Unnecessary 'continue' statement

Reports continue statements if they are the last reachable statements in the loop. These continue statements are unnecessary and can be safely removed.

Example:

  for (String element: elements) {
    System.out.println();
    continue;
  }

After the quick-fix is applied:

  for (String element: elements) {
    System.out.println();
  }

The inspection doesn't analyze JSP files.

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.

UnnecessaryContinue

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 | Verbose or redundant code constructs

Use the Ignore in then branch of 'if' statement with 'else' branch option to ignore continue statements when they are placed in a then branch of a complete if-else statement.

Example:

  for (String element: elements) {
    if(element.isEmpty()) {
      continue;
    } else {
      //...
    }
  }

Inspection options

Here you can find the description of settings available for the Unnecessary 'continue' statement inspection, and the reference of their default values.

Ignore in then branch of 'if' statement with 'else' branch: Not selected

Inspection Details
By default bundled with:	IntelliJ IDEA 2024.3, Qodana for JVM 2024.3,
Can be installed with plugin:	Java, 243.26483

01 April 2025