How to prevent open last projects when IntelliJ IDEA starts?

Question

By default IntelliJ IDEA opens the last project when starting.

How to start IntelliJ without opening last project?

Answer 1

IntelliJ 14, 15, 16:

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

Previously:

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

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

The fastest way is to

ctrl+shift+a (windows)

cmd+shift+a (mac)

and then just type

reopen last project on startup

Answer 4

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 ).

Answer 5

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

And then set the reopenLastProject option to false .

Answer 6

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/

Answer 7

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" />

Answer 8

Just tick the checkbox:

Settings -> General -> Reopen last project on startup

This is for idea 10.

Answer 9

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.

Answer 10

Intellij Idea or Android Studio :

From the menu go to :

File > Settings >Appearence & Behavior > System Settings .

disable the option:

Reopen last project on startup

Answer 11

On WINDOWS , the path is:

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

Then set reopenLastProject to false , ie:

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

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

Answer 12

For new IntelliJ versions [like 2020.3.2 ...]

Answer 13

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

Answer 14

要通过 IntelliJ IDEA 2019.1 社区版中的配置文件管理此设置，请前往~/Library/Preferences/IdeaIC2019.1/options/以使用 Patrick Wilkes 的回答和 ide.general.xml 编辑。

Answer 15

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

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Source (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

Note: There are also a bunch of other useful command line options as well, eg noSplash and disableNonBundledPlugins .