Is it safe to delete the IntelliJ system directory?

Question

IntelliJ stores a bunch of cache files in its "system" directory (settings and downloadable plugins are written to a separate configuration directory).

Is it safe to delete this directory (not during IntelliJ) without losing the settings? The reason is that I can put it on tmpfs, which clears when shutting down.

Answer 1

This is completely safe, although there are some pretty useful caches that will be lost. For example, you will encounter a long rework of the project, restoration, Maven may decide to re-download the Internet, your VCS repository will be re-requested, the statistics used when completing the code will be re-requested.

Answer 2

Yes, it is safe. Alternatively, you can cancel caches inside IntelliJ by choosing File → Invalidate Caches ...