I was wondering how I can change the line length in IntelliJ.
Since I use a pretty high resolution, I get that line that shows 120 characters straight through the middle of the screen. Can I change it from 120 to, say, 250?
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possible duplicate of [Vertical column in Intellij Idea at arbitrary position](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19206238/vertical-column-in-intellij-idea-at-arbitrary-position) – KeatsPeeks Jun 22 '14 at 21:39
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4See the linked question : Preferences -> CodeStyle -> General -> Right margin – KeatsPeeks Jun 22 '14 at 21:40
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2You should use that feature to improve the readability of your code. It's a good feature. I set mine to 80 characters. – Kevin Beal Jan 23 '18 at 22:12
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Right, no need to worry about fellows with fHD who will possibly read your code in future – chill appreciator Jan 11 '22 at 08:24
7 Answers
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IntelliJ IDEA 2018
File > Settings... > Editor > Code Style > Hard wrap at
IntelliJ IDEA 2016 & 2017
File > Settings... > Editor > Code Style > Right margin (columns):
ROMANIA_engineer
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50I would also add that, to enforce this value when formatting, you should activate Settings -> Editor -> Java/Groovy/JSON -> Wrapping and Braces -> Ensure right margin is not exceeded – Edu Castrillon Oct 15 '15 at 15:26
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1I also like the "Wrap on typing" option. It does all the alignment for me. – Zajo Jan 03 '18 at 15:35
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What about plebs that have smaller monitors(1080p, etc.) and possibly will look on your graceful long lines? Also what about Git conflicts when you need horizontal scroll in 3 windows in row? – chill appreciator Jun 15 '21 at 15:38
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It seems like Jetbrains made some renaming and moved settings around so the accepted answer is no longer 100% valid anymore.
Intellij 2018.3:
hard wrap - idea will automatically wrap the line as you type, this is not what the OP was asking for
visual guide - just a vertical line indicating a characters limit, default is 120
If you just want to change the visual guide from the default 120 to lets say 80 in my example:
Also you can change the color or the visual guide by clicking on the Foreground:
Lastly, you can also set the visual guide for all file types (unless specified) here:
Andrzej Rehmann
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It may be useful to notice that very good answers given above may not be enough. It is because of one more tick is required here:
Marcin T.P. Łuczyński
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3Thats what I was looking for, Did not understand whats Hard Wrap there then. Just say page size – xploreraj Apr 03 '19 at 11:03
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Be aware that need to change both location:
File > Settings... > Editor > Code Style > "Hard Wrap at"
and
File > Settings... > Editor > Code Style > (your language) > Wrapping and Braces > Hard wrap at
cck
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I didn't understand why my this didn't work but I found out that this setting is now also under the programming language itself at:
'Editor' | 'Code Style' | < your language > | 'Wrapping and Braces' | 'Right margin (columns)'
Jelle den Burger
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Open .editorconfig in the root of your project (or create one if you don't have any) and add:
max_line_length = 80
The IDE should pick it up immediately (works in PhpStorm, developed by the same company). As a bonus, it can be committed to GIT and will stay consistent across different editors you may be using in the future. More info on .editorconfig.
