JetBrains Toolbox keeps a spare copy of every IDE: the rollback setting, and the leftovers
Toolbox keeps the previous version of each IDE so you can roll back, plus download caches and leftover folders. The three settings that give the space back.
Each JetBrains IDE is well over a gigabyte installed. The Toolbox App, which installs and updates them, keeps the previously installed version of each one so that a bad update can be rolled back instantly. With four or five IDEs, that spare set adds up.
The three settings
Open the Toolbox App, then its Settings, and expand Tools. JetBrains documents these there:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Keep previous versions of tools to enable instant rollback | Off means no spare copies are kept. There is also a button to remove the ones kept now |
| Clean up leftover tool directories | Removes folders from IDEs that were uninstalled or moved |
| Clear download cache | Removes downloaded installers |
Toolbox shows how much space each one takes before you click. By default, Toolbox already removes the stored previous versions after a few days, so the saving is largest just after a round of updates.
What Toolbox does not clean
Each IDE version also has its own caches, indexes and logs, outside the app, and those stay when the IDE version is removed:
du -sh ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/* ~/Library/Logs/JetBrains/* 2>/dev/null | sort -hFolders named for versions you no longer have, such as IntelliJIdea2023.2, are safe to remove. Our guide to JetBrains caches covers each folder.
Common questions
Why does JetBrains Toolbox keep old IDE versions?
It keeps the previous version of each tool so you can roll back instantly if an update causes problems. The setting can be turned off in Toolbox Settings, Tools.
How do I delete old IntelliJ versions from Toolbox?
In the Toolbox App, open Settings, expand Tools, and remove the previous versions kept for rollback. Clean up leftover tool directories and clear the download cache there too.
Does Toolbox remove old IDE caches?
No. Caches, indexes and logs for each version stay in ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains and ~/Library/Logs/JetBrains, and folders for versions you no longer have can be removed.