Question

I’m using IntelliJ IDEA 10.5.2

Example:

Say I want to rename this class to SomeAwesomeClass.
If we do the Rename refactoring we get a dialog like this:

It has the cursor in the right place however the text is selected. So if we started writing “Awesome” the original name would disappear. So what I want to do is keep the cursor position but deselect the text.

I have not been able to find any way to do this. All things I’ve tried ether moves the cursor or removes the text or does nothing.

• Left or Right keys goes to the left or right.
• Up or down does nothing.
• Esc closes the dialog.
• PageUp or PageDown does nothing.
• Home or End goes to left or right.

The fact that the cursor is in the right place to start with makes me believe this is a existing feature…

Answer 1

In 11-eap (110.365) when you rename a class (Shift+F6):

1. at first full class name is selected and you have a dropdown with suggested names, press Esc
2. full class name is still selected (dropdown gone), press Esc again
3. you have class name unselected, and can write at cursor

Note a third Esc will exit rename.

In earlier versions (10.5.2) you can do a trick:

Before rename select one character (shift+arrow forward) where you want to end up (in SomeClass select C) then Shift+F6 and arrow back. I know it is a lot of keys to presses but in a long class name this helps.