# Scopes

> **TL;DR**
> `File | Settings | Appearance and Behavior | Scopes` for Windows and Linux
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> `IntelliJ IDEA | Settings | Appearance and Behavior | Scopes` for macOS
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> `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) ![the Settings icon](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.settings.svg)

Use this page to configure [file scopes](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html).

A scope ![the Scope icon](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.ide.localScope.svg) is a named set of files, packages, and folders in a project.

Scopes help you [visually distinguish](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html#associate-file-color-with-a-scope) project items in different IDE views and limit the range of certain operations.

![The Scopes page in Settings](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/ij-settings-scopes.png)

## Main toolbar

| Item | Tooltip | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ![the Add button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.add.svg) | Add Scope   `Alt+Insert` (Windows), `⌘ N` (macOS), `⌃ N` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ N` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Alt+Insert` (XWin), `Alt+Insert` (GNOME), `Alt+Insert` (KDE), `Alt+Insert` (Emacs), `Ctrl+N` (Sublime Text), `⌘ N` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Alt+Insert` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+N` (Visual Studio), `⌘ N` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Alt+Insert` (Eclipse), `⌘ N` (Eclipse (macOS))  | Add a new [local](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html#local-sc) or [shared](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html#shared-sc) scope. |
| ![the Remove button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.remove.svg) | Delete   `Alt+Delete` (Windows), `⌘ ⌦` (macOS), `⌘ ⌦` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ ⌦` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Alt+Delete` (XWin), `Alt+Delete` (GNOME), `Alt+Delete` (KDE), `Alt+Delete` (Emacs), `Alt+Delete` (Sublime Text), `⌘ ⌦` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Alt+Delete` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+R, D` (Visual Studio), `⌘ R, D` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Alt+Delete` (Eclipse), `Alt+Delete` (Eclipse (macOS)) | Delete the selected scope from the list. |
| ![the Copy configuration button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.copy.svg) | Copy Configuration   `Ctrl+D` (Windows), `⌘ D` (macOS), `⌘ D` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ D` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+D` (XWin), `Ctrl+D` (GNOME), `Ctrl+D` (KDE), `Meta+D` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Shift+D` (Sublime Text), `⌘ ⇧ D` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+D` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+D` (Visual Studio), `⌘ D` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+D` (Eclipse), `Ctrl+D` (Eclipse (macOS))  | Create a copy of the selected scope. |
| ![the Save as button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.save.svg) | Save As | Save the selected local scope as shared or the selected shared scope as local. |
|  ![the Move up button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.moveUp.svg)  ![the Move down button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.moveDown.svg)  | Move Up / Move Down | Move the scopes up and down in the list. |

> **Tip:**
> For more information about working with scopes, refer to [Scopes and file colors](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html).

## Scope configuration controls

| Item | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Name | Specify the scope name. |
| Pattern |    Specify the pattern that defines the current scope. The following elements and structures can be used:       1. The `file:` modifier. The element is mandatory.    2. The `*` asterisk to denote any symbol in a filename or file extension.    3. Logical operators `AND (&&), OR (\|\|)`, and `NOT (!)`.      For more information, refer to [Scope language syntax reference](scope-language-syntax-reference.html).                            Storing empty or incorrect patterns is not allowed. In such cases, IntelliJ IDEA shows a Syntax Error warning.                          |
| Include |  Included the selected item. If the current item is a folder, the nested subfolders are ignored. |
| Include Recursively | Include the selected folder and all nested subfolders with their contents. |
| Exclude | Exclude the selected item. If the current item is a folder, the nested subfolders remain in the scope. |
| Exclude Recursively | Exclude the selected folder and all nested subfolders with their contents. |

> **Tip:**
> For more information about working with scopes, refer to [Scopes and file colors](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html).

## Scope toolbar

| Item | Tooltip | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Project tree view |  |    The tree view contains all the files available in your project. In the view, select the desired files to be included in the current scope and have the scope definition pattern generated automatically.    |
| ![the Flatten Packages button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.objectBrowser.flattenPackages.svg)  | Flatten Packages | When this option is enabled, all the packages are displayed as a single-level tree view. This enables you to find a package somewhere deep within the project by its name without going through the entire tree hierarchy. |
| ![the Group by Scopes Type button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.actions.groupByTestProduction.svg) | Group by Scope Type |    When this button is pressed, the items in the tree-view are grouped below three nodes:        * Library Classes    * Production Classes    * Test Classes     This button is only available for the Packages presentation of scopes.    |
|  ![the Compact Middle Packages button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.objectBrowser.compactEmptyPackages.png)  | Compact Middle Packages | This option lets you specify how or whether empty packages are to be shown. (Empty packages are ones that contain nothing but other packages.) |
| ![Show files](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.fileTypes.anyType.svg) | Show Files |    When this option is enabled, source files are displayed explicitly in the tree view. When the files are shown, they can be selected for exclusion/inclusion into a pattern.       If this option is not disabled, all files are hidden from the tree.    |
| ![the Show Modules button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.actions.groupByModule.png)  | Show Modules | When this option is enabled, items in the tree-view are shown below the corresponding module nodes. Otherwise, the project items are shown below the corresponding package (like a source path with packages).  |
| ![the Flatten Modules button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.objectBrowser.flattenModules.svg) | Flatten Modules | When this option is enabled,  modules in module groups are shown on the same level with other modules.  |
| ![Show included only](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.filter.svg) | Show Included Only | When this option is enabled, the tree shows only the elements that are included in the scope. |
|    Packages     Project    |  |    Define how you want the project files to be displayed in the tree view.                       The project tree view presentation, [scopes language syntax](scope-language-syntax-reference.html) and the available toolbar buttons differ depending on the selection.    |

> **Tip:**
> For more information about working with scopes, refer to [Scopes and file colors](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html).

## Legend of the project tree view

| Item | Description |
| --- | --- |
| ![the green color sample](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/green_square.png) | Folders and files included in a scope are marked with green. |
| Black | Folders and files excluded from a scope. |
| ![the dark blue color sample](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/blue_square.png) | Folders that contain both excluded and included files and subfolders are marked with dark blue. |

## See also

### Procedures

[Scopes and file colors](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html)

### Reference

[Scope language syntax reference](scope-language-syntax-reference.html) [Inspections](inspections-settings.html) [File Colors](settings-file-colors.html)