# IDE settings backup and sync > For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/2026.3/llms.txt). IntelliJ IDEA lets you back up your IDE settings or share them between different instances of IntelliJ IDEA or between different JetBrains IDE products that you use. This helps you recreate a comfy working environment if you are working from different computers and avoid the annoyance of things looking or behaving differently from what you are used to. > **Tip:** > For more information about sharing project settings with your team members, refer to [Share project settings through VCS](configure-project-settings.html#share-project-through-vcs). Depending on the category it belongs to, a setting can be backed up and synced between your IDE instances in one of the following ways: * With the [Backup and Sync](#IDE_settings_sync) plugin: your data is stored in [JetBrains Account](https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/208459005-What-is-JetBrains-Account-), which makes the synced settings available in all IDEs where you log in with that account. The settings you can back up include: IDE themes, keymaps, color schemes, system settings, UI settings, menus and toolbar settings, project view settings, editor settings, code completion settings, parameter name hints, live templates, code styles, and the list of enabled and disabled plugins. * By [exporting](#import-export-settings) the settings you want to share as a ZIP archive and then importing them to a different IDE instance. You can export your code style settings, [configured deployment servers,](tutorial-deployment-in-product.html#export-import-deployment-settings) Git settings, including registered GitHub accounts, the Debugger settings, Registry keys, and more. ## Share settings via the Backup and Sync plugin Procedure: Enable the Backup and Sync plugin This functionality relies on the [Backup and Sync](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/20868) plugin, which is bundled and enabled in IntelliJ IDEA by default. If the relevant features are not available, make sure that you did not disable the plugin. 1. Press `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) to open settings and then select `Plugins`. 2. Find the Backup and Sync plugin and click Enable. Procedure: Enable settings backup and synchronization 1. On the computer with the IDE instance that contains the settings you want to sync, sign in to either of the following: * Your IDE: from the main menu choose Help | Manage Subscriptions, choose to activate your license with the [JetBrains Account](https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/208459005-What-is-JetBrains-Account-) and enter your credentials. * [Toolbox App](https://www.jetbrains.com/toolbox/app/): click the gear icon ![toolbox settings](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.3/toolboox_app_gear_icon.png) in the top right corner of the application, select Settings and click Log in. Note that by signing in to Toolbox App, you automatically sign in to all JetBrains products that you run. * If, instead of the JetBrains account, you use an activation code or a license server [to activate IntelliJ IDEA](register.html#activate-license), press `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) to open settings and select Backup and Sync | Log in with JetBrains account to sign in to your JetBrains account. 2. Press `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) to open settings and then select `Backup and Sync`. 3. Select the Enable backup and sync checkbox and choose the JetBrains account you want to sync your settings with. 4. Under Configure what to sync, select the [setting categories](#settings-synchronized-by-settings-sync) that you want to sync and whether you want to sync them across IntelliJ IDEA instances or across all JetBrains IDEs and Android Studio. ![The Settings Sync window](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.3/settings_sync_list.png) > **Note:** > If you previously had settings synced to this account, you will see a warning that your settings will be overwritten. 5. Click Apply to start syncing the settings. 6. Open the IDE instance where you want these settings to be applied. 7. Press `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) to open settings and then select `Backup and Sync`. 8. Select the Enable backup and sync checkbox and choose the JetBrains account you synced your settings to from the dropdown. 9. Click Apply to start syncing the settings. Your local settings are automatically synchronized with the settings stored on the JetBrains server each time you modify a setting and each time the JetBrains server receives setting updates from another IDE. Plugin states are synchronized as follows: * If a plugin is installed on both IDEs, Backup and Sync synchronizes the plugin state (enabled or disabled) between the two IDEs. * If a plugin is installed and enabled on one IDE but is not installed on the other IDE, Backup and Sync will install it on the other IDE. * If a plugin is installed and disabled on one IDE, and it is not installed on the other IDE, Backup and Sync will not install it on the other IDE. * If you uninstall a plugin, and it is installed on the other IDE, Backup and Sync will disable but not uninstall it on the other IDE. Procedure: Disable settings backup and synchronization You can either disable settings backup and synchronization for a single IDE or completely remove all settings from your JetBrains account and disable synchronization for all IDEs connected to the account. 