# Review incoming GitHub pull requests

Pull requests are used in open-source projects or in some corporate workflows to manage changes from contributors and to initiate code review before such changes are merged.

You can receive a request to review code changes from your colleague or a fellow contributor. As a pull request reviewer, you can give your feedback directly in IntelliJ IDEA:

1.  [Select a pending review request](#incoming_pull_requests) in the Pull Requests tool window.

2.  [Submit your comments and suggestions](#provide-feedback).

3.  [Merge or close the pull request](#merge-or-close-an-incoming-pull-request).

> **Tip:**
> For information about creating a pull request, refer to [Create and merge GitHub pull requests](create-and-merge-github-pull-requests.html).

## Manage incoming pull requests

If you are a project maintainer, and you have a GitHub remote configured for your project, you can view and manage incoming pull requests directly from IntelliJ IDEA.

To open the Pull Requests tool window, select `Git | GitHub | View Pull Requests` in the main menu.

![GitHub Pull Requests tool window](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/incoming_pull_requests.png)

In the Pull Requests tool window, you can:

* Filter requests by state, author, label, assignee, and review status.

* Sort pull requests by their activity status: newest, oldest, most or least commented, recently or least recently updated.

* Jump to a pull request on GitHub: select a pull request and choose View Pull Request in Browser from the context menu.

When you double-click a pull request from the list, you can see the overview and timeline tabs.

![Pull Requests tab with an open pull request](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/pull_request_options.png)

In this view, you can:

* View the timeline of a selected pull request to track its progression.

* Select a particular commit to filter the list of changes.

* Create a local branch based on incoming changes: open a pull request, click the branch with incoming changes, and choose Checkout 'branch name' in the context menu.

To learn about more options, refer to [Review a pull request](#provide-feedback).

> **Tip:**
> To make sure you always have the latest information about the pull requests, press `Ctrl+F5` (Windows), `⌘ R` (macOS), `⌃ F5` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ R` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+F5` (XWin), `Ctrl+F5` (GNOME), `Ctrl+5` (KDE), `Ctrl+F5` (Emacs), `Ctrl+F5` (Sublime Text), `⌘ R` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+F5` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+R` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ⌥ R` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+F5` (Eclipse), `Ctrl+F5` (Eclipse (macOS)). Alternatively, right-click the list of pull requests and select Refresh List.

## Review a pull request

When there are changes that require your attention, a white dot marks the Pull Requests tool window and the unseen pull requests are marked with blue dots.

![A blue dot on the pull requests tool window icon](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/gh_pending_updates.png)

Procedure:

1. In the main menu, go to `Git | GitHub | View Pull Requests`.

2. In the list of pull requests, select the one you want to work with and double-click it.

IntelliJ IDEA opens an overview of the selected pull request.

![Tab with an overview of the selected pull request](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/view_pull_request.png)

* Next to the title, there is the pull request number. Click it if you want to open the pull request on GitHub.

* When you click View Timeline, a new tab opens that shows the pull request's progression and high-level comments on a pull request as a whole.

* To filter the list of changed files, select the commit you want to investigate in Changes from.

* Right-click any file to open the context menu for this file.

* In case there are any comments or suggestions, there is a counter with the number of comments in the list of files.

3. To start your review, click the branch with incoming changes and choose Checkout 'branch name' in the context menu.

![Checkout branch with incoming changes](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/local_branch_from_pr.png)

By checking out the branch, you get the full context to test the incoming changes and check how they work.

After the successful checkout, IntelliJ IDEA starts the Review mode. That means you can see the highlighted changes and comments not only in the Diff tab (`Ctrl+D` (Windows), `⌘ D` (macOS), `⌘ D` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ D` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+D` (XWin), `Ctrl+D` (GNOME), `Ctrl+D` (KDE), `Ctrl+D` (Emacs), `Ctrl+D` (Sublime Text), `⌘ D` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+D` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+D` (Visual Studio), `⌘ D` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+D` (Eclipse), `⌘ D` (Eclipse (macOS))), but right in the editor (`F4` (Windows), `⌘ ↓` (macOS), `F4` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `F4` (macOS System Shortcuts), `F4` (XWin), `F4` (GNOME), `F4` (KDE), `F4` (Emacs), `F4` (Sublime Text), `F4` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `F4` (NetBeans), `F4` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ↓` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `F12` (Eclipse), `F3` (Eclipse (macOS))).

> **Note:**
> You can configure the review mode or disable it in the top-right corner of the editor by clicking Review Mode.
>
>
>
> ![Popup with options](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/disable_review_mode.png)
>
> You can also customize the color used to indicate changed lines in `Settings | Editor | Color Scheme | Code Review`.

