How to Fix the Release Version 5 Not Supported Error in IntelliJ

What do you do when you create a new Maven Java project, and when you run it, you get the following error:

Error:java: error: release version 5 not supported

Sometimes the error could also read as follows:

java: Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 6 or later.

Luckily for us, the solution is exactly the same!

Solution

Open the project’s pom.xml file and add the following snippet:

<properties>
    <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
    <maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

Now open the Maven side-panel, and click the Report All Maven Projects button.

You can now successfully run your new Maven Java project.

Additional Notes

The release version 5 not supported error is quite common with newly created projects.

The java error is frequently seen in IntelliJ after a new Maven project has begun and full setup has not been completed.

By default, the project bytecode version is not actually set in Java maven projects.

Therefore it believes that your current version is set to 5.

Open up Project Settings>Build,Execution…>compiler>java compiler and change your bytecode version to your current java version.

An alternative solution

If the above does not work for you when trying to solve the java error: release version 5 not supported in IntelliJ, you can attempt the following alternative:

1. Open the IntelliJ preferences dialog.
2. Filter the navigation items by typing compiler.
3. Move to the Maven->Java Compiler section.
4. In the right hand configuration panel, there is a list of modules and their accompanying Java compile versions. This is called the target bytecode version.
5. Finally select a version bigger than 1.5.

Note that if there is no version greater than 1.5 available in the above list, then you will need to upgrade your Java Development Kit (JDK) on the local machine.

Once all of these steps have been completed, you may also want to go to the Project Structure contextual menu and select Modules. Under here you will have the option to change each of the module’s language level.

You can also always just update your pom.xml to contain the following:

<properties>
   <java.version>11</java.version>
</properties>

This will fix your java: error: release version 5 not supported problem encountered while trying to run, or execute a Maven Java application in IntelliJ IDEA.