IntelliJ IDEA 2024.1 Help

Run IntelliJ IDEA for the first time

You can use the Toolbox App to run any JetBrains product. In the case of a standalone installation, running IntelliJ IDEA depends on the operating system:

To run IntelliJ IDEA, find it in the Windows Start menu or use the desktop shortcut. You can also run the launcher batch script or executable in the installation directory under bin.

Run the IntelliJ IDEA app from the Applications directory, Launchpad, or Spotlight.

Run the idea.sh shell script in the installation directory under bin. You can also use the desktop shortcut if it was created during installation.

For more information about running IntelliJ IDEA from the command line, refer to Command-line interface.

Import settings

When you launch your IntelliJ IDEA for the first time, you will see the Import Settings dialog with the list of other IDE's settings found on your machine.

  1. Select from which IDE you want to import settings.

    If you use several JetBrains IDEs, select the one with the preferred settings from the drop-down list or click Other Options to select IDEs used more than 6 months ago.

    The Import Settings dialog with the opened drop-down list
    The Import Settings dialog with the cursor on the Visual Studio Code button
  2. Select which settings you want to import and click Import Settings.

    JetBrains IDE settings selection
    Visual Studio Code settings selection

    You will see a confirmation that the settings have been successfully imported.

You will see the Welcome screen, the starting point to your work with the IDE. This screen also appears when you close all opened projects. Use the tabs on the left side to switch to the specific welcome dialog.

Welcome screen

Customize the IDE appearance

Click Customize and select another color theme, color scheme, or select the Sync with OS checkbox to use your system default theme. Here you can also configure accessibility settings or select another keymap.

Select the UI theme

Configure the default settings

Click Customize and select Import Settings if you already have a copy of the required settings that you want to apply.

Alternatively, click All settings to open the settings dialog. The settings that you modify at this moment will become the new default configuration for your projects and the IDE.

Configuring new default settings for projects

Install additional plugins

Click Plugins in the left pane and download and install additional plugins from JetBrains Marketplace.

Install additional plugins

Learn IntelliJ IDEA

Click Learn to get more familiar with the shortcuts, features, and workflows that the IDE has to offer. For more information, refer to Learn IDE features.

Start Learning

Develop your applications remotely

Click Remote Development to configure an entry point to connect to a remote server and code, run, debug, and deploy your projects remotely. For more information, refer to Connect to a remote server from IntelliJ IDEA.

Configuring remote development settings on Welcome screen

Start a project in IntelliJ IDEA

When you start IntelliJ IDEA, it will show you the Welcome screen.

From the Welcome to IntelliJ IDEA dialog, you can do the following:

Welcome screen
Last modified: 03 July 2024