Changing Boot JDK

For earlier versions of JebBrain IDEs you can find the instructions in Selecting the JDK version the IDE will run under.

For later products, starting with build 141 (not sure about the exact build cutoff, could be earlier), you can add a boot jdk config file to the product's configuration directory with the full path of the location of the JDK you want the product to use:

Product	Boot JDK Config File
IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate & Community Edition	idea.jdk
PhpStorm	phpstorm.jdk
WebStorm	webstorm.jdk
PyCharm	pycharm.jdk
Other products probably follow a similar naming convention.	if you know another product's boot jdk config file then please add it to this list.

The list of directories used by the IDE is operating system dependent, see Directories used by the IDE to store settings, caches, plugins and logs – JetBrains Support

For new products on OS X with bundled JDK

You can switch the boot jdk from the GUI. However, due to a bug, or an intentional user error prevention scheme, they keep booting with the bundled jdk. Use the table above to find the file name for your product and add the boot JDK config file to the product's configuration directory.

• PhpStorm: (last checked in PS-142.4491) To change the boot jdk you need to add a phpstorm.jdk file with the path to the alternate jdk, for example:

    /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_51.jdk
  

  to the /Library/Preferences/WebIde95 directory. Restart PhpStorm.

• WebStorm: (last checked in WS-142.4723) To change the boot jdk you need to do one of:

  1. add a webstorm.jdk file with the path to the alternate jdk, for example:

      /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_51.jdk
     

  2. use the GUI to select the JDK but then rename wstorm.jdk created by the gui to webstorm.jdk that it uses to get the boot jdk setting

  in the /Library/Preferences/WebStorm11 directory. Restart WebStorm.