Unlock IntelliJ IDEA: 26 Essential Settings Every Java Developer Must Know

Preface

Programmers are devoted to their IDEs, often debating which is the best. The author shares his experience of discovering IntelliJ IDEA and how it became his primary tool.

Later he found IDEA and has been using it ever since.

IDEA is arguably the most powerful Java development tool, yet many users do not exploit its full potential; numerous useful configurations, plugins, and tips are often overlooked.

All the common configurations are presented as mind maps; using Ctrl+F to search enhances the experience. Give a like before reading and make it a habit.

IDEA Settings Page

Settings allow you to configure the software’s properties such as fonts, themes, background images, plugins, etc.

How to Open the Settings Page

Structure of the Settings Page

Appearance & Behavior

Keymap

Editor

Plugins

Version Control

Build, Execution, Deployment

Languages & Frameworks

Tools

26 Common IDEA Settings

Most settings include visual examples; the article follows the pattern: method → effect illustration.

Appearance & Behavior

Theme

Two themes are shown: Darcula (dark) and IntelliJ (light).

Darcula – dark theme

IntelliJ – light theme

Menu Font

Keymap

Eclipse‑style shortcuts

You can switch to Eclipse key bindings, though the author does not recommend it.

Modify Shortcuts

Avoid changing a large number of shortcuts at once.

Add Keyboard Shortcut

Add Mouse Shortcut

Add Abbreviation

Remove Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S

View Shortcut Function

Use the shortcut search to find the meaning of unknown shortcuts, e.g., Ctrl+F.

Editor Settings

Editor settings are the most frequently used, covering font, auto‑import, comment generation, etc.

Editor‑General

Mouse wheel to adjust font size

After enabling, Ctrl + mouse wheel changes the code font size.

Mouse hover tooltip

Hover tooltip provides useful information.

Auto‑import

Add unambiguous imports on the fly

Optimize imports on the fly

Show line numbers and method separators

Result shown below.

Case‑insensitive completion

Open Settings (Ctrl+Alt+S) and locate Code Completion.

Select “All letters”.

Uncheck “Match case”.

IntelliJ IDEA distinguishes case by default; “First letter” is case‑sensitive.

When typing

stringBuffer

, no suggestions appear, but

StringBuffer

triggers completion.

Disable single‑line tab display

Explanation of single‑line display.

How to enable multi‑line display?

Result shown below.

Editor‑Font

Modify the font in the code editor

Default font, size, and line spacing can be set individually.

Editor‑Color Scheme

Change console output font

Change comment font color

Editor‑Code Style

Set import limit to use a wildcard

*

Editor‑File and Code Template

Modify class header documentation

Result shown below.

Editor – File Encodings

Set project file encoding

Enable “Transparent native-to-ascii conversion” for proper display of Chinese comments in properties files.

Set source file encoding

For individual files, use the encoding selector at the bottom right; options include Reload, Convert, and warnings about possible garbled Chinese after conversion.

Reload – reload with new encoding without saving.

Convert – convert and save with new encoding.

Be careful with Chinese files; backup before converting.

Build, Execution, Deployment

Enable automatic compilation

IntelliJ IDEA does not compile automatically by default, unlike Eclipse.

Without auto‑compile, modifying source code does not change the class file.

IDEA compiles at runtime; running the main method shows the updated class file.

Enabling automatic compilation shows the following effect.

After a short wait, the class file reflects the changes.

Other Settings

Power‑save mode

Power‑save mode disables code analysis and suggestions, effectively a reading mode.

Split editor view

Result shown below.

Shortcut for split view can be added.

Background image

Press double‑Shift, type “Set Background Image”, and select the image and opacity.

Result shown below.

Project Structure Settings

Project structure configuration applies to the current module, including JAR packaging, source folders, output paths, dependencies, and build information.

How to Open Project Structure

Project Structure Layout

Project

Modules

View information for each sub‑module.

Artifacts

IDEA can package artifacts; sometimes the generated package has issues when deployed to Tomcat.

Facets

Contains information about the current project configuration files.

Modify IDEA Default Settings

Conclusion

The article summarizes all common IDEA configurations; readers are encouraged to bookmark and like if the guide was helpful.