What’s New in IntelliJ IDEA 2020.3? A Deep Dive into the Latest Features

Summary

1. New Welcome Window

The welcome screen now has three tabs—Customize, Plugins, and Learn IntelliJ IDEA—plus the existing Projects tab, offering quick access to IDE settings, plugin installation, and learning resources.

2. Reader Mode

Read‑only files now open in Reader Mode by default, with formatted comments for easier reading. The mode can be toggled via the "Reader Mode" button.

3. Improved Window Splitting

Splitting windows is now more convenient: the "Split and Move Right" action allows side‑by‑side editing without extra steps, and tabs can be dragged to rearrange. The terminal can also be moved to the top of the editor.

4. Refactoring Enhancements

The Extract Method dialog is simplified, and the Rename refactoring now optionally renames matching strings in comments as well.

5. Debugging Upgrades

During debugging, variables appear on the right side; clicking a variable opens a quick‑view window, and double‑clicking allows inline editing. New features include Inline Watch, Show Referring Objects, and Calculate Retained Size for memory analysis.

6. Smarter Code Completion

Code completion now leverages machine‑learning models trained on millions of real user snippets, providing intelligent method ranking.

7. Search Everywhere Improvements

Search Everywhere can now find Git commit hashes, messages, tags, and branches directly, and also supports simple arithmetic calculations.

8. Java 15 Feature Support

IDEA now offers better support for Java 15 records (with a quick conversion to plain classes) and sealed classes, including enhanced completion, insight, and refactoring.

9. Other Changes

IDEA’s built‑in database tool now supports SQL queries against MongoDB.

Lombok is bundled as an official plugin, eliminating compatibility worries.

The VCS menu has been streamlined and renamed according to the active version‑control system.

The update focuses on improving the overall user experience rather than adding brand‑new features, preparing developers for the upcoming major 2021 release.