Uninstall IntelliJ IDEA
The proper way to remove IntelliJ IDEA depends on the method you used to install it.
Uninstall using the Toolbox App
If you installed IntelliJ IDEA using the Toolbox App, do the following:
Open the Toolbox App, click the screw nut icon for the necessary instance, and select Uninstall . 
Uninstall a standalone instance
If you are running a standalone IntelliJ IDEA instance, the IDE configuration and system directories are preserved when you remove your instance in case you want to keep your settings for later or to use them with another instance, another version, or another IDE. You can remove those directories if you are sure you won’t need them.
Open the Apps & Features section in the Windows Settings dialog, select the IntelliJ IDEA app and click Uninstall .
Depending on your version of Windows, the procedure for uninstalling programs may be different. You can also manually run Uninstall.exe in the installation directory under /bin .
Remove the following directories:
Example C:\Users\JohnS\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2020.2
C:\Users\JohnS\AppData\Local\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2020.2
Delete the IntelliJ IDEA application in the Applications directory.
Completely uninstalling and removing intellij Idea and reinstalling
Tried searching around, and even tried a couple of things (went to /opt and removed intellij, and removed the .Idea. etc hidden directory in my home directory), but intellij still shows up on the programs menu, under Development (xfce. I’m on xubuntu 16.04). I click on those entries and it says the .sh could not be launched, so I’m hoping at least that intellij has really been removed. Any idea how to:
- remove it from there
- confirm that it has been truly and completely removed
- reinstall it so that aptitude can keep track of its updates as well?
1 Answer 1
I am no xfce expert, but maybe you can check
/.local/share/applications or /home/*username*/.local/share/applications/ and see if it contains anything related to intellij.
According to intellij support, removing the folder should be all you need.
Sadly I don’t know if you can install it using aptitude to keep track of the updates. But I know you can use JetBrains Toolbox to install intellij and keep it updated.
Completely uninstalling and removing intellij Idea and reinstalling
Tried searching around, and even tried a couple of things (went to /opt and removed intellij, and removed the .Idea. etc hidden directory in my home directory), but intellij still shows up on the programs menu, under Development (xfce. I’m on xubuntu 16.04). I click on those entries and it says the .sh could not be launched, so I’m hoping at least that intellij has really been removed. Any idea how to:
- remove it from there
- confirm that it has been truly and completely removed
- reinstall it so that aptitude can keep track of its updates as well?
1 Answer 1
I am no xfce expert, but maybe you can check
/.local/share/applications or /home/*username*/.local/share/applications/ and see if it contains anything related to intellij.
According to intellij support, removing the folder should be all you need.
Sadly I don’t know if you can install it using aptitude to keep track of the updates. But I know you can use JetBrains Toolbox to install intellij and keep it updated.
Uninstalling intellij idea on Ubuntu 18.04
I know this question has already asked.
But I really want a step by step solution to uninstall it using terminal commands.
So please write correct commands and write it step by step because I want to copy and paste them in terminal.
2 Answers 2
It will depend on the version of IntelliJ Idea you have. IntelliJ suggests to use commands
If you get the message
Command ‘umake’ not found, but can be installed with:
sudo snap install ubuntu-make # version master, or sudo apt install ubuntu-make
See ‘snap info ubuntu-make’ for additional versions.
and after installing and using the umake command again you obtain
ERROR: You can’t remove Idea Ultimate as it isn’t installed
you will have to proceed manually, (Remove the whole Idea directory where the bin/idea.sh file is) If you are not in the mood to install more stuff, this other command might work
you can find the name of your app by using this command
If (like in my case) there is not any IntelliJ or Idea item on the installed-software list, you will have to proceed manually, (Remove the whole Idea directory where the bin/idea.sh file is)
There are other tutorials to remove Idea completely. After deleting the folder with IDE installation, remove IDE settings/caches directories, should be enough.
Install IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA is a cross-platform IDE that provides consistent experience on the Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.
IntelliJ IDEA is available in the following editions:
Community Edition is free and open-source, licensed under Apache 2.0. It provides all the basic features for JVM and Android development.
IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate is commercial, distributed with a 30-day trial period. It provides additional tools and features for web and enterprise development.
For more information, see the comparison matrix.
System requirements
| Requirement | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| RAM | 2 GB of free RAM | 8 GB of total system RAM |
| Disk space | 2.5 GB and another 1 GB for caches | SSD drive with at least 5 GB of free space |
| Monitor resolution | 1024×768 | 1920×1080 |
| Operating system | Latest 64-bit version of Windows, macOS, or Linux (for example, Debian, Ubuntu, or RHEL) |
You do not need to install Java to run IntelliJ IDEA, because JetBrains Runtime is bundled with the IDE (based on JRE 11). However, to develop Java applications, a standalone JDK is required.
