Activating "Expand selection to" shortcuts for Eclipse on Mac OS X

Samstag, 25. Mai 2013

When using Eclipse on Windows the IDE offers you a very useful shortcut to select lines and code blocks at once. This feature is called “Expand selection to…” and you can trigger it by using the keys Alt Shift Arrow Keys.

{% include image.html file=“1140_disable_system_shortcuts.png” %} The corresponding key bindings on Mac OS are as follows: Ctrl Shift Arrow Keys

But there is one problem with this key binding: It is usually bound to a Mac OS feature to switch Desktops or to open Mission Control (aka Exposé). You have to deactivate this features in the settings of Mac OS as shown in the figure on the right.

After disabling the marked key bindings you will be able to use the “Expand Selection to…” feature in Eclipse on Mac OS. Enjoy!