'default' not last case in 'switch'

Reports switch statements or expressions in which the default branch is positioned before another case. Such a construct is unnecessarily confusing. A quick-fix is provided to move the default branch to the last position, if possible.

Example:

  switch (n) {
      default:
          System.out.println();
          break;
      case 1:
          break;
  }

After the quick-fix is applied:

  switch (n) {
    case 1:
        break;
    default:
        System.out.println();
        break;
  }

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.

DefaultNotLastCaseInSwitch

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 | Control flow issues

Inspection ID: DefaultNotLastCaseInSwitch

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 DefaultNotLastCaseInSwitch

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

IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3

Inspection Details
By default bundled with:	IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3, Qodana for JVM 2025.3,

Last modified: 03 December 2025