IntelliJ IDEA 2026.1 Help

Live Edit in Node.js applications

With the Live Edit functionality, the changes you make to your HTML, CSS, or JavaScript code are immediately shown in the browser without reloading the page.

Live Edit works for other file types that contain or generate HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.

By default, Live Edit is enabled only in HTML and CSS files.

Before you start

  1. Make sure you have Node.js on your computer.

  2. Make sure the JavaScript and TypeScript plugin is enabled in the settings. Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open settings and then select Plugins. Click the Installed tab. In the search field, type JavaScript and TypeScript. For more information about plugins, refer to Managing plugins.

  3. Install the Node.js, JavaScript Debugger, and Live Edit plugins on the Settings | Plugins page, tab Marketplace, as described in Installing plugins from JetBrains Marketplace. The plugins are available only in IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate.

Enable Live Edit

  1. Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open settings and then select Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger | Live Edit.

  2. Select Update Node.js application on changes. Specify the time-delay between changing the code in the editor and showing this change in the browser: accept the default value 300 ms or specify a custom value using the spin box next to the corresponding field.

05 March 2026