'readResolve()' or 'writeReplace()' not declared 'protected'

Reports classes that implement java.io.Serializable where the readResolve() or writeReplace() methods are not declared protected.

Declaring readResolve() and writeReplace() methods private can force subclasses to silently ignore them, while declaring them public allows them to be invoked by untrusted code.

If the containing class is declared final, these methods can be declared private.

Example:

  class ClassWithSerialization implements Serializable {
    public Object writeReplace() { // warning: 'writeReplace()' not declared protected
        ...
    }
  }
  

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.

ReadResolveAndWriteReplaceProtected

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 | Serialization issues

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 ReadResolveAndWriteReplaceProtected

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