How to Visualize and Optimize Java Inheritance Chains with IntelliJ IDEA Diagrams

1. View inheritance chain as diagram

Right‑click the class tab, choose Diagrams → Show Diagram (or the popup version) to open the inheritance graph inside the editor or as a floating window.

You can also right‑click the class in the project tree and select Diagrams for the same result.

The resulting diagram shows inheritance and interface implementation relationships for the selected class (example shown for a custom Servlet).

Blue solid arrows indicate inheritance.

Green dashed arrows indicate interface implementation.

2. Optimize the diagram

2.1 Remove irrelevant classes

Select unwanted classes in the diagram and press the Delete key. After cleaning, the diagram becomes clearer.

2.2 Show class details

Right‑click the diagram and choose Show Categories to expand attributes, methods, constructors, etc., or use the toolbar button.

You can also filter by visibility level (e.g., show only protected members) via Change Visibility Level .

2.3 Add other classes to the diagram

Use Add Class to Diagram , type the class name, and it will be added. If there is no relationship, no arrows will appear.

2.4 Jump to source code

Double‑click a class in the diagram, then in the method list right‑click a method and choose Jump to Source to open its implementation.

The Structure view can also list all methods of the selected class for quick navigation.

3. Conclusion

Using IntelliJ IDEA’s diagram and structure features makes exploring class hierarchies and framework source code much more comfortable.