Does IntelliJ IDEA work on a 64-bit Windows system?

Question

I have downloaded and installed IDEA 13.1. However, even having a 64-bit system, Windows has automatically installed the program in the folder Program Files (x86), which is dedicated for 32-bit programs.

Is there another download for the 64-bit version or maybe a special setting to make it suitable for a 64-bit system?

Answer 1

In C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\${Intellij Idea version}\bin, there is an executable called idea64.exe. This is for 64-bit systems. You can simply change your IntelliJ shortcut path to it.

You also need to add a new environment variable IDEA_JDK_64 pointing to your 64-bit JDK so IntelliJ can use a 64-bit JDK.

idea64.exe uses this JDK search sequence:

1. IDEA_JDK_64 environment variable
2. ..\jre64 directory
3. system Registry
4. JDK_HOME environment variable
5. JAVA_HOME environment variable

More can be found in a related IntelliJ support article.

Answer 2

If installing latest version as of today 2016.3.2, while installing the installation wizard prompts to either choose 32-bit or 64-bit.