[WebStorm] Very hight CPU/Freezes

Hello WebStorm Support Team,

I’m experiencing severe performance issues when opening more than one project in WebStorm.

Issue:

• When I open a second (or more) project, WebStorm’s CPU usage spikes to around ~1000% (according to Activity Monitor / system monitor).
• The IDE becomes extremely slow and sometimes completely freezes during startup or shortly after.
• This happens consistently whenever I have multiple projects open.

My setup:

• IDE: WebStorm (latest stable version at the time of writing)
• OS: MacOs 26.1
• Hardware: M4 Pro / 48 GB RAM
• Plugins: minimal set (Junie + a few essentials); I intentionally keep plugins lean.
• AI Assistant: disabled for some projects to reduce load.

What I’ve already tried:

• Disabled AI Assistant for several projects.
• Reduced plugins to a minimal set.
• Restarted IDE and machine multiple times.
• Invalidated caches and restarted.

Unfortunately, none of these steps have solved the problem.

Could you please advise how to debug this or what to adjust in settings?
If helpful, I can provide logs, CPU snapshots, thread dumps, or any other diagnostics you need.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,
Kostiantyn