Skip to main content
The Terminal tool window runs your shell in the IDE. Each tab is a real pseudo-terminal session, rendered with xterm.js. In a remote project the shell runs on the remote machine.

​
Open the terminal

Showing an empty Terminal window opens a tab in the start directory (the project root by default). To open a terminal in a specific folder, right-click it in the Project tool window and choose Open In › Terminal, or run Open in Terminal.

​
Tabs and splits

  • + (New Tab) opens a tab with the default shell.
  • The ▾ button (More Terminal Options) has New Terminal Tab, New Predefined Session (one entry per installed shell, plus SSH Session…), Split Right, Split Down and Settings.
  • Right-click a tab for Rename Session…, Close Tab, Close Other Tabs, Split Right, Split and Move Right, Split Down, Split and Move Down and Unsplit. Double-clicking a tab also renames it.
  • Drag tabs to reorder them, or drop a tab on the edge of another group to split.
A tab is named after your custom name, otherwise after the program running in it (when the shell reports it), otherwise Local, Local (2) and so on. A spinner shows while a command runs; Exited or Failed shows once the session ends. When a session’s process exits, the terminal prints the exit code; press Enter to restart it. With Close session when it ends on (the default), the tab closes instead. Closing a tab that still runs a program asks you to confirm.

​
Across restarts

OpenIDEA remembers each project’s terminal tabs: their directory, custom names, the shell used and the split layout (up to 32 tabs). After a restart each tab starts a new session in its directory. Scrollback and running commands are not restored.

​
Keys in the terminal

Other Ctrl combinations go to the shell. Shift+Enter sends Esc + Return, which TUIs such as Claude Code treat as a newline. Esc clears a selection first, then goes to the shell. With Override IDE shortcuts on (the default), the terminal keeps most keys for the shell. A short list of IDE shortcuts still works: tool window keys, Find Action, Go to File, Class and Symbol, Settings, Push, Recent Files, the switcher and the terminal actions. Use Configure terminal keybindings on the settings page to review them. The pane’s context menu has Copy, Paste, Select All, Clear Buffer, Split Right, Split Down and Close Session (plus Restart Session after the process exits).

​
Find

⌘F (or Find in Terminal) opens the find bar over the scrollback (10,000 lines). Toggle Match Case (Alt+C), Words (Alt+W) and Regex (Alt+X); Enter and Shift+Enter move between matches, Esc closes the bar.
  • http, https and file URLs open in your browser. OSC 8 hyperlinks from programs work too.
  • File locations such as src/main.rs:42:7 or Main.java(42,7) open in the editor at that line. Paths resolve against the shell’s current directory, then by file name across the project.
  • Pasting copied files pastes their paths, quoted for the shell in use (bash/zsh/fish, PowerShell or cmd). Pasting an image from the clipboard saves it to a file and pastes that file’s path.
  • Dropping files from your file manager onto the terminal types their quoted paths at the prompt. They are not run.
Turn off Highlight hyperlinks in the settings to stop detecting links.

​
Shell and environment

The default shell is:
  • macOS/Linux: your login shell (from the user database, then $SHELL), falling back to /bin/zsh, /bin/bash, /bin/sh. zsh, bash, sh, fish, ksh, dash, tcsh and csh start as login shells.
  • Windows: pwsh.exe, then powershell.exe, then %COMSPEC%, then cmd.exe.
New Predefined Session also offers the other shells it finds: zsh, bash, fish, nu and pwsh on macOS/Linux; PowerShell, cmd, WSL and Git Bash on Windows. Every session gets TERM=xterm-256color, COLORTERM=truecolor, TERM_PROGRAM=OpenIDEA and TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION, plus LANG=en_US.UTF-8 if LANG is unset. Your own variables from the settings are added on top. With Shell integration on, zsh, bash and fish report the current directory and command start/end to the IDE. That keeps links and new splits in the right folder and lets the tab title follow the running program.

​
Settings

Settings › Tools › Terminal: Changes apply to open sessions right away. Colours follow the IDE theme.
  • Tools › Start SSH Session… opens an SSH connection from a saved SSH configuration in a terminal tab. See SSH.
  • Docker containers can open a shell in a terminal tab with Create Terminal. See Docker and services.