Im developing desktop java application using maven. I got a *.properties file that I need to retrive during execution (src/resources/application.properties). The only thing comes to my mind is to use: private Properties applicationProperties; applicationProperties.load(new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream("src/resources/application.properties"))); This would work if I run my application directly from IDE. I want to to keep outpout hierarchy clear, so I set maven to copy resources folder dircetly to target folder (which is a basedir for the output application). This way application.properties file won't load (since I have target/resources/application.properties but not target/src/resources/application.properties). What is the best way to manage resources so they work both when I debug from IDE and run builded jar file directly?