Install and set up IntelliJ IDEA

Installation requirements

Download and install IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA is available in two editions: Ultimate and Community. The Community edition is an open-source project and is free, but it has less features. The Ultimate edition is commercial, and provides an outstanding set of tools and features. For details, see the editions comparison matrix.

To install IntelliJ IDEA

1. Download IntelliJ IDEA for your operating system.
2. Do the following depending on your operating system:
   • Windows:
     1. Run the ideaIC.exe or the ideaIU.exe file you have downloaded.
     2. Follow the instructions in the installation wizard.
   • macOS:
     1. Double-click the ideaIC.dmg or ideaIU.dmg file you have downloaded to mount the macOS disk image.
     2. Copy IntelliJ IDEA to the Applications folder.
   • Linux:
     1. Unpack the ideaIC.gz or ideaIU.gz file you have downloaded to a different folder if your current Downloads folder doesn't support file execution:
        tar xfz ideaIC.tar.gz or ideaIU.tar.gz. <new_archive_folder>

        The recommended install location according to the filesystem hierarchy standard (FHS) is /opt. For example, it's possible to enter the following command:

        sudo tar xf -*.tar.gz -C /opt/
     2. Switch to the bin directory, for example:
        cd /opt/-*/bin
     3. Run idea.sh from the bin subdirectory.

Run IntelliJ IDEA for the first time

Register IntelliJ IDEA

To try and evaluate IntelliJ IDEA, you can download and install its trial version for free. The trial version is available for 30 days, whereupon you need to obtain and register a license.

1. Do one of the following:
   • On the Welcome screen, click Configure | Manage License
   • Select Help | Register from the main menu

   

2. Select how you want to register IntelliJ IDEA:
   • JetBrains Account: select this option if you have a JetBrains Account that allows you to access your purchases and manage licenses (see What is JetBrains Account? to learn more).
   • Activation code: select this option if you have an activation code for IntelliJ IDEA, and paste it to the text area.

   • License server: select this option to register IntelliJ IDEA through the License Server web application that allows you to manage floating licenses and issue licenses to users who do not have direct internet access.

     To override the URL of the system proxy during initial IntelliJ IDEA startup, use the -Djba.http.proxy property, which can be added as a JVM option.

     When performing silent install or managing IntelliJ IDEA installations on multiple machines, you can set the JETBRAINS_LICENSE_SERVER environment variable to point the installation to the license server URL.

Update IntelliJ IDEA

Out of the box, standalone IntelliJ IDEA installation is configured to check for updates automatically. It will notify you when a new version is available :

IntelliJ IDEA updates are usually patch-based: they are applied to the existing installation and only require you to restart the IDE. Note that these patches can only be applied sequentially, on top of one another. If an update is ignored or skipped, subsequent updates cannot be applied. Updating IntelliJ IDEA in this case will require either downloading and reinstalling it or using the Ignored updates list to apply updates one by one.

If the patch download takes a long time, you can send it to the background and continue working. Once download is complete, you will be prompted to restart, which should finalize the update.

If you do not want to install the proposed update for some reason, you can ignore it by clicking the Ignore This Update button in the update dialog box. The ignored build's number will be added to the Ignored updates list, and you will not be prompted to install this particular build until you remove it from the list.

Manage IntelliJ IDEA through Toolbox App

Toolbox App is a control panel that allows you to manage all JetBrains developer tools, including IntelliJ IDEA, as well as your projects, from a single point of access. It lets you maintain different versions of the same tool, install updates and roll them back if needed. It also remembers your JetBrains Account and uses it to automatically log you in when you install and register new tools.

1. Download Toolbox App.
2. Launch the setup file.
3. When the installation is complete, accept the JetBrains privacy policy and sign in to your JetBrains Account.

Now you can manage existing tools, install new tools and download updates:

Perform silent installation on Windows

Silent installation is performed without any user interface. It can be used by network administrators to install IntelliJ IDEA on a number of machines and avoid interrupting other users.

To perform silent install, run the installer with the following switches:

• /S: Enable silent install

• /D: Specify the path to the installation directory

• /CONFIG: Specify the path to the silent configuration file

For example:

Install IntelliJ IDEA as a snap package on Linux

You can install IntelliJ IDEA on Linux as a self-contained snap package. Since snaps update automatically, your IntelliJ IDEA installation will always be up-to-date.

IntelliJ IDEA is distributed via two channels:

• The stable channel includes only stable versions. To install the latest stable release of IntelliJ IDEA, run the following command:

  $ sudo snap install intellij-idea-ultimate --classic

  $ sudo snap install intellij-idea-community --classic

• The edge channel includes EAP builds. To install the latest EAP build of IntelliJ IDEA, run the following command:

  $ sudo snap install intellij-idea-ultimate --classic --edge

  $ sudo snap install intellij-idea-community --classic --edge

When the snap is installed, you can launch it by running the intellij-idea-community or intellij-idea-ultimate command.

To list all installed snaps, run sudo snap list. For more information, see the Snapcraft documentation.