Can you change the colors of IntelliJ based on each project?

Question

I often have 2-4 projects open at the same time in IntelliJ IDEA 15. This quickly becomes a confusing switch between them, especially when classes are similarly named. Is there a way to use a different color scheme or change the visual component of the IDE to easily determine which project is open?

Update: Regarding IntelliJ IDEA 2016.2, the accepted answer is correct. When it was written, I used IntelliJ 15, and there was no way to accomplish this.

Answer 1

You might want to set a different background image for each project to distinguish them from each other. For example, it could be one solid color photograph. Type Cmd + Shift + A and find the Set Background Image action ( Ctrl + Shift + A on Windows).

Answer 2

Another possible solution might be to create different areas for your projects and apply custom colors. Note: I see this more as a workaround, because (IMHO) areas should mainly be used "in the project." The disadvantage of this solution is that you also have to work with built-in areas such as Test.

Answer 3

You cannot set colors at the project level.

See IntelliJ Handbook :

Project-specific settings are indicated by the current_project_icon icon in the settings dialog box.

The color option does not show this icon (and the text "For current project") next to the title.

Answer 4

The decision you made is correct, but remember that if you have more than one project open (with the PHPStorm version) when setting up the background image, both will get it even if you check “only this project”. My solution was to close one project, apply the background to another, close everything, and then open the first project.

Answer 5

My solution is based on the above - where I created a 1px x 1px color pixel and used it as a background image in .. Settings> Appearance & Behavior> Appearance is the Background Image button .. But .. I found that resizing my project window caused a huge delay in updating it to a new size. .. So .. I tried with the image 200px x 200px, and resizing now works as usual. Make sure that you also check the option "This project only."