JetBrains IDE Logs
JetBrains IDEs write rotating log files, thread dumps, fatal error reports, and diagnostic attachments under the JetBrains folders in LocalAppData to record indexing, plugin loading, JVM activity, VFS refreshes, and crash details. These files are useful for short-term troubleshooting, but older settled logs accumulate across IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, Rider, and other IDE versions without helping day-to-day use. Kudu removes diagnostic output older than one week, including old idea.log archives, Java crash logs, and past freeze or error reports, without touching projects, settings, plugins, accounts, or passwords.
Why clean JetBrains IDE Logs?
- Archived idea.log files from repeated IDE sessions pile up across versioned JetBrains folders, and the symptom is unexpectedly high disk usage in AppData even when your projects are small
- Old JVM crash logs and fatal error attachments stay behind after a one-time failure, so you keep seeing JetBrains folders consuming space long after the crash was resolved
- Verbose logging left enabled for troubleshooting can generate very large log files, which shows up as rapid LocalAppData growth and low free space warnings on the system drive
- Freeze dumps and thread dump snapshots are useful only during active debugging; once stale, they add clutter and make it harder to find the current log when investigating a new startup or indexing problem
- Multiple installed IDEs and toolbox-managed updates each keep their own diagnostic history, so disk use grows silently and users notice slower searches in AppData or backup jobs that take longer than expected
- After plugin errors or indexing incidents, JetBrains may write repeated stack traces to logs on every launch, and the visible result is a logs folder that keeps expanding even though your code and settings are unchanged
Cache paths Kudu targets
Windows
%LocalAppData%/JetBrains |
Common questions about JetBrains IDE Logs
Download Kudu and reclaim your disk space.
Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No account required, no feature gates, no telemetry without consent. All cleaning targets are open source and community-auditable.