IntelliJ IDEA 2026.1 EAP 3 Finally Adds Recycle‑Bin Deletion – What’s New?

JetBrains has released IntelliJ IDEA 2026.1 EAP 3, a major update that finally implements a basic file‑deletion behavior developers have requested for six years: deleting a file in the IDE now moves it to the system recycle bin rather than permanently removing it.

When a file is deleted in the IDE it is now moved to the recycle bin instead of being permanently deleted.

Previously, the IDE behaved as follows:

Delete file from Project view

Immediately delete permanently

Do not use the system recycle bin

Recovery relied on Local History or Git

This behavior differed from mainstream tools such as VS Code, Visual Studio, Finder, and Explorer. In the current EAP the issue is marked as:

State: Fixed

Available in: 2026.1 EAP 3

Now the delete action moves files to the recycle bin rather than deleting them permanently.

Some developers argue that “Git is enough,” but many files are not tracked by Git, including newly created uncommitted files, local scripts, SQL files, scratch files, temporary code, and configuration files. When such files are accidentally removed, Git cannot help.

JetBrains recommends using Local History, yet it has notable drawbacks:

History can be cleared

Upgrades may discard it

Search cost is high

Undo is not always reliable

New users may not know where to find it

Using the system recycle bin offers clear advantages:

Consistent with user habits

Visual and intuitive

Works across applications

Does not depend on the IDE

100 % intuitive

Beyond the recycle‑bin change, 2026.1 EAP 3 includes many other noteworthy improvements:

1. Spring‑related

Display injected Bean inlay

Debugger runtime Bean hints

API versioning configuration improvements

Automatic SQL dialect detection

2. Java

More javac parameter completions

Pattern‑matching diagnostic fixes

Import performance optimizations

3. Kotlin

K1 API deprecation

New destructuring syntax navigation support

Compiler‑generated declaration inlay hints

4. Editor Experience

Smooth cursor animation

Rounded cursor

Terminal experience fixes

Improved plugin management UI

5. AI and Command Completion

Fixed empty‑text replacement in replace_text_in_file Updated AI command‑completion icons

Refactored JavaMemberNameCompletionContributor to ModCommand completion

Fixed command generation failure in new‑line + tab scenarios

Supported skipping meaningless command completions

Multiple MCP Server fixes related to LLM workflows

6. Platform Architecture

Removed ProjectExtension Front‑ended AI assistant plugin

LSP null‑safety fixes

Supported background write actions

Cleaned up

CachedValuesManager

7. Performance and Stability

Gradle sync file leakage fix

VFS recursive loading issue

Debugger CPU conflict resolution

Branch‑switch freeze mitigation

Git integration stability improvements

Plugin compatibility false‑positive fixes

70+ additional known‑issue resolutions

These changes collectively prepare the IDE for future “remote IDE + AI + distributed IDE” scenarios while enhancing everyday developer productivity.