Wayland native mode: slow scrolling or high GPU load

Problem

JetBrains IDEs running in native Wayland mode (WLToolkit) on Linux show one of these symptoms:

• Jerky or slow scrolling in the editor, slow UI repainting, and slow response during navigation. This is more noticeable on systems with integrated graphics, such as Intel Iris or UHD.
• In version 2026.3 and later: high GPU load while the IDE is idle or during scrolling. System monitors show the load in the compositor process, such as kwin_wayland on KDE Plasma.

Native Wayland mode is the default in a Wayland session starting with version 2026.1.

Cause

The rendering pipeline of native Wayland mode depends on the IDE version:

Software rendering causes the slow scrolling. Vulkan rendering moves the drawing to the GPU. It is in ongoing development (WLToolkit: Vulkan rendering pipeline), and on some systems it causes high GPU load or visual artifacts.

Resolution

Open Help | Edit Custom VM Options, add the options for the IDE version, and restart the IDE.

Versions 2026.1 and 2026.2: slow scrolling

Enable Vulkan rendering and disable the X11 pipelines:

-Dsun.java2d.vulkan=true
-Dsun.java2d.opengl=false
-Dsun.java2d.xrender=false

Vulkan rendering works on modern Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA GPUs with Vulkan drivers installed. Minor visual artifacts are possible.

Version 2026.3 and later: high GPU load or artifacts with Vulkan

Disable Vulkan rendering and keep native Wayland mode:

-Dsun.java2d.vulkan=false

The IDE then uses software rendering, so scrolling can be slower.

Any version: switch to XWayland

If the options above do not help, use the X11 toolkit, which runs through XWayland:

-Dawt.toolkit.name=XToolkit

On IDE versions before 2026.1, XWayland is the default. Switching to native Wayland there can improve scrolling:

-Dawt.toolkit.name=WLToolkit

Linux: how to turn on/off native Wayland mode describes how to switch between the modes.

Additional steps for slow scrolling

• Disable smooth scrolling: Settings | Editor | General, clear Smooth scrolling
• Disable Code Vision: Settings | Editor | Inlay Hints, clear Code Vision