Chances are, every developer using IntelliJ has their own favorite plugins.
If I could only pick one – excluding the ones that come preinstalled – it would definitely be the Developer Tools – IntelliJ IDEs Plugin.
Why do I love it?
Because it brings so many small, everyday tools right into the IDE – tools I often need, and previously had to Google or open a terminal for.
Having them one click away just saves time and keeps my flow intact.
Let me highlight a few that I personally find the most useful:
✨ Handy Features I Use Constantly
🕒 Cron Expression Builder
Need to generate a cron string? You can build it visually in seconds – no need to memorize which field is minutes, hours, or day of the week.
📅 Date and Time Converter
Whether I need a Unix timestamp or a formatted date, it's right there – fast and customizable.
🔐 Hashing Tool
Quickly generate MD5, SHA, or other hashes – great when you need to work with APIs, auth tokens, or just test inputs.
📄 Lorem Ipsum Generator
Self-explanatory – need placeholder text for UI or emails? A few clicks, and you've got paragraphs of it.
📝 Notes
Probably the one I use the most. Drop any thought, reminder, or snippet here without polluting your codebase with // TODO or // FIXME.
Clean, accessible, and incredibly useful.
🔑 Password Generator
Need a secure password while developing something? No need to open a browser tab.
📷 QR Code & Barcode Generator
More useful than you'd think – especially for frontend developers working with mobile or packaging systems.
🧹 SQL Formatter
Have a messy SQL query? One click and it's neatly formatted – no more squinting at spaghetti.
🆔 UUID Generator
Testing something that needs unique IDs? Boom, instant UUIDs, right inside your IDE.
🎨 Color Picker
Super handy for frontend devs or game developers (hello LibGDX!).
Need a hex code or RGBA for a UI element? Grab it in seconds.
🧭 Final Thoughts
So… is it a must-have? Technically, no – it won't write your code or make architectural decisions.
It's not an AI tool.
But in real-world, everyday development, it can save you precious minutes and remove small but annoying distractions.
And honestly, for something free, lightweight, and that integrates so naturally into the IntelliJ ecosystem – it's worth a try.
🔧 Have you used this plugin? Or do you have a different favorite tool I should know about? Let me know in the comments!
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