Eclipse ctrl+right does nothing

Question

I'm editing a Java source in Eclipse (Version: Kepler Release). I'm used no navigate text on other editors using Ctrl+Right to move to the next word and Ctrl+Shift+Right to select the next word. But on eclipse nothing happens, the cursor stays in the same place.

On Window->Preferences->General->keys the binding seems to be correct, it says: Command: Next Word; Binding: Ctrl+Right; When: Editing Text; Category: Text Editing.

But it's not working.

Ensure your system is recognizing your keyboard correctly in other applications. — Nathaniel Ford, Aug 20 '13 at 18:21
Thanks, I don't know what was happening, but I just restarted and it works now. — Arzaquel, Aug 20 '13 at 18:43
this bug still exists in 2017 (Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers, Version: Neon.3 Release (4.6.3), Build id: 20170314-1500) — Frode Akselsen, Oct 04 '17 at 03:40
I had the same problem, it wouldnt even recognise the vars, methods etc, was using casual Java EE IDE Eclipse, deleted it installed Neon and worked perfctly. maybe its just a bug happening randomly. — Sir. Hedgehog, Oct 08 '18 at 13:47
The problem persists even after 7 years (since this post) - maybe the Eclipse devs are leaving it in on purpose, as an easter egg. — Rajdeep Biswas, Jan 06 '21 at 13:54

Ruslan López · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-29T18:55:19.657

232

Eclipse's welcome screen causes this kind of bug in the editor specifically (https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=426557). Sometimes you can find that when you restart can't move with control+arrow in the editor but you can in other views like console window.

You can disable welcome screen ( in most eclipse based IDEs it's a checkbox in the welcome screen ) and then restart eclipse just to be sure it won't happend again. Everything will work again.

edited Jun 29 '18 at 18:55

answered Oct 27 '15 at 17:33

Ruslan López

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I am also using Neon. "Just the restart" didn't work for me. But when I unchecked "Always show the welcome screen" at the bottom-right, it worked. – Alisa Nov 10 '16 at 23:46
5

It worked for me using Neon as well. What a wonderful time to be alive! – Dávid Tóth Nov 14 '16 at 06:25
3

Worked for me on Neon :) – Avinash Dec 14 '16 at 08:42
8

Same issue on Oxygen, and it worked after I unchecked welcome screen. thanks. – jatanp Jul 21 '17 at 03:07
1

For me it was sufficient to just restart Eclipse Oxygen. The welcome screen did not show up after this (but I don't remember disabling it), and Ctrl+Arrows now work. – Serge Rogatch Dec 26 '17 at 20:54
Like other commenters, I needed to disable the welcome screen and then restart. Submitted edit to clarify answer. – Matt Liberty Jun 28 '18 at 13:52
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Still an issue in Photon and disabling the welcome screen and restarting still fixes it – hendalst Sep 17 '18 at 14:12
5

Still exists over 3 years later in Eclipse IDE 2019-03 (4.11.0) - Disabling the Welcome Screen works! Thanks! – AlexG Apr 07 '19 at 13:18
works for Eclipse CDT Version: 2019-09 R (4.13.0). Thanks! – HCSF Dec 10 '19 at 06:06
Six years ago and It's still working for me! Many thanks – Co Worker Feb 25 '20 at 03:48
Works - can't believe this is root cause. I want to continue using Eclipse instead of a commerical app (Intellij), but this is disappointing... – Ken Goh Apr 16 '21 at 03:19

score 39 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 16 '17 at 17:11

39

I had an issue just like this with Eclipse Neon. I was baffled by answers I was finding about the welcome screen, but I disabled it, and apparently that was causing the issue, because Ctrl+Shift+Right/Left worked, after disabling it. In Neon, the welcome screen has an "Always show Welcome at startup" box you can uncheck, in the lower right corner of the welcome screen when it appears. After unchecking it, selecting words worked, again. Somehow.

edited Sep 16 '17 at 17:11

Fabrizio

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answered Aug 10 '16 at 15:52

Ryan McNames

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In my Eclipse Neon, when I try to uncheck the box, the system doesn't seem to care and the next time it is again checked. I created another question about [how to disable the Welcome Screen in Eclipse Neon](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/38889979/eclipse-neon-disable-welcome-screen). – Labra Aug 12 '16 at 07:05
It worked me when I unchecked it and close the welcome window, thanks. Don't choose "go back workbench" option or something like that – Carlos Gomez Perez Apr 17 '21 at 03:32

score 5 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 14 '19 at 07:41

5

I've got the same problem with Eclipse-Oxygen and disabling the welcome screen fixed the issue. I gave this answer just to confirm the solutions explained above also work for the following eclipse version;

1: Eclipse-Oxygen Version: Oxygen.1a Release (4.7.1a) (released on October 2017)

2: Version: Oxygen.3a Release (4.7.3a) Build id: 20180405-1200

edited Aug 14 '19 at 07:41

Sachin R

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answered Nov 17 '17 at 12:53

Levent Divilioglu

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score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 10 '18 at 09:22

This issue is caused by the welcome screen. Uncheck the "Always show..." checkbox on you welcome screen.

If welcome screen of your eclipse distribution does not have the "Always show..." checkbox, then another option to disable welcome screen is to create file in your workspace:

.metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.ui.intro\introstate

and insert following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<state reopen="false"/>

Michele d'Amico · Answer 5 · 2016-09-08T07:11:50.337

On ubuntu 16.4 Welcome screen is blank and there is no way to disable it. Installing libwebkitgtk-3.0-0 as suggested on eclipse site work just partially and no check box are showed.

Last resource: find where are your plugin directory and remove

org.eclipse.ui.intro.universal_3.3.0.v20160519-1604.jar

In my installation was at

~/.p2/pool/plugins/org.eclipse.ui.intro.universal_3.3.0.v20160519-1604.jar

Just a note: in the last 4/5 years Eclipse's bugs was raising very fast :( ....

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 16 '18 at 12:15

2

To be precise you don't need to restart Eclipse, but close "affected" document only. It works for me - Oxygen.2 Release (4.7.2)

answered Jan 16 '18 at 12:15

mad_rad_man

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 07 '19 at 20:01

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On menu Window->Preferences->General->keys click on "Restore Defaults" button and everything works again.

answered Jun 07 '19 at 20:01

jalcalav

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 06 '21 at 13:51

The permanent solutions suggested here work perfectly well. However, there might be some cases when you are not in a position to restart the IDE / workspace (maybe you are running a localhost server) - and you are really used to ctrl + backspacing and the like; I have a quicker workaround - just close and reopen any file that you need to edit. The bug only affects files that were open at start - ones that auto open (likely from the last session) after the welcome screen. Use this until you get to restart your IDE and then make it stop showing the welcome screen.

Eclipse ctrl+right does nothing

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