Essential IntelliJ IDEA Tips for Java Developers

IntelliJ IDEA, a leading Java IDE, provides many productivity‑boosting features; this guide lists 28 practical tips covering code navigation, configuration, and plugin usage.

1. View Code History

Right‑click a Java class and select Local History >> Show History to see recent changes and restore previous versions.

2. Adjust IDEA Virtual Memory

Use Change Memory Settings → Edit Custom VM Options (or edit the *.vmoptions file) to increase the IDE’s heap size.

3. Set Eclipse‑style Keymap

Switch the keymap to Eclipse to avoid remembering two different shortcut sets.

4. Ignore Case in Completion

Disable the case‑sensitivity option (or set it to none ) so that typing string matches String .

5. Disable Unused Inspections

Turn off inspections that are not needed for your project to reduce resource consumption.

6. Configure Javadoc Template

Set up a custom Javadoc comment template for quick documentation insertion.

7. Show Method Separators

Enable visual separators between methods to improve readability in poorly formatted code.

8. Display Multi‑Line Tabs

Uncheck the single‑line tab option to show multi‑line tabs, making it easier to manage many open tabs.

8.1 Tab limit – Adjust the limit via settings - editor - General - Editor tabs - tab limit .

9. Jump to Braces

Use Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] to quickly move to the opening or closing brace of a method.

10. Code Completion at End of Line

Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter after typing a statement (e.g., if(xxx) ) to auto‑insert the closing brace.

11. Fuzzy Method Search

Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N and type a partial name (e.g., Peo.te ) to locate methods; alternatively use Ctrl+Shift+R for file‑wide symbol search.

12. Preview Class Code

Use Ctrl+Alt+B to navigate to a class, then Ctrl+Shift+I to preview it without opening a new tab.

13. Find Call Hierarchy

Press Ctrl+Alt+H to view where a method is invoked; previously this required Ctrl+Shift+F searches.

14. Code Templates (Postfix Completion)

Customize postfix completions such as sout or syso in the Postfix Completion settings.

15. Auto‑Import and Optimize Imports

Press Alt+Enter to import missing classes and Ctrl+Alt+O to remove unused imports.

16. Codota Plugin

Install Codota to prioritize frequently used classes and methods in code completion.

17. Quick Javadoc View

Press F2 to display the Javadoc of a class or field instantly.

18. Rainbow Brackets Plugin

Install Rainbow Brackets to color‑match paired brackets.

19. Add Multiple Services to a Single Run Window (Microservice Projects)

Navigate: View → Tool Windows → Services → Add Services to run several modules together.

20. Global IDEA Settings for New Windows

Adjust settings (e.g., Maven configuration) under Other Settings to apply to newly opened windows.

21. Mapper ↔ XML Navigation

Use the Free MyBatis plugin and click the green arrow to jump between mapper interfaces and XML files.

22. Set Background Image

Install the BackgroundImage plugin to use a custom picture as the IDE background.

23. Visual Maven Dependency Tree

Click the Show Dependencies button (or enable it in settings) to view the Maven dependency graph as an image.

24. Switch to Previously Active Tab

Use Alt+← and Alt+→ to cycle between the last accessed tabs.

25. Built‑in SSH Tool

Configure host credentials and start an SSH session directly from IDEA.

26. Sequence Diagram Plugin

Right‑click a Java file and select Sequence Diagram to generate a visual call‑chain diagram.

27. Capture Thread Dump

Click the camera icon during debugging to obtain a thread dump, helping identify which thread executes a given method.

28. Run Same Project on Different Ports

Add a custom VM option such as # 8993 is a different port from application.yml -Dserver.port=8993 to launch multiple instances on separate ports.