Projects

Switch between projects

If you have several opened projects at the same time, you can switch between them using the following options:

• Switch to the next project window: Ctrl+Alt+] (Window | Next Project Window)

• Switch to the previous project window: Ctrl+Alt+[ (Window | Previous Project Window)

Alternatively, open the Window menu and select the project to which you want to switch.

Project formats

In IntelliJ IDEA, there are two types of formats in which a project's configuration can be stored — the file-based format and the directory-based format.

File-based format

The file-based format was the only one available in older versions of IntelliJ IDEA; now it is outdated. Projects in this format contain several files: the .ipr, .iws, and .iml files. Generally, we don't recommend using this format unless you need to open projects in different file managers by clicking the .ipr file, or unless you need to store multiple projects in one directory.

Directory-based format

For the directory-based format, the IDE creates the .iml file and the .idea directory that keeps project settings. It's the default format for projects in IntelliJ IDEA at this moment.

This format was introduced after the file-based format. Its main advantage is that it's adjusted to store project files in Version Control Systems: the project data is split over multiple files, and merge conflicts are less likely. For more information on how to share projects in different formats, refer to How to manage projects under Version Control Systems

Change project location

Share project settings through VCS

Project settings are stored in the project directory as a set of XML files under the .idea folder. This folder contains both user-specific settings that shouldn't be placed under version control and project settings that are normally shared among developers working in a team, for example, the code style configuration.

When you place a project under version control, your personal settings are automatically ignored. IntelliJ IDEA moves workspace.xml— the file with your personal settings — to the list of ignored files to avoid conflicts with other developers' settings.

Configuration files are processed according to your choice. Once you modify the project settings, and a new configuration file is created, the IDE shows a notification at the bottom of the screen prompting you to select how you want to treat configuration files in this project:

• View files: view the list of created configuration files and select, which of them you want to place under version control. After that, the selected files will be scheduled for addition to VCS.

• Always Add: silently schedule all configuration files created in the .idea directory for addition to VCS (applies only to the current project).

• Don't Ask Again: never schedule configuration files for addition to VCS; they will have the unversioned status until you manually add them to VCS (applies only to the current project).

If you close the notification without selecting any option, it will appear again after a new configuration file is created. The new file will also go to the list that will be there until you select one of the options even if you restart the IDE.