How to enable case-sensitive file system support in PyCharm for macOS

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How to enable case-sensitive file system support in PyCharm for macOS

PyCharm, a dedicated Python Integrated Development Environment (IDE), assumes that macOS filesystems are case-insensitive. However, if you are on a case-sensitive file system, unexpected things may happen, such as missing files, undetected external changes, file cache conflicts and excessive indexing. We will in this guide show how you can change the file system settings in PyCharm.

File system case-sensitivity mismatch

When you see the following message upon startup you will know that your project resides on a case-sensitive file system.

The Custom Properties file

The solution is to edit the custom properties config file under Help > Edit Custom Properties.

Click Create if this is the first time that you are editing the file.

Add the following text onto a new line:

idea.case.sensitive.fs=true

When you re-start PyCharm you should no longer see the warning message.

Summary

This guide has shown how you can enable case-sensitive file system support in PyCharm for macOS. This is important in order to avoid missing files, undetected external changes, file cache conflicts and excessive indexing of files.

Further information

For more information, visit JetBrains, the creators of PyCharm.

• https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/