Eclipse shortcut to remove all unused imports in Java file

How to remove all unused imports in Eclipse

Eclipse IDE gives warning "The import XXX is never used" whenever it detect unused import in Java source file and shows a yellow underline. Though unused import in Java file does not create any harm, its unnecessary increase length and size of Java source file and if you have too many unused imports in your Java source file, those yellow underline and Eclipse warning affect readability and working. In our last post on Eclipse, we have seen dome Java debugging tips on Eclipse and in this post we will see Eclipse shortcut to remove all unused imports in Eclipse. There are many option to tackle with this problem e.g. you can collapse import section of code in Eclipse or you can altogether remove all unused imports from Java file. Since Eclipse is favorite IDE of many Java programmer, who love to do things fast in shortcuts, I will also shared Eclipse shortcut to remove unused imports from Java program in this article. This is one of many Eclipse shortcuts which we have discussed in our post Top 30 Eclipse keyboard shortcut for Java programmer. Let's see How to remove all unused imports from Java file in Eclipse IDE.

How to remove all unused imports from Java file in Eclipse

Here are couple of ways to remove all unused imports from Java in Eclipse IDE :

1) Go to the line of unused import, press ctrl + 1 which is a eclipse shortcut of quick fix, this will show a drop down menu to fix this error and one of them would be "remove unused imports" and it will remove that import statement from Java file.

2) Above option is not very efficient if you want to remove multiple unused imports in single click because it removes them one by one. It's better to use "Organize Imports" feature of Eclipse IDE to remove multiple or all unused imports statement. For using this from Menu, Select Source-->Organize Imports. This will remove all unused imports from that Java file.

3) Third and my preferred option to remove all unused import statement from Java file is ctrl + shirt + O, which is a shortcut of Organized import in Eclipse and you can say Eclipse shortcut to remove all unused import statment from Java file. This will also work like previous option and remove all unused import lines from source file.

Do you want a bonus Eclipse tips ? If yes then here you go, you can save all keystrokes required to remove all unused imports from Java source file by using Eclipse save actions, which are actions Eclipse automatically perform when you save Java file. Just check option of Organized imports in save action under Window-->Preferences->Java-->Editor-->Save Actions. This saves heap lot of time while working in Eclipse and one of the reason I love Eclipse IDE for Java programming. You can also configure formatting and few other action which will be taken by Eclipse automatically whenever you save you file.

One more advantage of using Organize import or shortcut ctrl + shift +O is that it imports all packages which is required by code, So it not only save time while removing import statement but also help to import required packages in Java. It means if you copy paste some code and see lots of red line as error due to non imported packages, just use this Eclipse shortcut or save your source file if you have configured Eclipse save action to organize import.

That's all on Eclipse shortcut of removing all unused import statement from Java source file in Eclipse IDE. Its always good to learn more about IDE on which you are working e.g. Netbeans or Eclipse to improve productivity.

To learn more Eclipse tips and tricks see following articles :

How to remote debug Java application in Eclipse

Top 10 Java debugging tips in Eclipse IDE

How to use Eclipse to override equals and hashcode method in Java

Netbeans shortcut to view Java doc

Top 20 design pattern and software design interview questions for Java programmer

10 OOPS and SOLID design principles Java programmer should know

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