Advanced settings
Besides standard settings options that you frequently use, IntelliJ IDEA offers various advanced options that you can use to fine-tune the behavior of the specific product functionality.
Since the advanced settings consist of different sections, you can use the search field to quickly navigate to the section of interest or the needed option. You can also search for registry keys since some of advanced options have associated registry keys.
Compiler
Use this section to configure additional options when compiling a project.
Item | Description |
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Allow auto-make to start even if developed application is currently running | Select this option to automatically build your project even if the application you are working on is currently running. Note that some application classes might be deleted during the build. |
Editor
Use this section to configure additional options for working with code in the editor.
Item | Description |
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Don't copy/cut the current line when invoking the Copy or Cut action with no selection | If you select this option, IntelliJ IDEA will not copy or cut a line if it is not selected. In this case, you can avoid the unexpected behavior if you accidentally press Ctrl+C or Ctrl+X. |
Render special characters, such as control codes, using their Unicode name abbreviations | When this option is selected, you can use the Unicode name abbreviations for special characters, such as control codes. |
Tab character rendering | You can select one of the following options:
|
Left margin in distraction free mode | If you specify |
Force soft wrap in documents with lines longer than | The default number is |
Move caret down after Comment with Line Comment action | When this option is selected, you can use Ctrl+/ to move the caret down after the comment. |
Editor Tabs
Besides the standard editor tabs options that IntelliJ IDEA offers when you work with tabs in the editor, this section contains extra options that are also available as internal registry actions.
Item | Description |
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When navigating to a file, prefer selecting existing tab in inactive split pane | When you navigate to a file that is already opened in the inactive split, use this option to activate the existing file in that split pane instead of opening a new copy of the file in the active split. |
Open declaration source in the same tab | When you navigate to a method, class or variable, the source file that contains their declaration will replace the current tab if there are no changes. |
Open declaration source called from a detached window in the main IDE window | When you navigate to a method, class, or variable from a detached window, IntelliJ IDEA will open the source file containing the declaration in the main editor. |
Perform 'Hide All Tool Windows' / 'Restore Windows' with double-click on editor tab | This option toggles hiding and restoring all tool windows when you double-click the editor tab. |
Perform 'Maximize Editor' / 'Normalize Splits' with double-click on editor tab | This option toggles maximizing the editor and restoring the splits when you double-click the editor tab. |
Find / Replace
Use this section to configure extra options when working with Search and replace a target within a project.
Item | Description |
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Maximum number of results to show in Find in Files/Show Usages preview | The default maximum number of results is |
IDE
Use this section to configure extra options on storing different entities of your project.
Item | Description |
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Maximum number of recent projects | Use this option to change the default number of stored recent projects, which is |
Maximum number of recent files | Use this option to change the default number of stored recent files, which is |
Maximum number of recent locations | Use this option to change the default number of stored recent locations, which is |
Temporary Run/Debug configurations limit | Use this option to change the default number of stored temporary run/debug configurations, which is |
Duration of storing changes in Local History | Use this option to specify the number of days for which you want to keep changes in the local history. |
Project View
Use this section to configure additional options for working in Project tool window.
Item | Description |
---|---|
Move focus to editor when Enter is pressed | When this option is selected, you can press Enter while in the Project view to switch focus to the editor. |
When collapsing a node, also collapse all expanded nodes under it | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA collapses subnodes as well as the parent node. |
Increase font size in Project view | Select this option if you want to change the size of font in the Project view. You need to restart IntelliJ IDEA. |
Project-Wide analysis
Item | Description |
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Thread count used by Project-Wide analysis | If you specify |
Analysis delay after change | Use this option to set a delay before the code analysis. The default delay is |
Python
Item | Description |
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Pytest: swap actual/expected in diff | By default, IntelliJ IDEA provides the |
Pytest: don't add "--no-header --no-summary -q" | Use this checkbox to manage the test output generated by pytest. Select it to keep rendering the header and summary. |
Startup
Item | Description |
---|---|
Open README.md file if there are no open files on project startup | If you select this option, IntelliJ IDEA will open a README.md file if there aren't any opened files when you start your project. |
Terminal
Item | Description |
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Terminal scrollback buffer size | Use this option to increase the buffer size in the terminal. |
Move focus to the editor with Escape | When this option is selected, you can use Escape to switch focus from the terminal to the editor. |
User Interface
Item | Description |
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Show file type icon in IDE frame header | On macOS, the icon can be used to drag a file to a different application. |
Cyclic scrolling in lists and trees | Select the last element when pressing Up on the first element, and vice versa. |
Position mouse cursor on default button in dialogs | When this option is selected, the mouse cursor is placed on the default button (usually it is OK) in a dialog. |
Disable double modifier key shortcuts | You can disable shortcuts where a double key is used. For example, Shift or Ctrl. |
Version Control
Item | Description |
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Open Diff as Editor Tab | When this option is selected, the difference viewer is displayed as the editor tab. |
Load file annotations from VCS when file is opened in editor | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA loads annotations when you open a file in the editor. |
Highlight ignored files | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA shows the list of ignored files from VCS and displays their status in the editor. |
Enable Commit tool window | When you select this option, IntelliJ IDEA displays the Local Changes and Shelf tabs in a separate tool window. |
Toggle commit controls | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA hides the commit panel and checkboxes after the commit is performed and lets you toggle them in the Commit Changes dialog. |
Select all repositories with new commits for push | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA selects all commits that will be pushed by default. |
Version Control. Git
Item | Description |
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Recursively clone submodules in the project | When this option is selected, during the checkout from Git, |
Apply content transformation when reading from Git | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA will use the |
Use Safe Force Push | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA uses |
Check for incoming and outgoing commits | When this option is selected, IntelliJ IDEA updates the information on the branches that have incoming or outgoing commits in the Branches popup. |
Use Windows certificate store | When this option is selected, it forces Git to use Windows certificate store to verify SSL connections. This works for Git 2.14 and later versions. |