CODEWITHSUNDEEP
intellij-ideaupdates
Stephane Bersier
Stephane Bersier

Reputation: 799

How to update IntelliJ properly, so that settings are kept?

Every once in a while, "IntelliJ IDEA is ready to update.". In these cases, it is sometimes required to uninstall the current version and to install the new version. When that happens, the installer asks whether to uninstall the previous version silently: "Uninstall silently (settings and configuration from old versions will not be deleted)".

This to me is ambiguous. Does "uninstall silently" mean that a copy of my settings will be cluttering my file system, or does it mean that the settings will be ported to the new version? Asked the other way around: if I don't check the "uninstall silently" box, will I have to reconfigure IntelliJ from scratch?

I would like to have the update change as little as possible to my settings. So I would like to keep all the settings and plugins in the updaded version. But I don't want old bits of configuration and plugin files "lying around" on my disk. Should I check the "uninstall silently" box?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 11469

Answers (3)

baobab159
baobab159

Reputation: 61

I checked both checkboxes: Uninstall silently and uninstall previous versions. The toolbox app is unnecessary, I'd even tell it's problematic.

Upvotes: 0

Harsha Siriwardana
Harsha Siriwardana

Reputation: 172

Use "JetBrains TOOLBOX". It is a easy way to manage your installed IDEs.

If you have updates it will indicate and you just one click away to install them

ToolBox

Upvotes: 7

naXa stands with Ukraine
naXa stands with Ukraine

Reputation: 37993

All IntelliJ settings are stored in a version-specific folder that is located in home directory by default. If you choose "(settings and configuration from old versions will not be deleted)" option than your settings are not deleted (obviously).

  • If you then install the same version or make an upgrade to minor version of IntelliJ IDEA then these settings are going to be reused.
  • If you make an upgrade to another major version then (during installation) your home directory is scanned and you will be asked whether you want to reuse existing settings from a previous version of IntelliJ IDEA. The settings are migrated if you agree (copied to a new version-specific directory).
  • I haven't tried to make a downgrade. =) It may be an interesting experiment, try to conduct it yourself if you want.

If you don't delete these settings, your home directory may look like this after a few upgrades:

user home/  
├── .IntelliJIdea2017.2  
├── .IntelliJIdea2017.3  
└── .IntelliJIdea2018.1

You may find it interesting:

Upvotes: 7

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