PyCharm: The project at ... uses a non-standard layout and cannot be attached to this project

Question

I have the latest version of PyCharm installed (2017.1). Everything works well except when I try to open two projects in the same window. I get this popup after hitting OK in the Open Project dialogue (which gives you the option to Open in a new window or Open in current window).

I tried the fix mentioned here (which is really stupid anyway). Also tried throwing a *.iml file in the ./idea directory, but it gave me this:

5/4/17
5:11 PM Load Settings
                Cannot load settings from file '/home/brandon/Downloads/chalice/.idea/chalice.iml': content truncated
                File content will be recreated

Again, it doesn't matter which project I want to open, so replace chalice with *. Opening single *.py files is fine, but I can't open projects.

Anyone have a solution so I can get back to writing Python? :D

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EDIT: So now I've downloaded the latest version PyCharm and re-installed it. Now I can't even create a new project without this popup coming up.

What's going on here ???

Answer 1

As mentioned by norok2, for Pycharm 2019.1, first open the project in a new window.

Afterward, try to attach it to the existing window.

Answer 2

• Delete the .idea folder from the second project you want to add (if it exists)

• Close the first project in current window (if opened)

• Create a New Project from existing scripts for the second project that you want to add (creates a new .idea folder)

• Open the first project and attache to it the second project

Answer 3

PyCharm support suggested that I comment out the ProjectModuleManager component from ~/.PyCharm2017.1/config/options/project.default.xml. After restarting PyCharm (2017.1.3) and removing any .idea/ directories from the modules I wanted to open, I no longer had this issue.

Answer 4

I created a new project in PyCharm and had this problem. Following this solution, I found the new project did not have a .iml file in the new project's .idea folder. I copied and pasted the .iml from another project and just changed the .iml file name to match the project. Problem solved.