28 Essential IntelliJ IDEA Tips to Supercharge Your Java Development

IntelliJ IDEA has become a dominant Java development tool thanks to its rich feature set that dramatically boosts daily coding efficiency. Below are 28 useful tips that, once mastered, can make your development workflow fly.

1. View Code History

Right‑click the Java class, choose Local History → Show History to see recent changes. Only recent modifications are available.

2. Adjust IDEA Virtual Memory

Open Change Memory Settings and select Edit Custom VM Options to modify the .vmoptions file. Changing this incorrectly may prevent IDEA from starting.

3. Set Eclipse‑style Keymap

Switch to the Eclipse keymap so you don’t need to remember two sets of shortcuts.

4. Ignore Case in Completion

Disable the case‑sensitivity option (or select none) so that typing String or string both trigger suggestions.

5. Turn Off Code Inspection

You can disable specific inspections to reduce resource usage, though turning them all off is not recommended.

6. Configure Documentation Comment Template

Set up a template for Javadoc comments to speed up documentation.

7. Show Method Separators

Enable method separators to visually distinguish methods in poorly formatted code.

8. Display Multi‑Line Tabs

Disable the single‑line tab view to show multi‑line tabs, which is handy when many tabs are open.

8.1 Tab limit auto‑closes

Increase the settings ‑ editor ‑ General ‑ Editor tabs ‑ tab limit value to keep more tabs open.

9. Jump to Braces Quickly

Press Ctrl+[ or Ctrl+] to move to the opening or closing brace of the current method.

10. Auto‑Complete Code Endings

Use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to complete statements such as adding a semicolon or closing braces without moving the cursor.

11. Fuzzy Search for Methods

Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N, type a fragment like Peo.te to locate a method. Alternatively, use Ctrl+Shift+R and select Symbols.

12. Preview a Class Without Opening a Tab

Press Ctrl+Alt+B to jump to the class, then Ctrl+Shift+I to preview it without creating a new tab.

13. Find Callers of a Method

Press Ctrl+Alt+H to see where a method is invoked. Previously you would use Ctrl+H or Ctrl+Shift+F to search manually.

14. Customize Code Templates

Change default postfix completions (e.g., replace sout with syso) via the Postfix Completion settings.

15. Auto‑Import and Remove Unused Imports

Press Alt+Enter to import a class manually, and Ctrl+Alt+O to optimize imports.

16. Codota Plugin for Popular APIs

Codota suggests frequently used classes and methods based on community usage.

17. Quick Documentation Lookup

Press F2 to view the Javadoc of a class or field instantly.

18. Rainbow Brackets Plugin

Install the plugin to color‑match paired brackets for easier navigation.

19. Add Multiple Services to a Single Run Window (Microservice Projects)

Open View → Tool Windows → Services → Add Services to manage several services in one window.

20. Global IDEA Settings for New Windows

Adjust settings (e.g., Maven configuration) under Other Settings to apply globally to newly opened windows.

21. Mapper ↔ XML Navigation

Install the Free MyBatis Plugin and click the green arrow to jump between Java mapper interfaces and their XML files.

22. Set IDEA Background Image

Use the BackgroundImage plugin to set a custom picture as the IDE background.

23. Visualize Maven Dependency Tree

Run mvn dependency:tree or click the Show Dependencies button in IDEA to view a graphical dependency graph.

24. Switch to Previously Used Tab

Press Alt+← to go back to the last active tab and Alt+→ to move forward.

25. Built‑in SSH Client

Configure host and credentials, then open an SSH session directly from IDEA.

26. Sequence Diagram Plugin for Call Chains

Install the SequenceDiagram plugin to generate visual call‑chain diagrams for complex code bases.

27. Capture Thread Dump

During debugging, click the camera icon to obtain a thread dump, which helps identify which thread is executing a particular method.

28. Run Same Project on Different Ports

Add a custom VM option such as -Dserver.port=8993 to launch another instance on a different port, useful for load‑balancing tests.

# 8993 is a different port from the one defined in application.yml
-Dserver.port=8993