New object is compared using '=='

Reports code that applies == or != to a newly allocated object instead of calling equals().

The references to newly allocated objects cannot point at existing objects, thus the comparison will always evaluate to false. The inspection may also report newly created objects returned from simple methods.

Example:

  void test(Object obj) {
    if (new Object() == obj) {...}
  }

After the quick-fix is applied:

  void test(Object obj) {
    if (new Object().equals(obj)) {...}
  }

Locating this inspection

By ID

Can be used to locate inspection in e.g. Qodana configuration files, where you can quickly enable or disable it, or adjust its settings.

NewObjectEquality

Via Settings dialog

Path to the inspection settings via IntelliJ Platform IDE Settings dialog, when you need to adjust inspection settings directly from your IDE.

Settings or Preferences | Editor | Inspections | Java | Probable bugs

New in 2018.3

Suppressing Inspection

You can suppress this inspection by placing the following comment marker before the code fragment where you no longer want messages from this inspection to appear:

//noinspection NewObjectEquality

More detailed instructions as well as other ways and options that you have can be found in the product documentation:

IntelliJ IDEA 2025.2

Inspection Details
By default bundled with:	IntelliJ IDEA 2025.2, Qodana for JVM 2025.2,

Last modified: 18 September 2025