How to delete projects in IntelliJ 12?

Question

I created some dummy projects. Now I don't see any way to delete the projects that I don't want. Per this suggestion I can delete files, the project is going away but there is traces of it still available. For example, on the Recent Projects you can still see the name of the project you just deleted. So I am thinking there should be another (and really easy way) to delete a project.

duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14486326/new-to-intellij-idea-12-0-2-how-do-i-delete-projects/14486534#14486534 — Robert H, Jan 28 '13 at 20:44
It is not duplicate, as I am only asking about deleting the project. The reference used in the one you linked is asking about intellij 10.5 where I am asking about intellij 12.0. — sheidaei, Jan 28 '13 at 20:52

CrazyCoder · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-29T08:50:54.093

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Press the Del (or fn and delete) key to delete a project from the Recent Projects list.

Vote for this issue to make it more obvious and user friendly.

edited Nov 29 '13 at 08:50

answered Jan 28 '13 at 20:57

CrazyCoder

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I am using Mac to code, I tried delete key but it didn't have any effect on the list. – sheidaei Jan 28 '13 at 21:09
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Tested on Mac with IDEA 12.0.2 and `Mac OS X` / `Mac OS X 10.5+` keymaps, [both work fine](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2752840/Screenshots/4yx_fb3hgqpf.png) with `Delete` key. – CrazyCoder Jan 28 '13 at 21:33
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for me was fn + delete key, not sure why though – sheidaei Jan 28 '13 at 21:40
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For anyone who comes across this later (like me), note that you have to have focus on the IJ12 Recent Projects list (at least, in the window that opens if you have no project open). Clicking a project will focus the list, but also opens the project, which isn't useful for deleting it. I found you can use Tab to bring the list into focus. – ajp15243 Feb 19 '13 at 19:36
For this Mac user, the Forward-Delete key works but not the common Delete key. – Basil Bourque May 31 '13 at 19:58
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Talk about usability failure – Steve Kuo Jun 11 '13 at 20:52
I just tried this and found that neither `delete` nor `fn` + `delete` works, but the forward-delete key (that isn't on my laptop's keyboard) does the trick. – ucarion Nov 29 '13 at 08:49
Where is the delete key in mac anyway? For me FN + Backspace worked. – Koray Tugay Jul 01 '14 at 08:11
Amusingly, I just accidentally discovered that Backspace works on Ubuntu too. On OSX, isn't Backspace the same as the Delete key for the rest of the world? I'm surprised you'd need to use an Fn key combo... – Lambart Jan 08 '15 at 00:05
Thank you @ajp15243 I couldn't get it to delete either, I tabbed to the project as you suggested and it worked, what happened to just having the x button next to the project? – alsobubbly Jun 30 '15 at 08:56
@alsobubbly I could swear I had an X at the top-right of each project in IntelliJ 14. I just updated yesterday to 14.1.4, and I don't see it. :/ – ajp15243 Jun 30 '15 at 13:26
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Using delete can remove the project appearing on the project list, but the actually project files are still in the project directory. I have to rm -r to delete the project directory. – sunraincyq Jul 03 '15 at 21:22

Kokizzu · Answer 2 · 2015-03-16T02:22:17.993

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close project first, or until this dialog appear, then hover your mouse on project you want to delete from history, then press Del main dialog

you'll be asked for confirmation

confirm

edited Mar 16 '15 at 02:22

answered Feb 25 '15 at 01:42

Kokizzu

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score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 01 '17 at 20:10

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On occasion, even with deletion of the project, some tidbits are left behind in the following Windows paths:

C:\Users\username.domain\.IntelliJIdea2017.1\system\compiler
C:\Users\username.domain\.IntelliJIdea2017.1\system\compile-server
C:\Users\username.domain\.IntelliJIdea2017.1\system\frameworks\detection
C:\Users\username.domain\.IntelliJIdea2017.1\system\conversion
C:\Users\username.domain\.IntelliJIdea2017.1\config\componentVersions
C:\Users\username.domain\.IntelliJIdea2017.1\config\tasks

This has been proven to be problematic - for example, if a new project is created using a previously deleted project name, it will create the project with data stored in the above paths, at least, this has been my experience.

The only way to TRULY delete the project is to get rid of all the garbage left behind in the aforementioned folders. I would suggest using Search Everything to find more tidbits left in the users temp folders.

edited Apr 01 '17 at 20:10

spongebob

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answered Mar 25 '14 at 21:28

Corinn Clark

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Given that creating a project with the same name is not rare in practice, this is so frustrating. PS: I'm using android studio which is based on it, this problem exist too. – realjin Aug 02 '14 at 03:50
Did any one find solution ? As after deleting project as described in most voted solution, entries of it still persists at the paths given above which really causes problems, when you will create project with same name. – Ankit Aug 19 '14 at 14:25
Do you know where these "tidbits" are stored on Mac? – boltup_im_coding Aug 31 '15 at 21:10
The "tidbits" are stored in the following location on a Mac: ~/Library/Caches/IntellijIdea/compiler ~/Library/Caches/IntellijIdea/frameworkds/detection ~/Library/Caches/IntellijIdea/conversion ~/Library/Caches/IntellijIdea/compile-server – Corinn Clark Feb 13 '17 at 17:00

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 17 '13 at 11:18

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In case your project is imported as a module, you can also go to File --> Project Structure and click 'Modules' in the left section. Now you can hit the minus button to remote the module from the project.

answered Jun 17 '13 at 11:18

dvtoever

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score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 15 '14 at 08:03

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You can also click File -> Open project ...

When a file menu appears, you can right click the unwanted project folder and select Delete.

answered Jan 15 '14 at 08:03

frankern

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score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 08 '14 at 02:32

Just figured, I am using Idea Community edition 13.1.1 and the cleanest and easiest way is to go to File > Reopen project > Clear List. I just stumbled upon this menu today. I always thought that is just to clear the latest projects from the view inside the IDE and just realized it is clearing the projects from the main Dialog too.

-VRS

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 14 '14 at 11:56

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Also, in IDEA 13.x.x you can go File-> Close Project and you'll land in the window with Recent Projects tab. There pressing Del of Fn + Del on selected project helps .

answered Oct 14 '14 at 11:56

YevPro

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score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 03 '15 at 17:46

On OSX Mountain Lion and IDEA 14, with the project open and focused, you can go to file -> close project, then delete the project from your filesystem. This removed all references to the project.

Note that if the project you are deleting is the only project open, closing it will show the welcome dialog, which will still show the project. Deleting the project manually from within your operating system is the next step, and the project will still appear in the welcome dialog until it is closed and shown again, usually by opening another project from the list, or quitting and restarting IDEA.

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 04 '17 at 10:34

In my case, I had to delete home/.IntelliJIdea2017.2/config/options/recentProjects.xml . In my file system (Ubuntu) this file appeared for some weird reason not writable and hold a list of projects I couldn't get rid of. Deleting this file and restarting will force Intellij IDEA to create a new one with an empty list of projects.

score -1 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 02 '14 at 01:37

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All you have to do is go to file - close project - to avoid seeing them again in the menu list and then you delete them from the projects directory.

answered Sep 02 '14 at 01:37

DevOnix

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How to delete projects in IntelliJ 12?

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