Directories used by the IDE
By default, CLion stores user-specific files for each IDE instance (configuration, caches, plugins, logs, and so on) in the user's home directory. However, you can change the location for storing those files, if necessary.
note
The default location of the IDE directories has changed starting from CLion version 2020.1. If you had a previous version, new installations will import configuration from the old directories. For more information about the location of the default directories in previous IDE versions, see the corresponding help version, for example: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/clion/2019.3/tuning-the-ide.html#default-dirs.
You can move the default IDE directories, for example, if the user profile drive runs out of space or it is located on a slow disk, if the home directory is encrypted (slowing down the IDE) or is located on a network drive, if you want to create a portable installation or exclude caches from home directory backups, and so on.
Go to Help | Edit Custom Properties.
Set the property that corresponds to the necessary directory:
Property
Path to
idea.config.pathidea.system.pathidea.plugins.pathidea.log.pathwarning
Do not specify the same directory in different properties. This may prevent CLion from starting.
Specify paths with forward slashes /, including Windows paths (for example, C:
/idea )./system You can insert any other properties as variables. For example, use
${user.home}(standard Java system property) to specify paths relative to the user's home directory:idea.config.path=${user.home}/MyIdeaConfigurationAfter you restart CLion, it will use the new location of the corresponding directory.
Every time you install a new major version of CLion, it uses a new set of IDE directories and automatically deletes the caches and logs directories for older versions of the IDE that have not been updated in the last 180 days. The configuration and plugins directories will remain forever, unless you remove them manually.
Go to Help | Delete Leftover IDE Directories.
In the Delete Leftover IDE Storage Directories dialog, select the versions of the IDE that you are not planning to use and click Delete.
The CLion configuration directory contains user-defined IDE settings, such as keymaps, color schemes, custom VM options, platform properties, and so on.
You can change the location of the CLion configuration directory using the idea.config.path property.
To share your personal IDE settings, copy the files from the configuration directory to the corresponding folders on another CLion installation. Make sure that CLion is not running to avoid erasing the copied files when you shut down the IDE. Depending on which settings you modified, the CLion configuration directory can contain the following subfolders:
Directory | User settings |
|---|---|
codestyles | Customized code style schemes |
colors | Customized editor color and font schemes |
fileTemplates | User-defined file templates |
filetypes | User-defined file types |
inspection | |
keymaps | Customized keyboard shortcuts |
options | Various options, for example, feature usage statistics and macros |
scratches | |
settingsSync | IDE settings shared using Settings Sync |
templates | User-defined live templates |
tools | Configuration files for user-defined external tools |
shelf |
The CLion system directory contains caches and local history files.
You can change the location of the CLion system directory using the idea.system.path property.
The CLion plugins directory contains user-installed plugins.
You can change the location of the CLion plugins directory using the idea.plugins.path property.
note
If you installed CLion via the Toolbox App, the plugins directory will be located in the installation directory. To find the installation directory, open the settings of the IDE instance in the Toolbox App, expand Configuration and look for the Install location field. There should be a directory that ends with .plugins.
You can also see the location of the plugins directory in the VM options file. Go to Help | Edit Custom VM Options. For example, the option can look like this:
-Didea.plugins.path=/Users/jsmith/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/IDEA-U/ch-2/212.5080.55/IntelliJ IDEA.app.plugins
The CLion logs directory contains product logs and thread dumps.
You can change the location of the CLion logs directory using the idea.log.path property.
tip
You can open the location of the logs directory using the corresponding Help menu action: Show Log in Explorer on Windows or Show Log in Finder on macOS.
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