397

By default IntelliJ IDEA opens the last project when starting.

How to start IntelliJ without opening last project?

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  • 7
    Whoever decided this setting needs to be enabled by default clearly has never worked in a codebase where you need to have ~10-15 projects open regularly. I used to lose ~5 minutes of my life waiting for Intellij to reload projects that I didn't need open every time I restarted it. Thank god there's a way to turn that off! Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 14:37
  • Strange how the default for IntelliJ/Rider are different. Commented Nov 3, 2023 at 1:54

15 Answers 15

Reset to default
533

IntelliJ 14, 15, 16:

Settings -> Appearance & Behaviour -> System Settings -> Reopen last project on startup

Previously:

Settings -> General -> Startup/shutdown -> Reopen last project on startup.
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8 Comments

In 14 this is now in Settings -> Appearance & Behavior -> System Settings. Or you can use the search functionality to find it easier.
Settings is also renamed as Preferences under Intellij IDEA tab.
Also works for other IDE's from JetBrains such as CLion.
Just search "System Settings" in the search panel.
Is there a way to do it from the Toolbox, that would set it up for all IDEs?
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221

If for any reason you need to change this setting without using the UI (for example if IDEA is hanging when it opens your project), you can find the setting in eg

/.IntelliJIdea10/config/options/ide.general.xml

The location of the file is documented in http://devnet.jetbrains.net/docs/DOC-181

The specific setting you need to change (or add) is

<application> <component name="GeneralSettings"> <option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" /> </component> </application>

Mac

In the latest version of IntelliJ, the location of this file on a Mac is

~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea2018.2/options/ide.general.xml

Settings Repository

If you have the settings repository enabled, then it can be found here:

~/.IntelliJIdea${idea_version}/config/settingsRepository/repository/ide.general.xml

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9 Comments

OSX: sed -i.bak 's/"reopenLastProject" value="true"/"reopenLastProject" value="false"/' ~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea13/options/ide.general.xml
Add the line if missing: <option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" />
In IntelliJ 17, when I needed to stop projects from reopening at startup, editing the <option name="openPaths"> tag in the file recentProjects.xml worked for me.
In Idea 2020.1, the path was hanged to ~/.config/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.1/options/ide.general.xml
In 2022/23, MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2022.3/options/ide.general.xml
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33

If you're just trying to start up IntelliJ once without opening any previous projects (eg due to IntelliJ crashing with a specific project), you can use the dontReopenProjects option from the command line.

Example:

C:\dev\ide\IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition 2020.2\bin\idea64.exe dontReopenProjects

Note: There are also a bunch of other useful command line options you can use, such as noSplash and disableNonBundledPlugins.

Source CLI documentation (credit to mikebridge for pointing it out in a comment on this answer): https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/working-with-the-ide-features-from-command-line.html#arguments

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2 Comments

For Linux at least, it's nosplash not noSplash (which opens a new file called noSplash in Light mode). However, both dontReopenProjects and dontreopenprojects are correct. Unfortunate inconsistency.
For good measure, if you have PhpStorm installed the command is called PhpStorm. If you use JetBrains Toolbox they will (attempt to) add that executable to your path automatically. And good to know is that PhpStorm disableNonBundledPlugins only does something useful if PhpStorm (your JetBrains IDE) is not running. It starts the IDE with that setting. It does not modify the currently running IDE.
19

The fastest way is to

ctrl+shift+a (windows)

cmd+shift+a (mac)

and then just type

reopen last project on startup

enter image description here

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1 Comment

Hallelujah! thank you very much
14

On the Mac the file is located at ~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea12/options/ide.general.xml

And then set the reopenLastProject option to false.

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14

For Intellij 13 on Mac 10.9 (Mavericks), it is located at ~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea13/options/ide.general.xml as well. ( I don't have enough reputation to vote up Nicholas' answer ).

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12

IntelliJ 2016.x keeps this information in its own file now. On my MacBook Pro w/OSX: 

~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea2016.2/options/recentProjects.xml

If IntelliJ hangs on startup, force quit the app then rename this file to something like "recentProjects.xml.bak."

Upon restart you'll get the option screen for creating or opening a project.

Note: the actual path may vary depending upon which version of IntelliJ you have installed eg.

IntelliJIdea2016.1/ IntelliJIdea2016.2/ IntelliJIdea2016.3/

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2 Comments

You can also just go remove all mentions of the project giving you problems from this file and keep the rest of your recent settings intact.
it's better to remove the lines under <option name="openPaths"> tag that you want to prevent from opening on launch
10

For new IntelliJ versions [like 2020.3.2 ...]

enter image description here

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1 Comment

For anyone who needs the ide.general.xml file for this version, it has been moved to ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2020.3/options/ide.general.xml. You may need to manually add the <option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" /> line to the GeneralSettings block.
9

Just tick the checkbox:

Settings -> General -> Reopen last project on startup

This is for idea 10.

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9

I opened this file in VI using this path:

~/Library/preferences/IdeaIC13/options/ide.general.xml

and changed this value: 

<option name="reopenLastProject" value="true" />

to 

<option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" />
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7

In IntelliJ 14 it is:

Settings -> Appearance & Behaviour -> System Settings -> Startup/Shutdown -> Reopen last project on startup

You can bring the settings window by pressing CTL+ALT+S.

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6

Intellij Idea or Android Studio:

From the menu go to :

File > Settings >Appearence & Behavior > System Settings.

disable the option:

Reopen last project on startup

introducir la descripción de la imagen aquí

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3

On WINDOWS, the path is:

C:\Users\[USERNAME]\.IntelliJIdea[VERSION]\config\options\ide.general.xml

Then set reopenLastProject to false, i.e.:

<application> <component name="GeneralSettings"> <option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" /> </component> </application>

PS: You may have to create the option if it doesn't exist.

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1 Comment

Since 2020.1 WebStorm settings are located here: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\WebStorm[VERSION]\options\ide.general.xml
0

For The latest version of Android Studio IDE

Just follow this steps

File > Settings > System Settings > click Reopen the last project Check-box > Apply or Okay

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0

To manage this setting through the config file in IntelliJ IDEA 2019.1 Community Edition, head to ~/Library/Preferences/IdeaIC2019.1/options/ to use Patrick Wilkes' answer with the ide.general.xml edit.

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