How do I get IntelliJ IDEA to display directories?

Question

I've been trying out IntelliJ IDEA for JavaScript editing, and I like it so far, but I'm having a small problem with a new project.

I can't seem to be able to get IDEA to display the directories in the project directory in the Project view. Even if I manually add a directory, it refuses to display it.

I think this probably has something to do with the fact that it tries to apply Java conventions, but when I imported an old Eclipse project, it showed all directories just fine.

Do I have to use Eclipse to create projects and import in IDEA to get the directories visible, or is there some other trick?

I am using IDEA version 8.1.3, and the code is just a plain bunch of HTML and JavaScript files, not in any kind of a Java environment.

Answer 1

Just use File » New Project » Static Web. All your files and directories will show up.

Answer 2

I think this is happening to you as intellij's Project window has the 'Compact Empty Middle Packages' option as checked by default. You will find this option under Setting section of the Projects tab.

Answer 3

File -> Invalidate Caches / Restart worked for me.

Answer 4

Here is how I was able to "display" all folders in my project:

1. Somehow get to the Project Settings page (for me it was right-click the project then select Modules)

2. Make sure the Sources tab is selected

3. You should see a section in the middle entitled "Excluded Folders" under Source\Folders"

4. Click on the X next to it to remove it from being excluded and it becomes visible.

Hope it this helps.

Answer 5

I found the solution thanks to Thurman Sanders and decided to post a more clear answer, in case it helps anyone else. I know an answer like this would have saved me 5 minutes of fumbling around.

Problem

Some folders are excluded, by default. In most cases, this is exactly what you want. Other times, you need to see your "build" or "target" folder, for example.

Solution

Make Intellij stop excluding the folder you want to see

1. Open the Module Settings
   • select the module and press F4
   • or right click the module and choose "open module settings"
   • or press cmd; to open project settings, then select your module
2. Follow the steps in the picture, below:
   • select the 'sources' tab
   • select the folder you want to see
   • disable the 'excluded' option
3. Press OK
   • When you're done, the folder will turn orange and finally be visible in the project view!

Answer 6

The same problem had me going crazy for a couple of hours as well, coming from Netbeans where I could just start a new project and import any source tree. My project is PHP/JS and has nothing to do with Java, so it was not intuitive to have to create a Java module, just so I could see my files listed.

I found the solution (covered above) here for more insight.