How to Manage Multiple Projects in One IntelliJ IDEA Workspace

Ever heard Eclipse users complain that IDEA can’t manage multiple projects in one window? Actually you can, you just need to know the right configuration.

Step 1: Create a new empty project.

Enter the desired project name and location in the dialog.

Step 2: Add modules.

There are two ways to add a module:

New Module : Use this to create a brand‑new project and include it in the current workspace.

For Spring developers you can initialize the project with Spring Initializr, which will become a module of the current project.

Import Module : Use this to import an existing project from a Git checkout.

If no special configuration is needed, just click Next to finish the import.

Step 3: Add more projects later.

Use the menu options:

File → New → Module… (create a new project)

File → New → Module from Existing Sources… (import an existing project)

Repeating these actions lets you gather many projects in a single IDE window for convenient debugging.