Changing IDE default directories used for config, plugins, and caches storage

This is useful information.  It would be nice if there was a comment here on what should/should not  be copied during this process.

Jeff, It's assuming that you move the contents of these folders to the new corresponding locations.

I see. Wasn't aware of those. Thank you very much pointing this out!

What are the names of env. vars for androidStudio, webstorm, phpstorm?

STUDIO_PROPERTIES
WEBIDE_PROPERTIES
PHPSTORM_PROPERTIES

Android Studio has issues accepting its new reality... But maybe restart will fix that.
Also, I added evn var for studio, edited idea.properties as all others and AS fails to install update.

It did accept change of config and system directories but unlike all other JB apps it still creates directory under default location. Reboot did not help. Update issues are gone after setting _JAVA_OPTIONS values to "-Xms2048m"

I noticed that after all those changes I can't run program from normal (32bit) launcher. Only 64bit works. Why is that? Have I done something wrong?

Not sure when it changed, but `$CL_PROPERTIES` is not valid for CLion, at least for 2018.3.2 on 64 bit Linux.  Reference `$IDE_HOME/bin/clion.sh`, the script tests for variable named `"$CLION_PROPERTIES"`

if [ -n "$CLION_PROPERTIES" ]; then ...

Both IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and Community share the same environment variable for the properties file location: IDEA_PROPERTIES.

Hi. I have set up PyCharm to store its `config` and `system` folders at `C:\DJP\pycharmConfig`. This works well.

However, when I update PyCharm with a patch the update process creates a folder in my Windows profile called `.PyCharm2016.1\system\restart`. The folder has about 172 MB of files inside. This causes problems because the storage limit on my profile is only 15 MB...

I would like this `restart` folder to be put in `C:\DJP\pycharmConfig\system`. How can I do this?

Thanks for any help that you can offer.

Here are straightforward instructions if you need two separate instances of the IDE running in a way
instance #2 won't be locked if instance #1 has a modal window, for PHPStorm64 using Java 64 under
Windows (you can change the directories to your liking):

- Copy the entire C:\users\xxx\.PhpStorm2017.2 folder to, say, d:\apps\JetbrainsSecondInstance\AlternativeConfFolder
- Copy the C:\Program Files\JetBrains\PhpStorm 2017.1.2\bin\idea.properties to, say, d:\apps\JetbrainsSecondInstance\idea.properties
- Edit the d:\apps\JetbrainsSecondInstance\idea.properties and uncomment (remove the #) and change the following lines (note the forward slashes):

idea.config.path=d:/Apps/JetbrainsSecondInstance/AlternativeConfFolder/config
idea.system.path=d:/Apps/JetbrainsSecondInstance/AlternativeConfFolder/system
idea.plugins.path=${idea.config.path}/plugins
idea.log.path=${idea.system.path}/log

- Create a d:\apps\JetbrainsSecondInstance\Phpstorm2ndInstance.bat bat file that reads:

@echo off
SET PHPSTORM_PROPERTIES=d:\apps\JetbrainsSecondInstance\idea.properties
start "" "c:\Program Files\JetBrains\PhpStorm 2017.1.2\bin\phpstorm64.exe"

- Launch the .bat file. You're done! That is a totally separate instance and will not halt when instance #1 has a modal window locking things up.

Is it possible to only change the temp/tmp folder location?

I need this because I keep the system and config folder inside idea.home.path because settings etc have to be reimported on every update to avoid crashes + config loss

This works great BUT installing patch updates fails because the temp folder is inside of the idea installation.

So can I only move the temp folder out there?

IDE is using idea.system.path + "tmp" for the temp location, so there is no way to override it separately: https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/625cfb6efdb256ccf2e656648d580d8007b99f9a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/application/PathManager.java#L318.

Ok, now works like a charm! Thank you!

OK, Thanks

What is %IDE%_PROPERTIES about IdeaIC (IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition)?