4. Select the file you want to investigate, right-click it and select Jump to Source `F4` (Windows), `⌘ ↓` (macOS), `F4` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `F4` (macOS System Shortcuts), `F4` (XWin), `F4` (GNOME), `F4` (KDE), `F4` (Emacs), `F4` (Sublime Text), `F4` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `F4` (NetBeans), `F4` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ↓` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `F12` (Eclipse), `F3` (Eclipse (macOS)) from the context menu.

In the file that opens, pink markers in the gutter indicate the changes and the comments that are available for review.

Clicking the comment icons in the gutter will hide and open the comments.

![Changes and comments in the review mode](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/gh_review_mark_gutter.png)

Clicking the pink markers reveals a popup displaying the original code.

![Review mode - view differences](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/github_pull_request_review_view_diff.png)

5. Hover over the gutter and click ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.general.add.svg) to leave a comment.

![Comment field with a suggestion](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/gh_add_suggestion.png)

* Select Add Single Comment to post a comment immediately and get other reviewers notified.

* Select Start Review to add multiple comments. Before you submit your review, your comments are marked as Pending, and you can edit or delete them. ![A comment with a thumbs-up reaction](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/comment_options.png)

To comment on multiple lines, either click ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.general.add.svg) and drag the blue borders to cover the desired range, or highlight the text first and then click ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.general.add.svg).

> **Tip:**
> To reduce the horizontal space around the comments, go to `Settings | Advanced Settings | Code Review Tools` and clear the Keep increased margins for Diff threads checkbox.

For suggestions, add your version of the code wrapped in a Markdown code block with the `suggestion` specified as a language.

```
```suggestion
Your suggestion for this code line
```
```

Navigate between the comments by using ![the Up button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.up.svg) / ![the Down button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.down.svg) in the upper toolbar or pressing `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Windows), `⌘ ⌥ ↑` (macOS), `⌘ ⌥ ↑` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ ⌥ ↑` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (XWin), `Alt+Shift+Up` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ⌥ ↑` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Eclipse), `Ctrl+Alt+Up` (Eclipse (macOS)) / `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Windows), `⌘ ⌥ ↓` (macOS), `⌘ ⌥ ↓` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ ⌥ ↓` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (XWin), `Alt+Shift+Down` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Sublime Text), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ⌥ ↓` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Eclipse), `Ctrl+Alt+Down` (Eclipse (macOS)).

To mention a user, type `@` and select the required username from the suggestion popup. After the mention is added, you can click it to open the user's profile in the browser.

> **Note:**
> If you do not have the option to leave a comment, check your access rights to the GitHub repository.

6. When you are ready to finish the review, click Submit in the pull request overview.

![After clicking submit, three options appear](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/approve-requestchanges-comment-gh.png)

Alternatively, open the VCS widget and click Submit Review.

Select one of the possible outcomes:

* Approve: to approve merging changes.

* Request changes: to submit feedback, a pull request author must apply the suggested changes before merging.

* Comment: to submit a comment without an approval.

## Merge or close an incoming pull request

If you have push access to the repository, after submitting your review and solving all the issues, you can merge or close the pull request.

Procedure:

1. In the main menu, go to `Git | GitHub | View Pull Requests`.

2. In the list of pull requests, select the one you want to work with and double-click it.

3. At the bottom of the overview, there is a button with merge options that differ depending on the stage of the review process and your push access rights.

![Pull request overview with merge options](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/gh_merge_pr.png)

* If you have approved the updates after your review, you can merge the pull request by clicking Merge. For more merge options, click ![the Down arrow](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.expui.general.chevronDown.svg) and select Squash and Merge to squash the commits with your changes into one before merging them or Rebase to rebase the commits from the pull request branch and add them to the base branch.

* Click ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.actions.more.svg) More and select Request Review if you need another opinion on this pull request or Close Pull Request if you do not want to merge it.

* If you are ready to merge the pull request without submitting your review, in the pull request overview, click ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app-client.actions.more.svg) `More | Merge Review` and select Merge, Squash and Merge, or Rebase. ![Merge options available before submitting review](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/gh_merge_pr_no_review.png)

4. When the pull request is merged, you can delete the merged branch in the tab with the pull request's timeline.

If necessary, you can restore the deleted branch using the browser link that appears in the same timeline view after the deletion.

## See also

### External Links

[https://help.github.com/articles/about-pull-requests/](https://help.github.com/articles/about-pull-requests/)