Uninstall IntelliJ IDEA

Last modified: 08 March 2021

The proper way to remove IntelliJ IDEA depends on the method you used to install it.

Uninstall using the Toolbox App

If you installed IntelliJ IDEA using the Toolbox App, do the following:

  • Open the Toolbox App, click the screw nut icon for the necessary instance, and select Uninstall.

    Uninstall IntelliJ IDEA using the Toolbox App

Uninstall a standalone instance

If you are running a standalone IntelliJ IDEA instance, the IDE configuration and system directories are preserved when you remove your instance in case you want to keep your settings for later or to use them with another instance, another version, or another IDE. You can remove those directories if you are sure you won't need them.

  1. Open the Apps & Features section in the Windows Settings dialog, select the IntelliJ IDEA app and click Uninstall.

    Depending on your version of Windows, the procedure for uninstalling programs may be different. You can also manually run Uninstall.exe in the installation directory under /bin.

  2. Remove the following directories:

    Syntax
    %APPDATA%\JetBrains\<product><version>
    %LOCALAPPDATA%\JetBrains\<product><version>
    Example
    C:\Users\JohnS\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2021.1
    C:\Users\JohnS\AppData\Local\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2021.1

note

The default IDE directories changed starting from IntelliJ IDEA 2020.1. If you had a previous version, new installations will import configuration from the old directories. For information about the location of the default directories in previous IDE versions, see the corresponding help version, for example: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/2019.3/tuning-the-ide.html#default-dirs.

Uninstall silently on Windows

If you installed IntelliJ IDEA silently, you can run the uninstaller with the /S switch as an administrator. The uninstaller is located in the installation directory under bin.

Run cmd (Windows Command Prompt) as administrator, change to the IntelliJ IDEA installation directory, and run the following:

Uninstall the snap package on Linux

If you installed IntelliJ IDEA as a snap package, use the following command to remove it:

$
sudo snap remove intellij-idea-ultimate