What is the IntelliJ shortcut to create a local variable?

Question

In Eclipse if you have a method:

String MyObject.getValue();

When using this you can go:

MyObject.getValue();

If you cursor is on the line and you hit CTRL + 1 you get a context menu to 'assign a new local variable', resulting in the following:

String value = MyObject.getValue();

Can you do this as easily in IntelliJ? I've search the net but without success.

ProTip if you don't remember a keyboard shortcut: Wherever you are in the code, if you hit [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [A] ([cmd] + [Shift] + [A] in Mac) it will show a list of actions by name, you can type the action you want to do (e.g. Variable) and execute it — Christian García, Jan 31 '14 at 23:48

score 221 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 05 '17 at 15:35

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Yep! This is the Introduce Variable refactoring. By default, select some text, and then hit Ctrl + Alt + V (for Mac: ⌘+⌥+V). If the expression is incomplete or invalid, IntelliJ will still make a good guess about what you meant and try to fix it for you.

edited Sep 05 '17 at 15:35

soshial

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answered Jan 15 '10 at 10:01

John Feminella

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Thanks. I was using CTRL+ALT+F but this didnt offer a 'local' option. – JARC Jan 15 '10 at 10:05
And,you can press Shift+Tab to choose variable type,IDEA will remember your choice for future. – user674158 Jan 16 '14 at 04:30
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Is there a possibility to declare the variable final via keyboard, without clicking on the popup? – Mathias Bader Jan 12 '15 at 09:58
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I think once you specify that the variable should be final the first time, your selection is remembered in the future (in IntelliJ 14 at least). – Jon Onstott May 28 '15 at 17:49
@John Feminella:How do you make it 'final' without making usage of the mouse ? (Intellij IDEA 2017.2.1) ? – Rudy Vissers Aug 17 '17 at 14:33
Alt +Shift + V on Linux – vasigorc Apr 15 '18 at 02:50
I always used to use alt+enter at the variable location, and arrow down to "introduce local variable" but that dialog stopped being available for me today. Does anyone know why that would be? Now I have to use ctrl+alt+V. – Blake Dec 07 '18 at 17:44
That's super handy! – Frank Cheng Sep 05 '21 at 02:45

micha · Answer 2 · 2015-01-09T18:05:49.000

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IntelliJ 13.1 introduced Postfix completion.

With Postfix Completion you can introduce a local variable by typing:

MyObject.getValue().var

and pressing ctrl + space or enter.

It even works inside other statements. For example:

foo.someMethod(myObject.getValue().var);

edited Jan 09 '15 at 18:05

answered Jan 09 '15 at 17:54

micha

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score 14 · Answer 3 · answered May 27 '16 at 11:46

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for mac users: alt + enter at the position where you want to generate your variable

answered May 27 '16 at 11:46

Olivier Royo

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This is my go-to method. Is there a way you know of to default to a typed instance? I often have to alt + enter again and select "Add type annotation" – JaredEzz Apr 08 '22 at 17:53

What is the IntelliJ shortcut to create a local variable?

3 Answers3

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