JavaScript Continue

continue skips the rest of the current iteration and jumps straight to the next one. Where break says "stop the loop", continue says "skip this one, keep going".

// Basic Use

for (let i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
  if (i === 3) {
    continue;
  }
  console.log(i);
}

When i is 3, continue skips the console.log. The loop then moves on to 4 as normal.

// break vs continue

// break: stops everything at 3
for (let i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
  if (i === 3) break;
  console.log(i);
}
// prints 1, 2

// continue: skips only 3
for (let i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
  if (i === 3) continue;
  console.log(i);
}
// prints 1, 2, 4, 5

// Filtering While You Loop

continue is handy for skipping items that do not qualify, keeping the main logic unindented:

const scores = [88, -1, 72, null, 95];
let total = 0;
let count = 0;

for (const s of scores) {
  if (s === null || s < 0) continue;   // skip bad data
  total += s;
  count++;
}
console.log("Average: " + (total / count).toFixed(1));

The same logic without continue would wrap the work inside an if. Both are correct; continue keeps the "skip" rule visible right at the top of the loop, like a bouncer at the door.

// Equivalent, using if instead of continue
for (const s of scores) {
  if (s !== null && s >= 0) {
    total += s;
    count++;
  }
}

// Skipping Evens

for (let i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
  if (i % 2 === 0) continue;    // even? skip it
  console.log(i);
}

// continue in a while Loop

Be careful: in a while loop, continue jumps straight back to the condition. If the counter update comes after the continue, it gets skipped too:

// BUG: infinite loop when i hits 3
let i = 0;
while (i < 5) {
  if (i === 3) continue;   // jumps back before i++
  console.log(i);
  i++;
}

// FIX: update the counter first
let j = 0;
while (j < 5) {
  j++;
  if (j === 3) continue;
  console.log(j);
}

// continue with Labels

Like break, continue can take a label (see JS Break for how labels work). A plain continue skips to the next pass of the innermost loop. continue labelname; skips to the next pass of the labeled loop instead:

let text = "";
loop1: for (let j = 1; j < 5; j++) {
  loop2: for (let i = 1; i < 5; i++) {
    if (i === 3) { continue loop2; }   // skip just i = 3
    text += i;
  }
}
console.log(text);

let text = "";
loop1: for (let j = 1; j < 5; j++) {
  loop2: for (let i = 1; i < 5; i++) {
    if (i === 3) { continue loop1; }   // abandon this inner run
    text += i;
  }
}
console.log(text);

With continue loop2, only i = 3 is skipped, and 4 still gets added: "124" four times. With continue loop1, hitting 3 abandons the rest of the inner loop and jumps to the outer loop's next pass, so 4 is never reached: "12" four times.

// Quick Check

for (let i = 1; i <= 6; i++) {
  if (i % 3 === 0) continue;
  console.log(i);
}

let n = 0;
while (n < 10) {
  if (n === 5) continue;
  n++;
}

// Try It

▶ Open Playground

1. Click Open Playground. Use continue to print 1 to 20, skipping every multiple of 3
2. Loop over an array of words and skip any shorter than 4 letters (a string's .length is its number of characters)
3. Rewrite your answer to step 2 using an if block instead of continue
4. Open the labeled continue example with its Try it Yourself button and change continue loop2 to continue loop1. Then explain the buggy while example in your own words (don't run it: it freezes the tab)