How to prevent open last projects when IntelliJ IDEA starts?

By default IntelliJ IDEA opens the last project when starting.

How to start IntelliJ without opening last project?

IntelliJ 14, 15, 16:

Settings -> Appearance & Behaviour -> System Settings -> Reopen last project on startup

Previously:

Settings -> General -> Startup/shutdown -> Reopen last project on startup.

If for any reason you need to change this setting without using the UI (for example if IDEA is hanging when it opens your project), you can find the setting in eg

/.IntelliJIdea10/config/options/ide.general.xml

The location of the file is documented in http://devnet.jetbrains.net/docs/DOC-181

The specific setting you need to change (or add) is

<application>
  <component name="GeneralSettings">
    <option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" />
  </component>
</application>

Mac

In the latest version of IntelliJ, the location of this file on a Mac is

~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea2018.2/options/ide.general.xml

Settings Repository

If you have the settings repository enabled, then it can be found here:

~/.IntelliJIdea${idea_version}/config/settingsRepository/repository/ide.general.xml

The fastest way is to

> ctrl+shift+a (windows) > > cmd+shift+a (mac)

and then just type

> reopen last project on startup

For Intellij 13 on Mac 10.9 (Mavericks), it is located at ~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea13/options/ide.general.xml as well. ( I don't have enough reputation to vote up Nicholas' answer ).

On the Mac the file is located at ~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea12/options/ide.general.xml

And then set the reopenLastProject option to false.

IntelliJ 2016.x keeps this information in its own file now. On my MacBook Pro w/OSX:

~/Library/Preferences/IntelliJIdea2016.2/options/recentProjects.xml

If IntelliJ hangs on startup, force quit the app then rename this file to something like "recentProjects.xml.bak."

Upon restart you'll get the option screen for creating or opening a project.

Note: the actual path may vary depending upon which version of IntelliJ you have installed eg.

IntelliJIdea2016.1/ IntelliJIdea2016.2/ IntelliJIdea2016.3/

Just tick the checkbox:

Settings -> General -> Reopen last project on startup

This is for idea 10.

I opened this file in VI using this path:

~/Library/preferences/IdeaIC13/options/ide.general.xml

and changed this value:

<option name="reopenLastProject" value="true" />

to

<option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" />

In IntelliJ 14 it is:

> Settings -> Appearance & Behaviour -> System Settings -> Startup/Shutdown -> > Reopen last project on startup

You can bring the settings window by pressing CTL+ALT+S.

Intellij Idea or Android Studio:

From the menu go to :

File > Settings >Appearence & Behavior > System Settings.

disable the option:

Reopen last project on startup

For new IntelliJ versions [like 2020.3.2 ...]

If you're just trying to start up IntelliJ once without opening any previous projects (eg due to IntelliJ crashing with a specific project), you can use the dontReopenProjects option from the command line.

Example:

C:\dev\ide\IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition 2020.2\bin\idea64.exe dontReopenProjects

---

Source (credit to mikebridge for pointing it out in a comment on this answer): https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/working-with-the-ide-features-from-command-line.html#arguments

Note: There are also a bunch of other useful command line options as well, eg noSplash and disableNonBundledPlugins.

On WINDOWS, the path is:

C:\Users\[USERNAME]\.IntelliJIdea[VERSION]\config\options\ide.general.xml

Then set reopenLastProject to false, i.e.:

<application> <component name="GeneralSettings"> <option name="reopenLastProject" value="false" /> </component> </application>

---

PS: You may have to create the option if it doesn't exist.

For The latest version of Android Studio IDE

Just follow this steps

File > Settings > System Settings > click Reopen the last project Check-box > Apply or Okay

To manage this setting through the config file in IntelliJ IDEA 2019.1 Community Edition, head to ~/Library/Preferences/IdeaIC2019.1/options/ to use Patrick Wilkes' answer with the ide.general.xml edit.