IntelliJ IDEA 2026.1 EAP 3 Introduces Recycle‑Bin Deletion and 30+ New Developer Features

JetBrains released IntelliJ IDEA 2026.1 EAP 3, a major update that finally implements a long‑requested feature: when a file is deleted inside the IDE it is moved to the system Recycle Bin/Trash instead of being permanently removed.

In the IDE, deleting a file now moves it to the Recycle Bin rather than permanently deleting it.

This behavior was first requested six years ago. Previously, deletion in the Project view resulted in immediate permanent removal, bypassing the Recycle Bin and leaving recovery to Local History or Git. However, many files—such as new uncommitted files, local scripts, SQL files, scratch files, temporary code, and configuration files—are often not tracked by Git, making Git unable to help when they are accidentally deleted.

JetBrains has long recommended using Local History, but it has drawbacks: it can be cleared, may be lost after upgrades, is costly to search, Undo is not always available, and newcomers may not know where to find it.

Using the system Recycle Bin offers clear advantages: consistent user habits, visual feedback, cross‑application support, no IDE dependency, and 100 % intuitive operation. This aligns IntelliJ with other editors that already adopt this default behavior.

This solves one of the most common, fatal, and easily triggered IDE accidents.

1. Spring‑related Improvements

Display injection Bean inlay

Debugger runtime Bean hints

API versioning configuration enhancements

Automatic SQL dialect detection

2. Java Enhancements

Extended javac parameter completion

Pattern‑matching diagnostic fixes

Import performance optimizations

3. Kotlin Updates

K1 API deprecation begins

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 issue for replace_text_in_file Updated AI command completion icons

Renamed JavaMemberNameCompletionContributor to ModCommand completion

Fixed command generation failure in new‑line + tab scenarios

Supported skipping of meaningless command completions

Multiple fixes in MCP Server related to LLM workflows

6. Platform Architecture

Removed ProjectExtension

Front‑ended AI assistant plugin

LSP null‑safety fixes

Support for background write actions

Cleaned up CachedValuesManager

7. Performance and Stability

Gradle sync file leak fixes

VFS recursive loading issues resolved

Debugger CPU conflict mitigations

Branch switching freeze addressed

Git failures fixed

Plugin compatibility false‑positive reductions

70+ additional known issue resolutions

All these changes prepare the IDE for “remote IDE + AI IDE + distributed IDE” scenarios.