Please cast your vote on this feature request, if you find scratchpads too inaccessible for regular usage.

https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-181798

As the title says, it is a feature request, to add a "Scratchpad" button on the side menu and when clicked will open up a new split window instead of in it's own popup. Very similar to "Quick Notes" plugin, but it will inherit your IDE's custom styling since it's native, and will allow the use of native shortcuts for things like selecting the next occurrence of a string (things the aforementioned plugin does not).

The request has been shelved for a little while, so I'd like to build some momentum and get some votes. I would just make my own plugin and release it for free, but apparently I need to get another paid version of the IDE just to do so instead of using PHPStorm.

So please, if you think this feature would be handy, neat, useful, lifesaving, or any other positive adjectives, cast your vote today!