File templates
File templates are specifications of the default contents for new files that you create. Depending on the type of file you are creating, templates provide initial code and formatting expected in all files of that type (according to industry or language standards, your corporate policy, or for other reasons). For example, this can be boilerplate code, meta information about the author, and so on.
IntelliJ IDEA provides predefined templates for all supported file types suggested when you create a new file. The set of suggested file types depends on the module and configuration, as well as the properties of your current location in the Project tool window. For example, IntelliJ IDEA will not suggest creating a Java class file outside of the Java source or test directories. For more information, see Content roots.
For example, if you right-click a directory in the Project tool window and select New, you will see a list of files that you can create in this context. These files have corresponding file templates configured in the settings.
Manage and configure file templates
Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | File and Code Templates.
For more information, see File and Code Templates.
By default, the list of templates contains only predefined templates provided by IntelliJ IDEA. Some of them are internal, which means they cannot be deleted or renamed. IntelliJ IDEA shows the names of internal templates in bold. The names of templates that you modified, as well as custom templates that you created manually, are shown in blue.
The following procedures describe how to create file templates. Similar procedures can be used for creating include templates.
Create a new file template
Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | File and Code Templates.
On the Files tab, click
and specify the name, file extension, and body of the template.Apply the changes and close the dialog.
Copy an existing file template
Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | File and Code Templates.
On the Files tab, click
and modify the name, file extension, and body of the template as necessary.Apply the changes and close the dialog.
Save a file as a template
Open a file in the editor.
From the main menu, select .
In the Save File as Template dialog, specify the new template name and edit the body, if necessary.
Apply the changes and close the dialog.
Syntax
File templates use the Velocity Template Language (VTL), which includes the following constructs:
Plain text rendered as is.
Variables that are replaced by their values. For example,
${NAME}inserts the name provided by the user when adding the file.Various directives, including #parse,
#set,#if, and others.
Start typing $ or # to see completion suggestions for available variables and directives.
For more information, see the VTL reference guide.
The following example shows the default template for creating a Java class in IntelliJ IDEA:
In this template:
The
#ifdirective checks whether the package name is not empty, and if so, adds the name to the package statement passed as the${PACKAGE_NAME}variable.The
#parsedirective inserts the contents of another template namedFile Header.java.Then the template declares a public class with the name passed as the
${NAME}variable (name of the new file).
When you create a new Java file, this template generates a file with contents similar to the following: