How to Install IntelliJ IDEA (Free Community Edition)

IntelliJ IDEA is an integrated development environment (IDE) for Java and other programming languages, built by JetBrains. In the previous lessons we wrote code in a plain text editor and ran it from the command line. In real-world development almost nobody works that way: an IDE handles code completion, error highlighting, running and debugging your programs. There are other Java IDEs as well — Eclipse and NetBeans, for example — but in this course we use IntelliJ IDEA because it is the most popular choice among Java developers.

In this guide we will download and install IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition for free and walk through the process step by step on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Community vs Ultimate: which one to choose

IntelliJ IDEA comes in two editions:

If you are just starting to learn Java, the free Community Edition is more than enough — that is the one we will install.

Downloading IntelliJ IDEA

Open the download page on the JetBrains website — JetBrains is the company that develops IntelliJ IDEA. At the top of the page, select your operating system: Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Click the Download button.

Installing on Windows

After the download finishes, run the installer (the .exe file). On the welcome screen click Next:

If you already have older versions installed, the installer offers to remove or keep them. Choose the option you need and click Next again:

On the next step you can set the Destination Folder for IntelliJ IDEA or keep the default path. Click Next:

Here it is handy to tick Create Desktop Shortcut, and under Create Associations check .java so that these files open in the IDE. Click Next:

On the last screen click Install and wait for the installation to finish:

When it is done, you can tick Run IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition to launch it right away and click Finish:

The Windows installation is complete — the IDE is ready to launch.

Installing on macOS

For macOS the download page offers two builds: .dmg (Intel) and .dmg (Apple Silicon). Pick the build that matches your processor: choose Apple Silicon for Macs with M1/M2/M3 (or newer) chips, and Intel for older Intel-based Macs. Then:

1. Open the downloaded .dmg file.
2. Drag the IntelliJ IDEA CE icon into the Applications folder.
3. Launch the IDE from Launchpad or the Applications folder. On the first launch macOS asks you to confirm opening an app downloaded from the internet — click Open.

Installing on Linux

On Linux the easiest way to install IntelliJ IDEA is through the JetBrains Toolbox App or a snap package. To install from the terminal:

sudo snap install intellij-idea-community --classic

If you do not use snap, download the .tar.gz archive from the download page, extract it, and start the IDE with its launcher script:

tar -xzf ideaIC-*.tar.gz -C ~/opt
cd ~/opt/idea-IC-*/bin
./idea.sh

On the first run, idea.sh offers to create a menu entry, which makes it convenient to open the IDE later.

First launch and what comes next

On the first launch the IDE asks you to accept the user agreement and pick a theme (light or dark). After that the welcome screen opens, where you can create a new project or open an existing one.

In the next lesson we will take a closer look at creating a project in IntelliJ IDEA and write our first Java program.