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Increase the memory heap of the IDE

Last modified: 25 November 2024

The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) running IntelliJ IDEA allocates some predefined amount of memory. The default value depends on the platform. If you are experiencing slowdowns, you may want to increase the memory heap.

IntelliJ IDEA also warns you if the amount of free heap memory after a garbage collection is less than 5% of the maximum heap size:

The Low Memory warning

Click Configure to increase the amount of memory allocated by the JVM. If you are not sure what would be a good value, use the one suggested by IntelliJ IDEA.

The Memory Settings dialog

Click Save and Restart and wait for IntelliJ IDEA to restart with the new memory heap setting.

If you are using a standalone instance not managed by the Toolbox App, and you can't start it, it is possible to manually change the -Xmx option that controls the amount of allocated memory. Create a copy of the default JVM options file and change the value of the -Xmx option in it.