Directories used by the IDE to store settings, caches, plugins and logs

Today I use the latest version of PhpStorm (7.0  .WebIde70)

and I have old big directories .WebIde50,.WebIde60. .

Can I safely delete these two directories.

Pascal, yes, you can remove these folders if you don't plan to run the old IDE versions.

What if the .<PRODUCT><VERSION> directory doesn't exist? I get an error at startup (created a ticket in YouTrack), but I can't find that directory.  Intellij crashes at startup, just right after the splash screen.

Debakkerbjorn, try to override the default values with the path where you have full write permissions.

I use Intellij 11.1.5 and I can't find these directories either. Is this information still current for version 11? This is very frustrating. I get an error at startup but cannot find logs, preferences in these locations.

Just to add, I am using Mac OS Mavericks and I don't find a single one of the directories you claim above that I should find. 

Barclay Dunn, yes, this information is actual for IntelliJ IDEA 11.1.5. Make sure to look under your home directory. Finder may hide these directories by default, show hidden files via cmd+shift+. (dot) can help to find them. Note that ~ stands for /Users/<user>.

Aw crap, I totally overlooked the ~. The files are there as you say.

Due to this Bug in the JDK on Windows System.getProperty("user.home") is NOT always:

<SYSTEM DRIVE>\Users<USER ACCOUNT NAME>.<PRODUCT><VERSION>

Instead the JDK uses the parent folder of the "Desktop" folder from a registry key.

See: http://bugs.java.com/view_bug.do?bug_id=4787931

Maximilian, indeed, this issue is mentioned in our KB with a link to the same bug.

Please add 'appCode' to the OS X product list. I've spend some time searching for it. Unlike others, it begins with little leading character

The open project dialog path always defaults to my home directory (I am using Linux).   Can I change the default location of my projects?

IDE remembers the last folder where you have created a project using the wizard. Next time you create the project, the same folder will be suggested.

I successfully updated PhpStorm from 7.1 to 8.0 but didn't act to import settings from existing IDE at the very first screen. Later import of these settings didn't create my recent projects. Removing all directories as used by the IDE and listed here (Mac OSX) helped me, to restart the update process, and all was fine. Thx for this.

I find it easier to move configuration folder to another location (SSD or another drive) and just create a soft link pointing to it. This way it's transparent to Intellij and there is no need to change the configs.

I can't to see to find any of the mentioned directories on Yosemite using 8.0.3 EAP 139.873.

[edit]

I can't to see to find any of the mentioned directories on Yosemite using PhpStorm 8.0.3 EAP 139.873.

Alright, found it at:

/Users/<USER>/Library/Preferences/WebIde80/ for phpStorm

I found the ~/.IdeaICXX/ directory (trying to add a plugin), but once I enter it, the only other directory in it is "restart." There's no "Library" directory....

I'm running Mavericks 10.9.5.  

Macs. Unhide the library folder... 

http://www.macworld.com/article/2057221/how-to-view-the-library-folder-in-mavericks.html

command-J in my user folder worked the simplest

This does not appear to be correct on a Mac. I have upgraded to PyCharm 4.5.1 and accidentally opened an old version of PyCharm 4 that was still on my system. At startup, Pycharm reported certain plugins/configs were not compatible or could not be found (maybe they were not backwards compatible?) and what seemed to happen is that PyCharm got set back to default settings. In other words, all of my customizations, configurations, projects, etc were wiped out. I tried restoring the directories from a Time Machine backup, but this did not help. So there must be some other location this information is stored on a Mac. I can't even begin to think about how many hours/days I've wasted by these settings getting wiped. It will take me forever to rebuild them all from scratch :(

I have installed Webstorm 10.0.3 on OSX 10.10.3 and Caches foldes for Webstorm can´t be found in anywhere. It is definitely not in the ~/Library/Caches/ folder. I have just installed Webstorm with default settings. How can I identify where Caches for Webstorm er placed?

You need to run IDE at least once for the folders to be created. This document is accurate, the folders should be there, see also https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/help/directories-used-by-webstorm-to-store-settings-caches-plugins-and-logs.html .

Serge, I have been running Webstorm for 3 years..

Use Help menu, Reveal Log action, you'll be navigated into the logs folder that is inside the caches folder. What's the folder used which you were not able to find at the specified location?

Serge, I was talking about Caches folder, and not Logs folder. Logs folder is found at path /Users/<USER>/Library/Logs/WebStorm10 but there was  no /Users/<USER>/Library/Caches folder before I actually quit Webstorm now and I listed all files  again in the Library/Caches. Now I can find Webstorm10 folder in Library/Caches.

Im struggling with a bug in Webstorm which sometimes give me an error popup saying "Low disk space on a Webstorm system directory partition" and I think I understand now why. It seems like Webstorm10 folder is getting deleted from Caches..

This is weird, IDE cannot work at all without caches.

I have a problem where when I open PyCharm I get the dialog: "The last time you opened PyCharm, it unexpectedly quit while trying to reopen windows. Do you want to try to reopen it's windows again? | Don't ReOpen | Reopen"

Clicking either option causes PyCharm to Crash and so I'm stuck and unable to open PyCharm. Anyone know of some file I can delete to get PyCharm to open without trying to recover old windows?

Mac OS X 10.9.5. I've tried removing all of the directories listed above for PyCharm with no success.

Matt, please submit a ticket to support with idea.log attached (https://intellij-support.jetbrains.com/entries/23352446).