How to completely uninstall IntelliJ IDEA on Mac
Dragging IntelliJ IDEA to the Trash removes the app itself, but its support files, caches and settings stay on your Mac. Here is where they are and how to remove all of them.
IntelliJ IDEA names its settings, cache and log folders after its version, so each major version you have used leaves its own folders under JetBrains in Application Support, Caches and Logs. Older Community Edition installs use folders starting with IdeaIC instead of IntelliJIdea.
Export your settings (File > Manage IDE Settings > Export Settings) or turn on settings sync if you want them later. Your projects, by default in ~/IdeaProjects, are not part of the app. The Maven repository in ~/.m2 and the Gradle cache in ~/.gradle are shared with other tools. If you installed through JetBrains Toolbox, remove the IDE from Toolbox instead.
com.jetbrains.intellijRemove IntelliJ IDEA by hand
- Quit IntelliJ IDEA. If it has a menu bar icon or runs in the background, quit that too.
- Open the Applications folder and drag IntelliJ IDEA to the Trash.
- In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), paste each location below, and move what you find to the Trash. Not every location exists for every version.
- Empty the Trash, then restart your Mac so nothing from IntelliJ IDEA is left running.
Where IntelliJ IDEA keeps its files
/Applications/IntelliJ IDEA.app~/Library/Caches/com.jetbrains.intellij~/Library/Preferences/com.jetbrains.intellij.plist~/Library/Saved Application State/com.jetbrains.intellij.savedState~/Library/Containers/com.jetbrains.intellij~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.jetbrains.intellij~/Library/WebKit/com.jetbrains.intellij
Other places IntelliJ IDEA uses
~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea*Data~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea*Data~/Library/Logs/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea*Data~/Library/Preferences/jetbrains.idea.*.plistData
The quick way
Diskzy finds IntelliJ IDEA and the files listed here, shows the size of each one, and moves them to the Trash together. Files that another app also uses are left alone.
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