And since you are using PhpStorm, the environment variable must be PHPSTORM_PROPERTIES instead of IDEA_PROPERTIES.

As outlined in this document, the environment variable must point to idea.properties file itself, not to a directory. There is even an example:

IDEA_PROPERTIES=C:\Users\USER\idea.properties

Don't forget to reboot or logout/login.

Okey I created a new environment variable following the steps of the link called "IDEA_PROPERTIES" with the value "C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/config". Then I deleted the line "IDEA_PROPERTIES=C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/config" from the idea.propierties file.

When I opened again PHPStorm, again created a new folder in my user directory. What I'm doing wrong?

In the Windows environment variables settings: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm.

Then, where I need to put or edit the line "IDEA_PROPERTIES=C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/config" ?

You say that I need to set this in the system. Do you mean that I need to set something in Windows?

IDEA_PROPERTIES is the environment variable that must be set in the system, it's not a property in the file.

The file should be located outside the IDE installation directory where it has write permissions.

Edit Custom Properties will not work properly when the location is overridden: https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJPL-37142/Revisit-.properties-file-loading-scheme .

Hello,

I created a new folder in my Windows user account like this: "C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm" and placed in it all content of "C:/Users/<username>/.PhpStorm2018.2".

Also, I edited the idea.propierties located in "C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/config/idea.propierties" to change configuration directories:

idea.config.path=C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/config
idea.system.path=C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/system
idea.plugins.path=${idea.config.path}/plugins
IDEA_PROPERTIES=C:/Users/<username>/Configurations/PHPStorm/config

And finally, I erased "C:/Users/<username>/.PhpStorm2018.2" folder. 

The problem is that when I open PHPStorm again, the directory "C:/Users/<username>/.PhpStorm2018.2" is recreated.

What I'm doing wrong?

This does not work for me as at 2023-08-18

The JetBrains toolbox does NOT allow me to change the install location of the IDEs or the ToolBox default itsself. 

Can someone from JetBrains (Serge Baranov?) confirm if the ToolBox behaviour has changed, to prevent this configuration item being edit-able, please?

Hi Serge, thanks for your answer ! if anderstood you right i configure it in my environment variables like so. But still not working well :

For example if open help→edit customer properties , intellij try to open the default location : {user.home}\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2024.1\idea.properties: 

File does not exist: {user.home}\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2024.1\idea.properties

Redouane Najib If you want to override the location of idea.properties, use the environment variables as documented (IDEA_PROPERTIES=C:\Users\USER\idea.properties).

Hi, i am trying to costomize my Intellij. I tried to change my user.home config but intellij stay looking for idea.properties in my default ${user.home}\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2024.1\idea.properties

In idea.properties i changed as described above :

user.home=c:/dev/tools

idea.home.path=${user.home}/ideaIU-2024.1.4

# Use ${xxx} where xxx is any Java property (including defined in previous lines of this file) to refer to its value.
# Note for Windows users: please make sure you're using forward slashes: C:/dir1/dir2.

any help ? thx in advise

Serge Baranov , should IJ_HOST_CONFIG_BASE_DIR / IJ_HOST_SYSTEM_BASE_DIR env vars work when using JetBrains Gateway as well? (Windows client, Linux server). I added these configs to .bashrc, restarted JB client/gateway, but the two new directories are empty and ‘ps’ shows original .config/.cache directories in home still being used.

Do I have to move the contents of original directories or reset / delete anything to for these keys to take effect?

Derick I updated the document. For any new IDE, you can find it out yourself by opening <idename>.bat or .sh file in the bin directory, then searching for IDE_PROPERTIES_PROPERTY. This line will contain the environment variable name of the property that is specific to this IDE, for example, rustrover.bat:

IF NOT "%RUSTROVER_PROPERTIES%" == "" SET IDE_PROPERTIES_PROPERTY="-Didea.properties.file=%RUSTROVER_PROPERTIES%"