Software⏱️ 3 min read📅 2026-06-15

How to Fix: Intellij - Previously running maven install process started to give error

IntelliJ IDEA Maven build error fix

Quick Answer: Check if the target directory is a directory, not a file, and adjust the path accordingly.

The error 'Maven Resources Compiler: Failed to copy '/Users/user/Projects/r2d2/projects/blabla_service/src/main/resources/application.properties' to '/Users/user/Projects/r2d2/projects/blabla_service/target/classes/.': /Users/user/Projects/r2d2/projects/blabla_service/target/classes/. (Is a directory)

🔍 Why This Happens

  • The error occurs when the Maven Resources Compiler fails to copy resource files from the src/main/resources directory to the target/classes directory. This can happen due to one of two reasons: (1) The target directory is not empty, or (2) the file system permissions do not allow writing to the target directory.
  • Another possible cause is that the Maven build process is trying to copy a resource file to a location where it is not allowed to write. This can be due to a configuration issue with the project's pom.xml file.

✅ Best Solutions to Fix It

Cleaning the target directory

  1. Step 1: Step 1: Open the terminal in IntelliJ and navigate to the project root directory using the command 'cd /Users/user/Projects/r2d2/projects/blabla_service'.
  2. Step 2: Step 2: Run the command 'rm -rf target/' to delete the entire contents of the target directory.
  3. Step 3: Step 3: Navigate back to the IntelliJ IDE and try running the Maven build process again.

Configuring file system permissions

  1. Step 1: Step 1: Open the Terminal in IntelliJ and run the command 'sudo chown -R user:group target/' to change the ownership of the target directory to the current user.
  2. Step 2: Step 2: Run the command 'sudo chmod -R u+w target/' to set write permissions for the owner of the target directory.

🎯 Final Words

To resolve this issue, try cleaning the target directory by deleting its contents and then running the Maven build process again. Alternatively, you can configure file system permissions using the sudo command. If neither of these methods work, please provide more details about your project configuration to further assist with resolving the error.

Did this fix your problem?

If not, try searching for specific error codes.

🔍 Search Error Database

❓ Frequently Asked Questions