How to clear the IntelliJ project index?

Question

I've run into trouble that makes me suspect there is a bad index file that needs to be cleared. The symptoms are:

• Cmd+N will only find a subset of classes in the project
• Trying to run JUnit test on a package won't find the test classes in that package.

Before suspecting a bad index I reinstalled IntelliJ 8.1.3, then I removed and re-checked out the source code. It didn't help. Only after checking out the code into a different folder did IntelliJ start working correctly again, but only for the new project folder. The old project folder is still infected.

So where is that index and how do I clear it?

Answer 1

This happens to me occasionally. Under your home directory (~ on Linux/Unix, C:\Users\LoginName under Vista/Win7, C:\Documents and Settings... under XP) you will find a directory called .IntelijIdea8x. You will want to close down IntelliJ and delete a couple of key directories, most probably:

• system/caches
• possibly system/js_caches;
• possibly system/jsp_caches (although probably not in this case).

Restart it and that should fix it.

Answer 2

File | Invalidate Caches, restart. Or manually delete the following folders:

Linux/Windows: USER_HOME/.IntelliJIdeaXX/system

Mac: ~/Library/Caches/IntelliJIDEAXX

(where XX is your IDEA version).