How to Fix IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3.1 Maven Freeze and WSL2 Config Loss

IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3 merged the Ultimate and Community editions, but the initial release caused serious performance regressions. JetBrains responded with a rapid 2025.3.1 patch that fixed over 200 issues, rolled back a broken database‑query feature, and addressed Maven and WSL2 compatibility problems.

Core Issue 1 – Maven Project Causes IDE Freeze or OOM

Problem Symptoms

Crash on startup : Opening large multi‑module Maven projects consumes >80% CPU and triggers out‑of‑memory errors within minutes.

Thread deadlock : Stack traces show many threads stuck in org.jetbrains.idea.maven.project.MavenProject$Companion.read.

Root Cause Analysis

The MavenProjectsManager leaks memory during project‑tree initialization. When an exception occurs, it repeatedly calls read. Because MavenProject does not override equals or hashCode, each call creates a new key, exhausting the internal myModuleToAggregatorMapping hash map and causing the OOM crash.

Solutions

Official fix : Upgrade to IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3.1.1 or later, where JetBrains has resolved the issue.

Temporary work‑around (if you cannot upgrade) :

Delete the Maven cache directory:

Windows:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\JetBrains\IntelliJIdea2025.3\Maven

macOS: ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2025.3/Maven Linux: ~/.cache/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2025.3/Maven Disable file‑icon rendering to reduce the cascade of IconProvider calls: Settings | Editor | General | Editor Tabs → uncheck “Show file icon”.

Core Issue 2 – WSL2 Project Settings Reset After Restart

Problem Symptoms

When developing on Windows via WSL2, configurations such as Node.js interpreter, Run/Debug settings, or Save Actions revert to defaults after the IDE is closed and reopened.

The .idea/workspace.xml file still contains the settings, but the IDE ignores them.

Solutions

Official fix : Upgrade to IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3.1.1 or later.

Registry tweak (works in the current version):

Press Ctrl+Shift+A (or ⌘+Shift+A on macOS) to open the action search.

Type “Registry” and open it.

Locate the key wsl.use.remote.agent.for.nio.filesystem.

Uncheck (disable) this option.

Restart the IDE; the settings will persist.