How to enable the Modal Commit interface in IDE versions 2025.1 and later

Background/Situation

In recent updates starting from release 2025.1, the modal commit interface behavior for Git and Mercurial has moved to a separate plugin: https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IJPL-177161

Plugin page: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/26647-modal-commit-interface

Question

How to enable the old modal commit window feature in the IDE version 2025.1 or later?

Answer

To enable the classic modal commit user interface in IDEs starting from 2025.1 update, it is necessary to follow these steps:

1. Install and activate the Modal Commit Interface plugin. This can be done via:

   • Navigating to File | Settings (Ctrl+Alt+S) on Windows/Linux or Preferences (⌘ + ,) on Mac.
   • Searching for and selecting Plugins, then searching for the "Modal Commit Interface" plugin.
   • Click Install and apply the changes.

2. Adjust the settings to use the modal commit interface. In the settings menu:

   • Go to Advanced Settings | Version Control.
   • Enable the option Use modal commit interface for Git and Mercurial.

3. Modify the staging area settings to ensure compatibility:

   • Navigate to Version Control | Git.
   • Disable the option Enable staging area (uncheck).

After completing these steps restart the IDE to apply the changes.