End of line caret position

Or, what to do when you want the caret here:

  end of line_

not here:

  end of line        _


IntelliJ is different than other IDE's that I've used in that it lets you control the placement of the cursor within the editor. By default IntelliJ 2.5.2 let me place the cursor anywhere within a text file -- right at the end of a line, or 20 characters after the end of the line. Since I've been trained by other IDE's to want the cursor placed at the end of the line, just after the last visible character in the line, this is the way I wanted IntelliJ to work. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that by default, and I thought I was stuck with that behavior. Fortunately I wasn't.

To change IntelliJ so that it always places the cursor at the end of the line, just after the last character in the line, do the following:

  • Select Tools | IDE Options
  • Select Editor
  • In the Virtual Space group, de-select the checkbox named Allow to place caret fter end of line
  • When you're finished, click OK

De-selecting this checkbox tells IntelliJ to place the caret just after the last character in the specified line. A small change for IntelliJ, but a nice change for me, because it lets me work the way I'm used to working.