Changing the userdir

You can specify the new location for the .netbeans userdir via the --userdir <path> startup option when starting NetBeans. New userdir location cannot be in Netbeans folder. See: FaqNetbeansConf.

The <path> argument may refer to an existing or a new folder name. If pointing to an existing dirctory, it will be reused. If you provide a non-existent path, a new userdir will be created by NetBeans.

NetBeans 7.1 permits a --cachedir <path> option to store the IDE’s “caches” elsewhere, such as on a fast local disk rather than a slow but backed-up network drive. The cache consists of files that may become large; may change frequently; and can be freely deleted and recreated. For example, the results of the Java classpath scan would live in the cache.

Examples

• Windows:
  netbeans.exe --userdir C:\MyOtherUserdir --cachedir "%HOME%\Locale Settings\Application Data\NetBeans\7.1\cache"

• Unix:
  ./netbeans --userdir ~/my-other-userdir

• Mac OS:
  Open the netbeans executable file /Applications/NetBeans_drupal/NetBeans 8.0.2.app/Contents/MacOS in editor and change DEFAULT_USERDIR_ROOT variable to different directory.