Mac IntelliJ cursor style/type does not change (stays as default)

Question

Sometimes (every 10 minutes in average) the cursor style/type does not change from the default to edit or drag/resize when hoovering between various window components in IntelliJ Idea (OSX Yosemite).

It stays stuck in the default style unless I do some weird combo such as right click in the editor window and then again right click anywhere in the drop down menu.

I'm not sure if this is just problem of Java/IntelliJ Idea or a general problem of Yosemite though as far as I remember it happens only in IntelliJ.

Any suggestions on this matter please?

Colfin

I recently created a bug report about this: youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-139791. You can vote for it and provide additional details about your setup (JRE version and so on) which could help Jetbrains solve the problem – Nigelniger

You should post it as an answer so that it's clear what's the solution (or where to look for it). – Colfin

I have the same issue whenever I click outside the window and move back to the editor, resolved by hovering over any button or link – Neotropical

Answer 1

I was having this same issue using JRE 1.8. I was able to fix it by installing Apple's JRE 1.6 and editing the JVM property.

To specify a different JVM version, open up:

/Applications/IntelliJ\ IDEA\ 14.app/Contents/Info.plist

Modify the following property:

<key>JVMVersion</key>
<string>1.6+,1.7+</key>

to

<key>JVMVersion</key>
<string>1.6*</key>

Answer on IntelliJ Support

Worker

Thanks, this workaround (actually, this is the only supported configuration if I understand it right) solved my problem. Moreover it improved IntelliJ appearance (e.g., fonts)! – Colfin

Answer 2

This is an IntelliJ bug. I created a bugreport for it on Jetbrains' YouTrack. You can monitor its progress there.

The bugreport also contains suggested workarounds such as using IntelliJ 14.1 EAP with custom bundled JDK 1.8, which could possibly fix this issue. I have tried it but reverted back to Apple JRE 1.6 almost immediately because of font rendering issues.

Nigelniger

In the suggested IntelliJ EAP version, the problem still remains in my case. – Colfin

Answer 3

Looks like this is fixed in JBR for mac/JRE 11 build 546, just not in a major IDE release yet.

https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/JBR-1874#focus=streamItem-27-3711024.0-0

You can update the runtime to a fixed version using these steps: https://intellij-support.jetbrains.com/hc/en-us/articles/206544879-Selecting-the-JDK-version-the-IDE-will-run-under

I can confirm this is fixed by installing the latest build (near the bottom of the list): jbrsdk-11_0_5-osx-x64-b635.1.tar.gz using the steps above.

Neotropical