---
title: "Advanced Code Editor plugin"
description: "How to setup TinyMCE's Advanced Code Editor plugin."
canonical_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/latest/advcode/"
md_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/6/advcode/index.md"
version: "6"
last_updated: "2026-06-15T08:51:58Z"
tokens: 1295
---
Important This page documents TinyMCE 6. For new projects, Tiny recommends using the latest, most up-to-date version. [See TinyMCE 8 documentation](../../latest/advcode/).
# Advanced Code Editor plugin

> **Note:** This plugin is only available for [paid TinyMCE subscriptions](/pricing/).
The [Advanced Code Editor](#) plugin (`advcode`) brings a more advanced code editor to TinyMCE. This code editor makes it easier to modify the HTML, and is a useful add-on for power users. It comes with features often found in IDEs, all enabled by default:

- Syntax color highlighting.
- Bracket matching.
- Code folding.
- Multiple selections/carets.
- Search and Replace.
- Dark or light mode button for code display.
- Increase and decrease display font size buttons.
- Full-screen mode button.

> **Note:** For the Advanced Code Editor to offer a full-screen mode requires the [Full screen](../fullscreen/) plugin and requires Advanced Code Editor to be running in [inline mode](#advcode_inline).

## The difference between the Code and Advanced Code Editor plugins

**Example**

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea.advcodedemo',
  plugins: 'advcode',
  toolbar: 'code',
  height: 600,
  content_style: 'body { font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size:16px }'
});

tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea.codedemo',
  plugins: 'code',
  toolbar: 'code',
  height: 600,
  content_style: 'body { font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size:16px }'
});
```

## Example: basic setup

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',  // change this value according to your HTML
  plugins: 'advcode',
  toolbar: 'code'
});
```

## Example: enable the Advanced Code Editor full-screen mode button

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: "textarea",  // change this value according to your HTML
  advcode_inline: true,
  plugins: [
    "fullscreen", "advcode",
  ],
  toolbar: "code"
});
```

## Selection state when opening and closing the code editor

The safest assumption is that selection state is not preserved when switching between the rich-text editor (ie, the default TinyMCE editor instance) to the code editor dialog view of a TinyMCE document.

### Switching from the rich-text editor view to the code editor

If the current selection in the TinyMCE instance is collapsed (ie, is a flashing insertion point), the insertion point will be in the equivalent place when the code editor is opened.

If the current selection in the rich-text editor is an actual selection, that state is not preserved when switching to the code editor.

Instead, the insertion point in the code editor is placed at the beginning of what was the selection in the rich-text editor.

### Switching from the code editor back to the rich-text editor view

When switching back from the code-view dialog to the rich-text editor, selection state is almost never preserved.

If you have a selection or a collapsed selection in the rich-text editor and

1. open the code view dialog;
2. make no changes; and
3. exit the code view dialog by clicking **Cancel** (or pressing the **Esc** key);

the selection or collapsed selection will likely be preserved in the rich-text editor.

Otherwise, the selection state is not preserved on round-tripping from rich-text to code-view and back.

Instead, the insertion point is placed at the beginning of the editable block closest to the beginning of the TinyMCE document.

## `advcode_inline`

> **Note:** This feature is only available for TinyMCE 6.3 and later.
As part of the TinyMCE 6.3 release, the Advanced Code Editor plugin includes a new option, `advcode_inline`, that allows users to open the Advanced Code Editor within TinyMCE’s existing editor space instead of being displayed in a separate dialog box.

Type : `boolean`,

Default: false

## Example: basic setup

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea', // change this value according to your HTML
  plugins: 'advcode',
  advcode_inline: true,
  toolbar: 'code',
});
```

## Advanced Code Editor search and replace keyboard shortcuts

Advanced Code Editor provides the following shortcuts within the code dialog.

| Action | PC | Mac |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Find | Ctrl+F | Command+F |
| Find next instance | Ctrl+G | Command+G |
| Find previous instance | Shift+Ctrl+G | Shift+Command+G |
| Replace | Ctrl+H | Command+Option+F |
| Replace All | Shift+Ctrl+R | Shift+Command+Option+F |

## Toolbar buttons

The Advanced Code Editor plugin provides the following toolbar buttons:

| Toolbar button identifier | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `code` | Opens the code dialog. |

These toolbar buttons can be added to the editor using:

- The [`toolbar`](../toolbar-configuration-options/#toolbar) configuration option.
- The [`quickbars_insert_toolbar`](../quickbars/#quickbars_insert_toolbar) configuration option.
- [Custom Context toolbars](../contexttoolbar/).

## Menu items

The Advanced Code Editor plugin provides the following menu items:

| Menu item identifier | [Default Menu Location](../menus-configuration-options/#example-the-tinymce-default-menu-items) | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `code` | View | Opens the code dialog. |

These menu items can be added to the editor using:

- The [`menu`](../menus-configuration-options/#menu) configuration option.
- The [`contextmenu`](../menus-configuration-options/#contextmenu) configuration option.
- [Custom Menu toolbar buttons](../custom-menu-toolbar-button/).

## Commands

The Advanced Code plugin provides the following TinyMCE command.

| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| mceCodeEditor | Opens the code editor dialog. |

Example
```js
tinymce.activeEditor.execCommand('mceCodeEditor');
```