alt+F9` `(⌥F9)`	(In debug) Continue execution and stop at cursor	5
30	`Ctrl+E` `(⌘E)`	Recent files	5
31	`Alt+F10` `(⌥F10)`	(In debug) Go to where execution stopped	4
32	`Ctrl+Shift+V` `(⇧⌘V)`	Paste from recent clipboards	4
33	`Double Shift`	Search anywhere	4
34	`Ctrl+P` `(⌘P)`	Parameter info	4
35	`Ctrl+Shift+/` `(⌥⌘/)`	Comment block code	3
36	`Ctrl+X` `(⌘X)`	Cut (line or highlighted)	3
37	`Shift+F6` `(⇧F6)`	Rename	3
38	`Ctrl+Alt+S` `(⌘,)`	Settings	3
39	`Ctrl+K` `(⌘K)`	Commit changes window	2
40	`Ctrl+Shift+R` `(⇧⌘R)`	Replace in path	2
41	`Ctrl+O` `(^O)`	Override methods	2
42	`Ctrl+Shift+E` `(⇧⌘E)`	Recent locations	2
43	`Ctrl+R` `(⌘R)`	Replace	1
44	`Alt+J` `(^G)`	Select next occurence	1
45	`Ctrl+Alt+V` `(⌥⌘V)`	Extract variable	1
46	`Shift+F10` `(^R)`	Run	1
47	`Ctrl+Alt+F7` `(⌥⌘F7)`	Show usages	1
48	`Ctrl+Alt+T`	Surround with	1
49	`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T` `(⌥⌘T)`	Refactor this	1
50	`Double Ctrl`	Run anything	1

Conclusion 🔎

It’s quite funny looking at these results, I feel as though I could have a good guess at what sort of code I was writing just from the keybinds I use. Also, it highlights potential ways I could increase my productivity by focusing more on some keybinds that could do with more usage such as the Surround with shortcut, I’m sure I could have used it > 30 times.

Of course, your mileage will vary depending upon your preferences, the task you’re working on or even just the way you code.

These are also by no means all the keyboard shortcuts in IntelliJ (There are bloody hundreds) they are just the useful ones I’ve picked up from my years of hacking away in it.

I hope this is of use to some of you, I know it will be for me if I ever go long periods of time without using the IDE (Probably not 😆).