Intellij Annotate Option Grayed Out

Question

I am trying to look at who changed a line in Intellij 15. I know I can use git blame but I want to learn how to do it correctly in intellij. I am right clicking on the line numbers on the file but when I get the context menu the annotate option is grayed out. What setting am I missing?

I looked at this page and couldn't find an answer. What am I missing?

Traveler

Have you set the Version Control settings correctly for your project? – Hedveh

@BasLeijdekkers I like to think so but I would be open to suggestions of what I could do differently that would help. I tried to do a checkout and commit with intellij and it appeared to work – Traveler

How about showing the history of a file, does that work? – Hedveh

@BasLeijdekkers yep that works fine – Traveler

i solved it by following answer: https://mcmap.net/q/293419/-change-xcrun-developer-path-for-android-studio-intellij – Temblor

Answer 1

Looks like its a fresh project. First configure the Version Control like Git and than commit at least once. After first commit Annotate option will not be grayed out.

Also update git for any new version.

Warnerwarning

It didn't help for me anyway :( I have idea 2018.2 and git 2.19.0 and mac os 10.13 Git was downloaded with homebrew – Ostiole

Answer 2

If you check File > Settings > Version Control and see that your current project is listed under "Unregistered Roots", go to (on the menubar) VCS > Enable Version Control Integration. It will ask you to select the VCS tool you use, then click ok and you'll have all the integrations working (including the annotate feature which uses git blame).

Wolfy

Checking File > Settings > Version Control was useful for me even after I had enabled integration, as the resolution of the root path involved a symlink. After adding the non symlinked path, it works as expected. – Experimental

there is no "Enable Version Control Integration" in current version of IntelliJ. How to do it in current version? – Hoenack

ah, found it! I had to go to "File > Settings > Version Control", find the project with unregistered root and press a plus sign ("+"). After that, everything works. – Hoenack

Oh man, this saved the day. What causes this to happen? I don't remember anything in particular changing about my project. And the solution was so simple. – Essonite

Answer 3

The answer by @activedecay let me in the right direction. In my case, I have a multi-module project - each has a separate git repo - but we're all in the same workspace.

In my case, Intellij IDEA 2017.2, the Preferences -> Version Control (update from 2022: or Preferences > Version Control > Directory Mappings) panel shows a listing of all the project roots. The module with the disabled "Annotate" option was in the "Unregistered Roots" section.

To fix the problem, I selected the module and pressed the "+" icon in the lower toolbar to register the module root with Intellij VCS. The change is immediate and the "Annotate" options becomes available.

Slaw

This worked for me in IntelliJ 2022.1, although I found the project roots under Preferences > Version Control > Directory Mappings. – Countrywoman

Answer 4

Your VCS is not enabled, hence the issue. Below is the solution for that:

1. Click on the VCS option in the menu bar
2. Enable VCS
3. Select your version control
4. Done, you should be able to use the annotate option.

Grayback

Succinct answer. And it worked in 2022! – Guardado

Answer 5

1. Make sure the file is tracked by version control
2. Add the project to "Version Control" settings

Meshwork

Which option should I use for "VCS"? I don't see Subversion, which is what my repo uses. – Internationalism

Turns out I needed to install the Subversion plugin. Works fine now. – Internationalism

Answer 6

I had the same issue with the Annotate being greyed out however VCS was already set up. Editing the current VCS Directory Mapping fixed the issue for me.

Go to

• Settings -> Version Control
• Click on the current entry for your your application listed under projects.
• Click the pen icon to edit it
• Hit Ok, then ok to close the main dialog

Mattern

For me, it was the git executable. it was not in the given path. had to change the path and then it worked. – Sprawl

"Editing the current VCS Directory Mapping fixed the issue for me" for me selecting the VCS directory to the parent dir worked, somehow IntelliJ selected a child dir as VCS root directory – Auk

Answer 7

Under the version control setting, make sure to remove any unregistered roots, I had a similar issue where there was a Unregistered roots entry was found, after removing this unwanted entry, I was able to annotate on file.

Diastole

Answer 8

I the following two screen short will solve your problem: 1.

I hope after those steps you will be able to see who changed a line.

Bonnybonnyclabber

Answer 9

Here are the steps i followed : Go to VCS -> Checkout from Version Control -> Git -> give the URL for your repository.

The annotate option will be enabled now.

Halftrack

Answer 10

I had exactly the same issue and managed to solve it by updating git. The reason for that is that I have recent InteliJ Idea and an old 2.1.x git installed.

For Mac:

brew upgrade git
brew link git

followed by IDE restart.

Assertive

Answer 11

Perhaps you did not check Git Integration while setting up a fresh installation of IntelliJ. It happened to me when I updated to a major release. When I was setting up the new program, I might have unchecked the Git Integration on the wizard installation.

In order to solve this for IntelliJ Community 2019.1, access File > Settings > Plugins, go to the tab Installed and make sure the plugin Git Integration is checked. You should restart the IDE in order to make the Annotate action work.

Looney

Answer 12

I had the same issue, but my VCS settings were all configured properly. It turns out that git itself was considering the file as a brand new file and therefore didn't have any history for it. The file was actually not new, but simply renamed. While my rename changes were unstaged, git understood it as two separate files: a deletion of the old file and creation of a new file. However, once I git added the "deleted" file and the "new" file, git understood that it was actually a rename and IntelliJ was able to annotate on the file as expected.

I'm not sure why git didn't understand the rename when it was unstaged, but hopefully this helps someone!

Countrywoman

Answer 13

Make sure you don't have your project opened in more than one instance/window of your IDE.

If you open an already opened project in a new IDE instance/window, in that new instance/window the annotate option will be grayed out.

In my case, I had several instances/windows of the IDE each running its project. Then I opened what I thought to be a new project in a new IDE instance/window. When I checked for the annotate it was grayed out.

After going, with no success, through all of the answers here, I just noticed the same project was already opened in another IDE instance/window.

Closed the most recent and all was fine with the other one.

Steps to reproduce:

• open a project;
• open the same project in a new window;
• check the annotate option in the second window, it will be grayed out.

Fix:

• Close one of the IDE windows.

Pettifer

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