1. In IntelliJ IDEA, press `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) to open settings and go to `Backup and Sync`. 2. Deselect the Enable backup and sync checkbox. 3. Confirm disabling settings synchronization. To disable synchronization on all of your IDEs, select Remove data from JetBrains account. ### Settings synchronized with Backup and Sync This list describes settings categories that you can [enable and disable](#synced-settings-available) on the Backup and Sync page. The list is not comprehensive, but it gives you an overview of the IDE settings that compose each category. UI settings : * `Appearance & Behavior | Appearance` : : * `Appearance & Behavior | Menus and Toolbars` : : * `Appearance & Behavior | Notifications` : : * `Appearance & Behavior | Quick Lists` : : * `Editor | Font` : : * `Editor | Color Scheme` Code settings : * `Editor | General` : : * `Editor | Code Editing` : : * `Editor | Code Style` : : * `Editor | File Encodings` : : * `Editor | Live Templates` : : * `Editor | File Types` : : * `Editor | Inlay Hints` : : * `Editor | Emmet` : : * `Editor | Intentions` Tools : * Version Control : : * `Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger` : : * : : * `Tools | Space` : : * `Tools | Database` : : * `Tools | CSV Formats` : : * `Tools | Shared Indexes` System settings : * `Appearance & Behavior | System Settings` : : * `Appearance & Behavior | System Settings | Date Formats` : : * `Appearance & Behavior | System Settings | Server Certificates` : : * Registry keys ## Sync settings with VS code Because VS Code and IntelliJ IDEA use different platforms, you cannot sync settings between them as you can between JetBrains IDEs. Instead, you can [import settings from VS Code](how-to-move-to-intellij-idea-from-vs-code.html#import-settings) to recreate your previous setup. ## Export your settings manually Procedure: Export settings to a ZIP archive 1. Select `File | Manage IDE Settings | Export Settings` from the main menu. 2. Select the settings you want to export and specify the path to the target archive. The list contains IDE-level settings that exist in your configuration, for example, keymaps, code style, color schemes, and live templates. Project-level settings are not exported. The archive also includes the IDs of enabled plugins that are not bundled with the IDE, but not the plugins themselves. Procedure: Import settings from a ZIP archive 1. Select `File | Manage IDE Settings | Import Settings…` from the main menu. 2. Select the ZIP archive that contains your settings in the dialog that opens. 3. Select the settings you want to apply in the Select Components to Import dialog that opens and click OK. ## Troubleshooting Procedure: Import settings from a previous IDE version If IntelliJ IDEA settings are reset to their defaults after an update, for example, when upgrading from an EAP version to a new major version, you can restore them by importing the configuration from a previous version. 1. In the new version of IntelliJ IDEA, select `File | Manage IDE Settings | Import Settings…` from the main menu. 2. In the dialog that opens, select the [configuration directory](directories-used-by-the-ide-to-store-settings-caches-plugins-and-logs.html) of the version whose settings you want to restore and click OK. Windows: Syntax : `%APPDATA%\JetBrains\` Example : `C:\Users\JohnS\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2026.3` macOS: Syntax : `~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/` Example : `~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2026.3` Linux: Syntax : `~/.config/JetBrains/` Example : `~/.config/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2026.3` 3. Confirm the import and restart IntelliJ IDEA. > **Tip:** > If the settings import fails, close IntelliJ IDEA and copy the contents of the previous version's configuration directory to the configuration directory of the new version. Procedure: Restore settings from Backup and Sync history If your IntelliJ IDEA settings were accidentally overwritten or did not sync correctly, you can reset them to an earlier state from the backup and sync history. > **Note:** > The history is available only if [settings backup and synchronization is enabled](#enable-backup-sync) in the IDE. 1. Press `Shift Shift` (Windows), `⇧ ⇧` (macOS), `⇧ ⇧` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⇧ ⇧` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Shift Shift` (XWin), `Shift Shift` (GNOME), `Shift Shift` (KDE), `Shift Shift` (Emacs), `Shift Shift` (Sublime Text), `⇧ ⇧` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Shift Shift` (Visual Studio), `⇧ ⇧` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Shift Shift` (NetBeans), `Shift Shift` (Eclipse), `⇧ ⇧` (Eclipse (macOS)) to open Search Everywhere, start typing `Backup and Sync History`, and select the action with this name. 2. In the Backup and Sync History tool window, find the most recent change before the unwanted one. 3. Next to the entry, click ![the Reset to this State button](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.3/app.expui.vcs.revert.svg) Reset to this State. ![Backup and Sync History tool window with the Reset to this State button and its tooltip next to a selected change](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.3/reset_settings_to_state.png) Resetting does not remove any entries from the history, so you can return to a later state in the same way. ## See also ### How tos [Import settings from VS Code](how-to-move-to-intellij-idea-from-vs-code.html#import-settings) ### External Links