Purpose IDH1 mutation is a known biomarker for targeted therapy of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), while its prognostic relevance for current palliative chemotherapy is still unclear. Aim of this study was to analyze clinicopathological characteristics of patients with IDH1 mutations and to outline a potential impact on the outcome after state-of-the-art palliative chemotherapy regimens. Methods All patients with iCCA receiving large panel molecular profiling and follow-up treatment at Frankfurt University Hospital until 04/2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinicopathological characteristics were assessed for IDH1 mutated (mut) and IDH1 wild type (wt) patients, and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined. Results In total, 75 patients with iCCA received molecular profiling. Of the patients with available DNA data, pathogenic mutations in IDH1 were found in 14.5% ( n  = 10). IDH1 mut status was associated with lower serum CA-19/9 ( p  = 0.023), lower serum lactate dehydrogenase ( p  = 0.006), and a higher proportion of primary resectability ( p  = 0.028) as well as response to chemotherapy after recurrence ( p  = 0.009). Median PFS was 5.9 months (95% CI 4.4–7.3 months) for IDH1 wt in comparison to 9.8 months (95% CI 7.7–12 months) for patients with IDH1 mut ( p  = 0.031). IDH1 wt was a significant risk factor for shortened PFS in univariate ( p  = 0.043), but not in multivariate analysis ( p  = 0.061). There was no difference in OS between both groups. Conclusion Patients with IDH1 mutated iCCA seem to have a favorable tumor biology including a longer PFS for palliative chemotherapy regimens compared to IDH1 wild type.