title: How do I change the Java version I'm using in IntelliJ (and Maven)?
body: <p>I'm working on a simple Java project and trying to use IntelliJ 14 for the first time; I have the Ultimate version through an education license (in my last year of undergrad!). I'm not super familiar with either Maven or IntelliJ. I want to use Java 8, and in fact I'm pretty sure this is the only version of the JDK I have installed on my computer. However, whenever I compile my project, I get a couple warnings and an info message:<br>
  <code>Information: Using javac 1.8.0_51 to compile java sources</code><br>
  <code>Warning: java: source value 1.5 is obsolete and will be removed in a future release</code><br>
  <code>Warning: java: target value 1.5 is obsolete and will be removed in a future release</code>  </p>
  
  <p>So what I've noticed is that under IntelliJ IDEA > Preferences... > Build, Execution, Deployment > Compiler > Java Compiler, the target bytecode version is set to <code>1.5</code>. I can change it to <code>1.8</code>, but when I quit IntelliJ and re-open the project, it is reset to <code>1.5</code>. The project bytecode version is blank for SDK default.<br>
  Here's what I've already done:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>included the following in my maven pom</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;properties&gt;
    &lt;maven.compiler.source&gt;1.8&lt;/maven.compiler.source&gt;
    &lt;maven.compiler.target&gt;1.8&lt;/maven.compiler.target&gt;
  &lt;/properties&gt;
  </code></pre></li>
  <li><p>Changed the IntelliJ preference file as noted <a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/help/basics-and-installation.html#d1847332e207" rel="noreferrer">here</a> on the IntelliJ website.</p></li>
  <li><p>Set the global, project, and module SDK as noted <a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/help/configuring-global-project-and-module-sdks.html" rel="noreferrer">here</a> on the IntelliJ website.</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Am I missing a setting somewhere? What do I have to do to keep this value from changing every time I re-open IntelliJ?</p>