Call to default 'toString()'

Reports calls to toString() that use the default implementation from java.lang.Object.

The default implementation is rarely intended but may be used by accident.

Calls to toString() on objects with java.lang.Object, interface or abstract class type are ignored by this inspection.

Example:

  class Bar {
      void foo1(Bar bar) {
          String s = bar.toString(); // warning
          /* ... */
      }

      void foo2(Object obj) {
          String s = obj.toString(); // no warning here
          /* ... */
      }
  }

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.

ObjectToString

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

Inspection options

Here you can find the description of settings available for the Call to default 'toString()' inspection, and the reference of their default values.

Ignore when annotated via @NonNls: Default value:
Not selected
Ignore for constructor arguments of Throwable subclasses: Default value:
Not selected
Ignore for assert statement description arguments: Default value:
Not selected
Ignore inside toString() methods: Default value:
Not selected

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 ObjectToString

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