IntelliJ IDEA 2019.1 Help

SDKs

A Software Development Kit, or an SDK, is a collection of tools that you need to develop an application for a specific software framework. For example, to develop applications in Java, you need a Java SDK (JDK). SDKs contain binaries, source code for the binaries, and documentation for the source code. For Java, SDKs also contain annotations.

Generally, SDKs are global. It means that one SDK can be used in multiple projects and modules. After you create a new project and define an SDK for it, you can configure modules in this project to inherit its SDK. You can also specify an SDK for each module individually. For more information, refer to Changing module SDK.

Define an SDK

To define an SDK means to let IntelliJ IDEA know in which folder on your computer the necessary SDK version is installed. This folder is called SDK home directory.

Manage global SDKs

  1. From the main menu, select File | Project Structure (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S).

  2. Under the Platform Settings section, select SDKs.

  3. To add a new SDK or a new SDK version, click the Add button (Shift+Enter), select the SDK type and specify its installation directory.

  4. To remove an SDK, select it in the list and click the Remove button (Alt+Delete).

Show available JDKs

Change project SDK

  1. From the main menu, select File | Project Structure (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S).

  2. Under the Project Settings section, select Project.

  3. From the Project SDK list, select another SDK or SDK version.

    If the necessary SDK is not defined in IntelliJ IDEA yet, click New and specify its home directory.

Change a JDK

Change module SDK

  1. From the main menu, select File | Project Structure (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S).

  2. Under the Project Settings section, select Modules.

  3. Select the necessary module and click Dependencies.

  4. From the Module SDK list, select another SDK or SDK version you want to use.

    If the necessary SDK is not defined in IntelliJ IDEA yet, click New and specify its home directory.

If you want a module to inherit a project SDK, select the Project SDK option from the Module SDK list.

Manage JDK modules
Last modified: 20 June 2019

See Also