Hey there! I totally get the frustration of squinting at tiny UI elements in IntelliJ IDEA—especially when your editor font is nice and readable but the rest of the interface feels like it’s shrunk. Let’s walk through all your questions one by one.

There are two reliable ways to scale the toolbar, icons, and overall UI:

通过IDE设置（2021.1及以上版本） #

This is the easiest method for newer versions:

• Open Settings (press Ctrl+Alt+S on Windows/Linux, Cmd+, on Mac)
• Navigate to Appearance & Behavior > Appearance
• Look for the UI scaling section. Select Use custom scaling and enter a percentage (e.g., 120% or 150%—start with small increments to find what works for your display)
• Click Apply and restart IntelliJ IDEA for changes to take effect

通过配置文件（旧版本或更精细控制） #

If you’re on an older version or need more precise scaling (like 1.3x instead of whole percentages):

• Close IntelliJ IDEA completely
• Find the idea.properties file:
  • Windows: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.IntelliJIdea<Version>\config\idea.properties
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea<Version>/idea.properties
  • Linux: ~/.IntelliJIdea<Version>/config/idea.properties
• Open it in a text editor, add or modify this line:

  idea.ui.scale=1.5
  

  (Replace 1.5 with your desired scaling factor—1.0 is default, 1.2 is 120%, etc.)
• Save the file and restart IntelliJ IDEA

To make the UI font match your editor’s font size:

• Open Settings again and go to Appearance & Behavior > Appearance
• In the UI font section, click the dropdown to select the same font you use in your editor (e.g., JetBrains Mono, Consolas)
• Adjust the font size to match your editor’s size (if your editor uses 14pt, set the UI font to 14pt)
• Click Apply—you won’t need to restart for this change to show up

Pro tip: I personally use JetBrains Mono for both UI and editor, set to 14pt with 150% UI scaling on my 4K monitor—no more switching between different font sizes!

This depends on your operating system:

Windows #

• For desktop shortcuts: Right-click the IntelliJ shortcut > Properties > Go to the Shortcut tab > Click Change Icon
  • You can select a larger icon from the default set, or download a high-resolution .ico file and browse to it
  • Alternatively, on your desktop, right-click empty space > View > Select Large icons to make all desktop shortcuts bigger
• For taskbar icons: Right-click the IntelliJ icon on the taskbar > Right-click IntelliJ IDEA > Properties > Follow the same "Change Icon" steps above. You can also drag the taskbar to make it taller, which automatically enlarges icons.

Mac #

• Find IntelliJ IDEA.app in your Applications folder
• Right-click it > Get Info (or press Cmd+I)
• Check the box next to Use large icon at the top of the info window
• If you want an even bigger custom icon, you can replace the default one: Right-click the app > Show Package Contents > Navigate to Contents/Resources > Replace idea.icns with a high-resolution .icns file (make sure to back up the original first!)

Linux #

• For desktop shortcuts: Open the shortcut file (usually in ~/.local/share/applications or /usr/share/applications) in a text editor
• Look for the Icon= line, and replace the path with a high-resolution icon file (.png works well, ideally 256x256 or larger)
• Save the file, log out and back in, or restart your desktop environment to see the change

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Anton Sorokin