Intellij | Default File Locations / Changing File Locations *

/ SprUng, intellij / 3 minutes of reading

 

https://intellij-support.jetbrains.com/hc/en-us/articles/206544519

Directories used by the IDE to store settings, caches, plugins and logs FOLLOW

 

JetBrains Team

Updated June 14, 2021 00:15

Location of the IDE files depends on the operating system, product and version.

Examples for IntelliJ IDEA 2020.3:

Windows:

  • Configuration (idea.config.path): C:\Users<user>\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • Plugins (idea.plugins.path): C:\Users<user>\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2020.3\plugins
  • System (idea.system.path): C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • Logs (idea.log.path): C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2020.3\log

macOS:

  • Configuration (idea.config.path): ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • Plugins (idea.plugins.path): ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3/plugins
  • System (idea.system.path): ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • Logs (idea.log.path): ~/Library/Logs/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3

Linux:

  • Configuration (idea.config.path): ~/.config/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • Plugins (idea.plugins.path): ~/.local/share/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • System (idea.system.path): ~/.cache/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3
  • Logs (idea.log.path): ~/.cache/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3/log

Should you need to change the defaults, refer to this document.

would be one of the following:

  • IntelliJIdea (IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Edition)
  • IdeaIC (IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition)
  • RubyMine
  • WebIde (PhpStorm versions before 2016.1 and WebStorm before 7.0 use this common directory)
  • PhpStorm (PhpStorm starting from 2016.1 version)
  • WebStorm (WebStorm starting from 7.0 version)
  • PyCharm
  • AppCode
  • CLion
  • DataGrip
  • Rider

Android Studio folder locations can be found in this document.

 

https://intellij-support.jetbrains.com/hc/en-us/articles/207240985

Changing IDE default directories used for config, plugins, and caches storage FOLLOW

 

JetBrains Team

Updated June 18, 2021 02:28

Common cases when you may need to change the default locations of the IDE files:

  • user profile drive runs out of space
  • disk is slow and you want to use faster HDD or SSD for caches
  • default user profile points to the UNC path unsupported by the IDE
  • home directory is on a network drive
  • user profile directory is not detected correctly (Java bug 4787931)
  • you want to create a portable installation on a USB stick
  • home directory is encrypted and slows down the IDE or causes caches corruption
  • caches should be excluded from the home directory backup
  • antivirus or search indexer is scanning the home directory affecting IDE performance

Locations can be changed by editing idea.properties file. The easiest way is to use Help | Edit Custom Properties… menu action. It will create a copy of this file in the appropriate location so that the original file in the IDE bin subdirectory remains unmodified and doesn't cause conflicts during the patch updates.

Follow the comments in IDE_HOME\bin**idea.properties** file to change the defaults, make sure to uncomment the lines defining these properties:

  • idea.config.path
  • idea.system.path
  • idea.plugins.path
  • idea.log.path

Example:

idea.config.path=c:/work/idea/caches/trunk-config
idea.system.path=c:/work/idea/caches/trunk-system
idea.plugins.path=c:/work/idea/caches/trunk-plugins

Changing the location of idea.properties file

If needed, you can also override the location of idea.properties file using IDE specific environment variable:

  • IDEA_PROPERTIES — IntelliJ IDEA
  • CLION_PROPERTIES — CLion
  • APPCODE_PROPERTIES — AppCode
  • PYCHARM_PROPERTIES — PyCharm
  • DATAGRIP_PROPERTIES — DataGrip
  • STUDIO_PROPERTIES — Android Studio
  • WEBIDE_PROPERTIES — WebStorm
  • PHPSTORM_PROPERTIES — PhpStorm
  • GOLAND_PROPERTIES — GoLand
  • RIDER_PROPERTIES — Rider

For example: IDEA_PROPERTIES=C:\Users\USER\idea.properties

The order in which IDE will read idea.properties files is as follows:

  1. Environment variable (%IDE%_PROPERTIES)
  2. HOME\idea.properties (where HOME is the user's home directory on the system)
  3. IDE_HOME\bin\idea.properties
  4. Default IDE configuration directory

Unlike .vmoptions file handling, idea.properties file with the higher priority doesn't undefine or discard variables already defined in the file location with lower priority. If there is the same variable defined in multiple properties files, the value of the variable from the higher priority file will be used, this way you can override the defaults already defined in IDE_HOME\bin\idea.properties in another file in the IDE default config directory or defined via the %IDE%_PROPERTIES environment variable.

Changing the default location of the IDE files using the Toolbox App

If you use the Toolbox App, note that the Toolbox App provides the possibility to set a custom location for each installed IDE in its own settings.

To change the default location of a particular tool, hover an IDE item in the Toolbox Tools tab, press a gear icon, click Settings | Configuration | System, plugins, config and logs directory.

 

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