When I create a project in JetBrains WebStorm, a folder called .idea
gets created. Is it okay if I delete it? Will it affect my project?

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1http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/webhelp/project.html – Ray Nicholus Jun 11 '13 at 16:44
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To easily manage all the folders/files you do not want to commit to Git, you can use the IntelliJ plugin .ignore: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7495?pr=idea – panza Jun 05 '16 at 10:57
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but where is the `.idea/` folder supposed to be at? I am looking under ever folder my project has and it's in none of them. – Charlie Parker Feb 07 '22 at 21:17
4 Answers
When you use the IntelliJ IDE, all the project-specific settings for the project are stored under the .idea
folder.
Project settings are stored with each specific project as a set of xml files under the .idea folder. If you specify the default project settings, these settings will be automatically used for each newly created project.
Check this documentation for the IDE settings and here is their recommendation on Source Control and an example .gitignore file.
Note: If you are using git or some version control system, you might want to set this folder "ignore".
Example - for git, add this directory to .gitignore
. This way, the application is not IDE-specific.
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1*"If you are using git or some version control system, you might want to set this folder "ignore". "* .. how exactly? – Shafizadeh Jan 05 '17 at 09:52
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4@Shafizadeh .gitignore should be a hidden file in the root directory of you app. Edit this text file and add "/.idea" as it's own line. – Lv99Zubat Jan 13 '17 at 07:34
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Forget about future git crashes due to the .idea folder (especially when working on the same project from different computers). Simply open your .gitignore file and add `.idea` – Pathros Feb 09 '20 at 23:42
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but where is the `.idea/` folder supposed to be at? I am looking under ever folder my project has and it's in none of them. – Charlie Parker Feb 07 '22 at 21:17
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Note) Not only IntelliJ, but most other Jetbrain's IDEs such as Webstorm, Pycharm, etc. create `.idea` folder. – starriet May 16 '23 at 23:57
There is no problem in deleting this. It's not only the WebStorm IDE creating this file, but also PhpStorm and all other of JetBrains' IDEs.
It is safe to delete it but if your project is from GitLab or GitHub then you will see a warning.

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1but where is the `.idea/` folder supposed to be at? I am looking under ever folder my project has and it's in none of them. – Charlie Parker Feb 07 '22 at 21:17
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it's initially got hidden. but you can see it when you open this project on any editor – MH Fuad May 26 '22 at 13:06
As of year 2020, JetBrains suggests to commit the .idea
folder.
The JetBrains IDEs (webstorm, intellij, android studio, pycharm, clion, etc.) automatically add that folder to your git repository (if there's one).
Inside the folder .idea
, has been already created a .gitignore
, updated by the IDE itself to avoid to commit user related settings that may contains privacy/password data.
It is safe (and usually useful) to commit the .idea
folder.

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15Hi, could you please share a link to JetBrains' suggestion? I would like to explore it, see the reasons for that etc. – Lada Jul 05 '20 at 09:28
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2@Lada @Itzkhan [This is the document](https://intellij-support.jetbrains.com/hc/en-us/articles/206544839) that explains how to manage `.idea` over version control. – Amruth Pillai May 31 '21 at 07:30
It contains your local IntelliJ IDE configs. I recommend adding this folder to your .gitignore
file:
# intellij configs
.idea/

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1but where is the `.idea/` folder supposed to be at? I am looking under ever folder my project has and it's in none of them. – Charlie Parker Feb 07 '22 at 21:17