Boost Your Java Productivity: 15 Must‑Have IntelliJ IDEA Plugins

Install Plugins

1. Codota Code Completion Plugin – Provides intelligent code suggestions based on project code, showing usage frequency and learning personal coding preferences.

2. Key Promoter X Shortcut Hint Plugin – Pops up shortcut hints in the lower‑right corner, helping users quickly learn IDE shortcuts.

3. CodeGlance Mini‑Map Plugin – Shows a thumbnail overview of the code, making navigation easier when files are large.

4. Lombok Plugin – Eliminates boiler‑plate getters, setters, constructors, toString, hashCode, etc., by generating them at compile time.

5. Alibaba Java Coding Guidelines Plugin – Checks code against Alibaba’s Java style guide, highlights violations with colored hints and tooltips.

6. CamelCase Naming Converter – Quickly toggle between camelCase and snake_case using Shift + Alt + U.

7. MybatisX Plugin – Enhances MyBatis development with navigation, code generation and inspections.

8. SonarLint Code Quality Plugin – Detects bugs, code smells and security issues, encouraging the use of a logger instead of System.out.

9. Save Actions Plugin – Formats code, optimizes imports, adds final modifiers, inserts "this" where appropriate, and enforces other style rules automatically.

10. CheckStyle Plugin – Performs code style checks similar to the Alibaba plugin.

11. Grep Console Plugin – Allows custom formatting of console output.

12. MetricsReloaded Plugin – Analyzes code complexity and provides metrics.

13. Statistic Plugin – Shows various code statistics.

14. Translation Plugin – Provides inline translation of selected text.

15. Rainbow Brackets Plugin – Colors matching brackets with the same hue, improving readability.

Custom Live Templates

By defining live templates, typing a short abbreviation such as apr can instantly expand to a full @Autowired statement, allowing developers to create personalized code snippets that match their coding habits.

Global Configuration Tweaks to Improve Efficiency

Optimize import settings – Adjust import handling to reduce unnecessary statements.

Show multiple tabs per line – Disable single‑line tab display to view more files simultaneously.

Place block comments next to code – Move double‑slash comments to the start of the line for clearer formatting.

Copy entire lines – Enable copying of whole lines without needing to select the text.

Disable case‑sensitive matching – Allow lowercase input (e.g., s ) to suggest String .

Color‑code version‑control directories – Improve visual distinction of VCS folders.

Auto‑insert author and timestamp on new files – Generate file headers automatically.

Show line numbers and method separators – Add visual markers for easier navigation.

These plugins and settings together can boost IntelliJ IDEA productivity by up to fifty times for Java developers.