Kotlin – Break & Continue: Control Your Loops Effectively

Introduction – Why Learn Break & Continue in Kotlin?

When working with loops, sometimes you need to exit early or skip certain iterations. Kotlin provides two simple yet powerful keywords for this: break and continue. These control statements let you manage loop flow precisely—perfect for filtering, stopping loops based on conditions, or jumping to the next item.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• How break and continue work in Kotlin loops
• Difference between unlabeled and labeled control flow
• Real-world use cases with for, while, and nested loops
• Best practices and common pitfalls

Kotlin break – Exit the Loop Immediately

The break statement terminates the current loop and proceeds with the next statement after the loop.

Basic Example:

for (i in 1..10) {
    if (i == 5) break
    println(i)
}

Output:

1  
2  
3  
4

As soon as i equals 5, the loop breaks.

⏭️ Kotlin continue – Skip Current Iteration

The continue statement skips the current iteration and moves to the next one.

Example:

for (i in 1..5) {
    if (i == 3) continue
    println(i)
}

Output:

1  
2  
4  
5

When i == 3, that iteration is skipped.

Using Break & Continue in While Loops

var i = 1

while (i <= 5) {
    if (i == 4) {
        i++
        continue
    }

    println("i = $i")

    if (i == 5) break
    i++
}

Output:

i = 1  
i = 2  
i = 3  
i = 5

• Skips printing when i == 4
• Breaks when i == 5

Labeled Break and Continue – For Nested Loops

Labeled loops help when breaking or continuing specific outer loops.

Labeled break:

outer@ for (i in 1..3) {
    for (j in 1..3) {
        if (i == 2 && j == 2) break@outer
        println("i = $i, j = $j")
    }
}

Output:

i = 1, j = 1  
i = 1, j = 2  
i = 1, j = 3  
i = 2, j = 1

✔️ break@outer exits both loops at once.

Labeled continue:

outer@ for (i in 1..3) {
    for (j in 1..3) {
        if (j == 2) continue@outer
        println("i = $i, j = $j")
    }
}

Output:

i = 1, j = 1  
i = 2, j = 1  
i = 3, j = 1

✔️ continue@outer jumps to the next iteration of the outer loop.

Common Mistakes

Best Practices for Break & Continue

Summary – Recap & Next Steps

break and continue in Kotlin give you fine-grained control over loop execution. Use them to exit early or skip logic based on dynamic conditions. With labels, they become even more powerful—especially in nested loops.

Key Takeaways:

• break exits the loop completely.
• continue skips the current iteration and proceeds with the next.
• Labeled versions allow targeting specific loops.
• Avoid overusing control flow statements for cleaner logic.

Practical Use:
Use these for search operations, data filtering, input validation, and nested loop control in Android apps, backend logic, or real-time games.

FAQs – Kotlin Break & Continue

What is the difference between break and continue in Kotlin?
break exits the loop entirely, while continue skips the current iteration and proceeds to the next.

Can I break from nested loops in Kotlin?
Yes. Use labeled break@label to exit outer loops.

Is using break or continue bad practice?
No, but overusing them—especially in deeply nested loops—can reduce readability. Use labels only when necessary.

Can I use break and continue in for, while, and do-while?
Yes. They are supported in all loop types in Kotlin.

What’s a real-world use of continue?
Skipping invalid inputs, like this:

for (item in items) {
    if (item.isBlank()) continue
    println(item)
}