Keyboard shortcut for Jump to Previous View Location (Navigate back/forward) in IntelliJ IDEA

Alt + Shift + ← (Left Arrow)

or

Ctrl + E (Recent Files pop-up).

Also check:

Ctrl + Shift + E (the Recently Edited Files pop-up).

Mac users, replace Ctrl with ⌘ (command) and Alt with ⌥ (option).

Update In v12.0 it's Alt + Shift +← (Left Arrow) instead of Alt + Ctrl + ← (Left Arrow).

Update 2 In v14.1 (and possibly earlier) it's Ctrl + [

Update 3 In IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 it's Ctrl + Alt + ← (Left Arrow)

Update 4 In IntelliJ IDEA 2018.3 it's Alt + Shift + ← (Left Arrow)

Update 5 In IntelliJ IDEA 2019.3 it's Ctrl + Alt + ← (Left Arrow)

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The underlying problem is Ctrl+Alt+Left and Right are used by window managers to switch workspace and/or OEM utilities to change the screen orientation.

You can change the assignments using File / Settings / Keymap then Main Menu / Navigate find Back and Forward and right click to Add Keyboard Shortcut to set an alternative key chord.

Alt Graph+Left and Alt Graph+Right works well for me (IDEA 13.1.4 on Ubuntu under IceWM).

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CMD + [ -> Go Previous

CMD + ] -> Go Next

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For OSX, cmd + [ and ] are the best choices to go back & forth, Since they are found so near to fingers, avoiding you wrist twisting a bit, one keypress lesser, ideal for users in vim mode.

As the OP requested, this works well with cmd + B which facilitates jumping inside/to the method/variable definition and comes back immediately using cmd + [. Give a try.

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For Ubuntu, Ctrl + Alt + Left and Ctrl + Alt + Right work fine.

By default these keys are assigned for Ubuntu's workspace navigation.

You need to disable that by going to :

System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts Tab > Navigation and disable Switch to workspace left and Switch to workspace right by pressing Backspace.

Or you can choose to change shortcuts in Intellij itself:

File > Settings > Keymap > Main menu > Navigate > Back/Forward

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Q & A is built into Intellij ...

CTRL/CMD + SHIFT + A x 2 TYPE caret

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For version 14. On mac, it is ⌥(alt) + ⌘ + ←

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Mostly the default shortcut key combination is Ctrl + Alt + Left/Right. (I'm using the linux version)

Or you can have a toolbar option for it. Enable the tool bar by View -> Toolbar. The Left and Right Arrows will do the same. If you hover over it then you can see the shortcut key combination also.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Sm8T.png

Just in case the key combination is not working (this can be due to several reasons like you are using a virtual machine, etc) you can change this default key combination, or you can add an extra combination (ex: For Back/Move to previous Ctrl + Alt + < or Comma).

Go to Settings -> select keymap (type keymap in the search bar) -> **Editor Actions -> search for back and find Navigate options -> change the settings as you prefer.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/abyRC.png

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OSX and Android Studio version:

CMD+ [ and CMD+ ]

to move to the previous carret location.

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Many excellent answers so far, and they do answer the question...But, if you don't want to have to deal with disabling graphics driver's settings, or creating new keyboard mappings, or are developing through a remote session (RDP) or within a VM that intercepts your keystrokes, good-old keyboard navigation still works. Just do Alt-N to bring up the Navigate menu and then hit the B key.

Please note that you don't hit all keys at the same time. So:

Alt-N wait B

This is what I use all the time, for exactly the case that the OP asked about. Also, this will probably hold through any IntelliJ updates.

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In IntellJ 2017.2,

Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] navigate between previous locations in the current file.

Ctrl+Alt+← and Ctrl+Alt+→ navigate between previous locations in all files.

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Depends on the Keymap selected.

Keymap: Mac OS X ⌘ + Left Right Arrow Keys Keymap: Mac OS X 10.5+ ⌘ + [ / ]

I was facing similar problems in Pycharm. To resolve change your Keymap in Preferences.

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Navigate back/forward

Ctrl + Alt + Left/Right

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Using the following ways using only two keys will be the easier:

control + Tab

or

Alt + Left/Right

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For Mac users Use Command+[ for backward and Command+] for forward.

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You can use the below to navigate back in 2017.3.4

Alt + Left

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Like @itsneo said, I personally find ⌘ + [ and ] the most convenient ones on a mac. But I can understand if you come from Linux side of things. Then you can use ⌘ + alt + ← or →.

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With version 2018.1 the keyboard short cuts for navigation are Shift+Alt+Left or Right

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If you are on a mac keyboard using with UNIX OS;

control + alt + command + left or right should work for sure.

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Press Ctrl + Alt + S then choose Keymap and finally find the keyboard shortcut by type back word in search bar at the top right corner.

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Intellij 2021.3.2 Basic Shortcuts

Ctrl+Shift+E = Recent Locations

Ctrl+E = Recent Files

Ctrl+N = Find the Class

Ctrl+Alt+B = Navigate the Class

Ctrl+Shift+T = Open the Test Class of the Class

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