Start two instances of IntelliJ IDE

Question

Well my question is pretty simple, how do I start two instances of IntelliJ (community edition). When I have one instance started and I try to start another one, all that ha

Answer 1

Go go to IntelliJ | Tools | Create Command-line Launcher...

Keep the defaults (which creates a binary named "idea"):

Now, go to your command line.

Cd to your project directory and type: idea .

This will create a .idea directory for IntelliJ configurations for that project, which it will re-use each time to start IntelliJ from that directory.

You can now go to a different project directory and type: idea .

Assuming you left the previous IntellJ IDE open, you will now have two IntellJ IDEs open, one for each project.

Notes:

1) If your project uses environment variables, then I'd recommending opening a separate terminal tab/window for each project and set that project's environment variables before running: idea .

2) Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, you may need to modify your classpath (or settings like Project GOPATH) for each IntelliJ instance.