Install using the Toolbox App
The JetBrains Toolbox App is the recommended tool to install JetBrains products. Use it to install and maintain different products or several versions of the same product, including Early Access Program (EAP) releases, update and roll back when necessary, and easily remove any tool. The Toolbox App maintains a list of all your projects to quickly open any project in the right IDE and version.
Install the Toolbox App
Download the installer .exe from the Toolbox App web page.
Run the installer and follow the wizard steps.
After you run the Toolbox App, click its icon in the notification area and select which product and version you want to install.
Log in to your JetBrains Account from the Toolbox App and it will automatically activate the available licenses for any IDE that you install.
Install the Toolbox App
Download the disk image .dmg from the Toolbox App web page.
Mount the image and drag the JetBrains Toolbox app to the Applications folder.
After you run the Toolbox App, click its icon in the main menu and select which product and version you want to install.
Log in to your JetBrains Account from the Toolbox App and it will automatically activate the available licenses for any IDE that you install.
Install the Toolbox App
Download the tarball .tar.gz from the Toolbox App web page.
Extract the tarball to a directory that supports file execution.
For example, if the downloaded version is 1.17.7391, you can extract it to the recommended /opt directory using the following command:
Execute the jetbrains-toolbox binary from the extracted directory to run the Toolbox App and select which product and version you want to install. After you run the Toolbox App for the first time, it will automatically add the Toolbox App icon to the main menu.
Log in to your JetBrains Account from the Toolbox App and it will automatically activate the available licenses for any IDE that you install.
You can use this shell script that automatically downloads the tarball with the latest version of the Toolbox App, extracts it to the recommended /opt directory, and creates a symbolic link in the /usr/local/bin directory.
Standalone installation
Install IntelliJ IDEA manually to manage the location of every instance and all the configuration files. For example, if you have a policy that requires specific install locations.
Run the installer and follow the wizard steps.
On the Installation Options step, you can configure the following:
Create a desktop shortcut for the launcher relevant to your operating system
Add the directory with IntelliJ IDEA command-line launchers to the PATH environment variable
Add an item Open Folder as Project to the system context menu (when you right-click a folder)
Associate specific file extensions with IntelliJ IDEA to open them with a double-click
Install the 32-bit version of JetBrains Runtime if you are running a 32-bit Windows version
Mount the image and drag the IntelliJ IDEA app to the Applications folder.
Extract the tarball to a directory that supports file execution.
For example, to extract it to the recommended /opt directory, run the following command:
Do not extract the tarball over an existing installation to avoid conflicts. Always extract it to a clean directory.
Execute the idea.sh script from the extracted directory to run IntelliJ IDEA.
To create a desktop entry, do one of the following:
On the Welcome screen, click Configure | Create Desktop Entry
From the main menu, click Tools | Create Desktop Entry
When you run IntelliJ IDEA for the first time, some steps are required to complete the installation, customize your instance, and start working with the IDE.
Silent installation on Windows
Silent installation is performed without any user interface. It can be used by network administrators to install IntelliJ IDEA on a number of machines and avoid interrupting other users.
To perform silent install, run the installer with the following switches:
/S : Enable silent install
/CONFIG : Specify the path to the silent configuration file
/D : Specify the path to the installation directory
This parameter must be the last in the command line and it should not contain any quotes even if the path contains blank spaces.
To check for issues during the installation process, add the /LOG switch with the log file path and name between the /S and /D parameters. The installer will generate the specified log file. For example:
Silent configuration file
You can download the default silent configuration file for IntelliJ IDEA at https://download.jetbrains.com/idea/silent.config
The silent configuration file defines the options for installing IntelliJ IDEA. With the default options, silent installation is performed only for the current user: mode=user . If you want to install IntelliJ IDEA for all users, change the value of the installation mode option to mode=admin and run the installer as an administrator.
The default silent configuration file is unique for each JetBrains product. You can modify it to enable or disable various installation options as necessary.
Install as a snap package on Linux
You can install IntelliJ IDEA as a self-contained snap package. Since snaps update automatically, your IntelliJ IDEA installation will always be up to date.
To use snaps, install and run the snapd service as described in the installation guide.
On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and later, this service is pre-installed.
IntelliJ IDEA is distributed via two channels:
The stable channel includes only stable versions. To install the latest stable release of IntelliJ IDEA, run the following command:
The —classic option is required because the IntelliJ IDEA snap requires full access to the system, like a traditionally packaged application.
The edge channel includes EAP builds. To install the latest EAP build of IntelliJ IDEA, run the following command:
When the snap is installed, you can launch it by running the intellij-idea-community , intellij-idea-ultimate , or intellij-idea-educational command.
To list all installed snaps, you can run sudo snap list . For information about other snap commands, see the Snapcraft documentation.