Error:java: invalid source release: 8 in Intellij. What does it mean?

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I had the same issue when “downgrading” a project from Java 8 to Java 6. The reason was that it was not changed at all places in IntelliJ.

In IntelliJ 13.1.4 I had to change Java and SDK version on the following places not to get this error:

  • File -> Project Structure -> Project Settings
  • File ->
    Project Structure -> Module Settings -> Tab: Sources: Language Level
  • File -> Project
    Structure -> Module Settings -> Tab: Dependencies: Module SDK
  • File -> Settings -> Compiler -> Java Compiler -> Target bytecode
    version

screen shot of File > Project Structure > Project

screen shot of File > Project Structure > Modules > Sources

screen shot of File > Project Structure > Modules > Dependencies

screen shot of File > Settings/Preferences > Compiler > Java Compiler

The last bullet was the one that was not updated in my case. Once I changed this, the error disappeared.

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