IDEA 2026.2.3 tries to install WSL on every launch, how to disable?
At work we have the licensed version of IDEA, and corporate IT pushes out new versions as they get released. We (the developers) don't perform the installation ourselves; the new versions just show up on the workstations via Software Center.
When I launch IDEA, the window opens to the list of projects and plugins, and a few seconds later a CMD.EXE terminal appears saying that WSL must be installed. We don't have permission to just install arbitrary stuff, so it doesn't matter whether I tell it to proceed – if I press a button to go ahead, it simply fails because I'm not running as administrator. And while I have local admin privileges, this isn't one of the things that corporate legal lets us do on our own authority.
But more importantly, I don't use WSL and I don't want WSL. We have *actual* Linux computers for that platform, and trying to get a Linux VM working in the extraordinarily limited and locked-down Enterprise Windows environment at work is a nightmare at best. Been there, done that, not worth the hassle.
How do I prevent IDEA from trying to install WSL on every launch? Is there a config file I can edit to indicate “this feature isn't available, stop trying”? (As I mentioned at the start, we don't do the installation ourselves, so if WSL is something that must be toggled off during the initial install of IDEA, please tell me how that would normally be done and I'll forward the steps along to the IT dept.)
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Unfortunately, I found no setting, VM option, registry key or installer option that stops IntelliJ IDEA from probing for WSL. I am sorry that I cannot give you or your IT department a verified switch yet.
Your symptom matches two open YouTrack issues. [IJPL-201042](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJPL-201042) reports a `wsl.exe` failure at every IDE start when WSL is not installed. [IJPL-182532](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJPL-182532) reports that the IDE runs `wsl.exe` without checking that WSL is installed. Both were reported on earlier versions (2025.3 and 2025.2), and I have not confirmed that your case has the same cause.
To check, could you please send the following?
1) The zip from the Collect Logs and Diagnostic Data action. This is the most useful item. The forum does not accept archives, so please upload the zip at https://uploads.jetbrains.com and post the Upload ID that the page shows. Only JetBrains can open an upload by its ID.
2) A screenshot of the console window, or its exact text.
3) Whether the project list on the Welcome screen shows a project with a path that starts with `\\wsl$` or `\\wsl.localhost`.
If the list shows such a project, you could try removing it and restarting the IDE. You could also remove entries with those prefixes under **Settings | Appearance & Behavior | Trusted Locations**. A commenter on [IJPL-172763](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJPL-172763) traced a WSL start at launch to that list, but WSL was installed in that case. I have not verified that either step stops your window.
Thank you for your response!
1) `2026_10_10_2AHUCpbabuaDB9i9K86Rj1`
2) Going to try and paste that here:
3) All projects show as under `~` or more specifically, `~/IdeaProjects/` which is where I pointed all Intelli-J work on this computer. Choosing “Show In Explorer” correctly finds them under `C:\Users\<me>\IdeaProjects/` .
I realized something while clicking through this that might affect the answer. When I click Help | About, the popup window *doesn't* include “Community Edition”, which I faintly remember seeing when using IDEA at home, years ago. This copy at work doesn't show that, but it doesn't say “Ultimate Edition” either, which I thought was how the licensed software appeared. So… I am no longer certain what the corporate office put on here as far as licensing is concerned, other than that it is version 2026.2.3 in the About window! (I will click around and try to find out.)
The screenshot shows that the window is `wsl.exe` itself, with its own prompt that times out after 60 seconds. Your log shows that IntelliJ IDEA checks for WSL a few seconds after every start and does not find it. The log does not show which part of the IDE opens the window.
The closest known issue is [IJPL-201042](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJPL-201042), which covers the `wsl.exe` failure at every IDE start. It is still open with no fix version, and I have no tested workaround.
Your log says "Free trial is available" and marks the Ultimate plugin as disabled, so this IDE seems to have no active paid license. Your IT team can tell you which license they deploy. I do not expect it to change the WSL window.
Did the window also appear on the IntelliJ IDEA version that IT deployed before 2026.2.3?
It seems like a bug in IntelliJ IDEA rather than a licensing issue. Hopefully, JetBrains will provide a fix or a workaround to stop the WSL prompt from appearing on every launch.
Okay, that's what I was afraid of. The “free trial is available” button disappears and reappears a couple times a year as IT pushes new versions, so it sounds like they're fumbling the licenses in their deployment scripts. I'll ask them!
I hadn't realized that Ultimate was also represented as a plugin; that's good to learn.
I don't believe so; the WSL thing seems new to me?