IntelliJ IDEA High Memory Usage

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Show memory use

   Copy steps
   1. Right-click the status bar
   2. Select Memory Indicator
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Change the heap

   Copy steps
   1. Open Help | Change Memory Settings
   2. Set a value that fits your RAM (leave room for the OS and browsers)
   3. Click Save and Restart. The low-memory warning appears when free heap after GC drops below 5% of the maximum
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Tune the build process heap

   Copy steps
   1. Open Settings | Build, Execution, Deployment | Compiler
   2. Change Shared build process heap size
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Disable unused plugins

   Copy steps
   1. Open Settings | Plugins | Installed
   2. Disable plugins you do not use, then restart
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Close unneeded modules

   1. Unload modules you are not working on via the Project Structure or Maven/Gradle tool windows
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

The IDE uses several GB of RAM, shows a low-memory warning, freezes during GC, or the OS starts swapping.

Why it happens

• Heap limit too low causing constant garbage collection (or too high for the machine)
• Large project with many modules and indexes
• Too many plugins
• Separate build process heap using extra memory
• Many open editor tabs and tool windows

This guide also covers

• intellij high memory usage
• intellij using too much ram
• intellij out of memory
• intellij memory settings

The same problem in other apps

All slow, laggy or resource-hungry guides →

• VS Code High CPU Usage (VS Code)
• Cursor Slow, High CPU or Memory Usage (Cursor)

Other JetBrains IntelliJ errors

• IntelliJ IDEA Indexing Takes Forever
• IntelliJ IDEA Slow or Freezing
• IntelliJ IDEA Cannot Resolve Symbol
• IntelliJ IDEA Maven Import Failed
• IntelliJ IDEA Gradle Sync Failed
• IntelliJ IDEA JDK Not Found or Invalid
• IntelliJ IDEA License or Activation Error
• JetBrains AI Quota Exceeded in IntelliJ IDEA