What does this symbol mean in IntelliJ? (red circle on bottom-left corner of file name, with 'J' in it)

Question

Under the target folder in IntelliJ for a Java project I created, I have a few java source files in the package. Beside each file the 'J' icon has a red circle with a line through it.

What does that mean? How do I fix it?

The answer you were given is correct but not full. Intellij replace C with J if the source file is not under a defined src folder or if the file is too big. I explain [Intellij Icons](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.mograbi.info%2F2011%2F05%2Fintellij-j-is-shown-instead-of-c.html&ei=BGC0UMmgGcbotQb734H4AQ&usg=AFQjCNFZQBEUJPL1XehFkUaJH41wrsuKjQ) in my blogpost. — guy mograbi, Nov 27 '12 at 06:42
Possible duplicate of [intellij icon over project files](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2728333/intellij-icon-over-project-files) — Jim G., May 17 '16 at 12:04

score 183 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 03 '17 at 10:53

183

You need to specify the source dir

File> Project Structure > Modules

click the directory and click the Sources button

It's weird because usually it's done automatically. Maybe it's better if you recreate the project again.

edited Jul 03 '17 at 10:53

ItamarG3

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answered Feb 05 '11 at 00:06

irreputable

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Please, i can't find Sources tab, Modules contains (Properties, Signing, Flavors, Build Types, Dependencies)...thank you very much. – Mohamed Seif Feb 13 '16 at 14:19
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With "Android Studio" this can happen when you use 'flavors'. The build variant will determine what files are in the source dir, so changing the build variant can change which files have the mentioned icon – CrandellWS Apr 02 '16 at 00:47
Good answer, thank you, also with IntelliJ version 15.0.1 there are examples of the folder structure to the right in the sources view. – Bob Small May 16 '16 at 16:40
I've tried this with the wrong folder (`src`) but I guess it was too high in the hierarchy, all my imports went wrong. If you have the same problem, try this with another folder. – Zoette Dec 21 '16 at 00:27
This is happening every time I add Gradle to my existing java project. Hopefully, IntelliJ will fix it soon. – Sai Mar 15 '18 at 11:52

score 66 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 03 '16 at 14:35

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If it is a maven project

right click on the pom.xml
Add As Maven Project

Thanks

answered Feb 03 '16 at 14:35

Djalas

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After doing 3. right click pom.xml -> maven -> reimport, It worked – Hari Rao Aug 09 '17 at 10:05
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Thanks, it worked. I added root pom as maven project, and it changed all my child modules automatically. Great.. – Rohit Kumar Aug 16 '19 at 15:37
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Thanks so very much. It helped. – Aditya Goel Feb 21 '21 at 16:50

Eric Green · Answer 3 · 2018-07-11T19:23:43.763

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The first answer from irreputable above that starts out with "you need to specify the source dir" is correct, but I don't see him telling you the easy way to do so.

Simply right click on the java sources folder ("java" under src/main/java if it is a Maven project for example) and select Mark Directory As > Sources Root (see screenshot below).

edited Jul 11 '18 at 19:23

answered Dec 01 '17 at 12:11

Eric Green

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score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 09 '14 at 07:21

This situation happens when the IDE looks for src folder, and it cannot find it in the path. Select the project root (F4 in windows) > Go to Modules on Side Tab > Select Sources > Select appropriate folder with source files in it> Click on the blue sources folder icon (for adding sources) > Click on Green Test Sources folder ( to add Unit test folders).

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 17 '20 at 06:28

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First mark the directory as the source root. Then go to the pom excel and right click on it. select add as maven project .

answered Apr 17 '20 at 06:28

sandamal wijeweera

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score 4 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 03 '16 at 14:41

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Find all IntelliJ (v15) symbols over here: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/help/symbols.html

This site states that this icon stands for "Java class located out of the source root. Refer to the section Configuring Content Roots for details."

edited Feb 03 '16 at 14:41

Marged

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answered Nov 25 '15 at 10:15

crazyGuy

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score 3 · Answer 7 · answered May 30 '17 at 17:05

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Another option if you're using Flavors in Android Studio:

Click Build -> Select Build Variant.

In the list click the variant you're working in and it will turn green and the others will have the red J.

answered May 30 '17 at 17:05

Dunfield

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score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 28 '19 at 15:42

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As mentioned earlier,

right click on the pom.xml

Add As Maven Project

answered Apr 28 '19 at 15:42

Arefe

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Homilzio Trovoada Santos · Answer 9 · 2017-01-24T14:43:15.870

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Press F4 at the project root and select the the root source pressing the source button. It resolved my problem!

for(; ;){
  makeGoodCode();
}

edited Jan 24 '17 at 14:43

answered Jan 06 '16 at 09:17

Homilzio Trovoada Santos

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score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 01 '14 at 14:25

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I downloaded a project from github with .idea folder. After deleting that folder, everything was ok.

answered Dec 01 '14 at 14:25

Shoham

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 23 '19 at 09:37

Actually this can happens because of two reason.

Your project not getting/ Updating your dependencies. Go to your terminal and enter mvn clean install. Or right click on pom.xml and click Add as Mevan Project.
Check your jdk has set properly to the project.

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Jul 09 '20 at 18:29

This was killing me as I had the same issue. I just going over old projects. Really redoing old lessons from class to get more practice. The repos just have compatibility issues. So I import the project. Then add the source like others state. Then close the project. Delete the .idea directory in the root and re-import project.

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered May 31 '16 at 13:58

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mark the java folder as source root.It will solve.

answered May 31 '16 at 13:58

Mukund BS

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score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Feb 04 '11 at 23:53

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It means those files aren't part of the project settings.

answered Feb 04 '11 at 23:53

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 18 '18 at 05:09

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Maybe your project has not been as android project by android studio, please make sure that plugin 'android support' has been enabled（Android Studio Preferences -> Plugins -> Select Android Support）

answered Jul 18 '18 at 05:09

Max

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Close Android Studio and delete .idea and .gradle folder from project structure and start Studio again. – Ramakant Apr 03 '19 at 12:37

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Jun 18 '19 at 14:24

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Close Android Studio and delete .idea and .gradle folder from project structure and start Studio again.

answered Jun 18 '19 at 14:24

Ramakant

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score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Sep 26 '19 at 21:03

It means your Java source files aren't part of the project.

If the suggestions mentioned here don't resolve the issue, you may have hit a rare bug like I did. Researching the exceptions found in the log helped me. In my case, disabling the "Plugin DevKit", deleting the .idea directory, and reimporting the project worked.

score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Jan 09 '20 at 16:52

0

This is what worked for me

Press File from the toolbar
Press Sync Project with Gradle Files

answered Jan 09 '20 at 16:52

Ray Rojas

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Soma Kundu · Answer 19 · 2020-09-03T21:02:54.407

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For a gradle project "./gradlew --stop" will help to resolve the problem when the source directory is correctly specified and project is properly synced.

edited Sep 03 '20 at 21:02

answered Sep 03 '20 at 11:32

Soma Kundu

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This should be a comment. – kk. Sep 03 '20 at 12:53

score 0 · Answer 20 · answered Jul 20 '23 at 13:40

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I used Repair IDE on file and it worked. I did this for every file which has j icon. Check screenshot.

answered Jul 20 '23 at 13:40

KESHAV KUMAR

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What does this symbol mean in IntelliJ? (red circle on bottom-left corner of file name, with 'J' in it)

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