CLion
 
2021.2
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  1. Configure projects
  2. Project settings

Project settings

Last modified: 08 November 2021

Project settings apply to the current project only. They are stored in the .xml format together with other project files in the .idea directory. Project settings can include VCS configuration, code style options, the list of language inspections, and so on.

To configure project settings, select CLion | Preferences for macOS (Ctrl+Alt+S) or File | Settings for Windows and Linux.

In the Settings/Preferences dialog, settings that are marked with the Project configurable icon apply only to the current project. Other settings are global and apply to all existing projects.

the Settings/Preferences dialog

If you want to share settings between the already existing projects, you can use Settings Repository or the Settings Sync plugin. You can also export the settings into a ZIP archive and import them later to another IDE instance.

Default settings for new projects

You can configure settings not only for the current project, but also for all the projects that will be created later. For example, you can set particular CMake profiles as default for all new projects.

Share project settings through VCS

warning

This information is valid for Git and Mercurial. If you use another version control system, refer to How to manage projects under Version Control Systems for information on how to share projects manually.

Project settings are stored in the project directory as a set of XML files under the .idea folder. This folder contains both user-specific settings that shouldn't be placed under version control and project settings that are normally shared among developers working in a team, for example, the code style configuration.

When you place a project under version control, your personal settings are automatically ignored. CLion moves workspace.xml — the file with your personal settings — to the list of ignored files to avoid conflicts with other developers' settings.

Configuration files are processed according to your choice. Once you modify the project settings, and a new configuration file is created, the IDE shows a notification at the bottom of the screen prompting you to select how you want to treat configuration files in this project:

  • View files: view the list of created configuration files and select, which of them you want to place under version control. After that, the selected files will be scheduled for addition to VCS.

  • Always Add: silently schedule all configuration files created in the .idea directory for addition to VCS (applies only to the current project).

  • Don't Ask Again: never schedule configuration files for addition to VCS; they will have the unversioned status until you manually add them to VCS (applies only to the current project).

If you close the notification without selecting any option, it will appear again after a new configuration file is created. The new file will also go to the list that will be there until you select one of the options even if you restart the IDE.

Notification prompting to select how to treat configuration files

note

If the misc.xml or the .ipr file is already under version control, project configuration files are silently scheduled for addition to VCS.

List of non-shareable configuration files

Copy global settings to the project level

Global (IDE) settings are stored separately from projects. That is why, these settings are not shared through version control together with the project.

Some settings, however, can be copied to the project level. For example, you can create a copy of your code style configuration or inspection profiles. If you do so, the IDE creates the corresponding configuration files in the .idea directory that you can share together with the project through VCS.

CLion also provides several ways of sharing settings between different IDE instances. See Share IDE settings for details.