Swing Java Tutorial

You can set an initial selection (s) by using the setSelectedIndex and setSelectedIndices methods (the indexing is zero-based, so index 0 refers to the first option in the JList).

public void setSelectedIndex (int index)
public void setSelectedIndices (int[] indices)

import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class JComboBoxTest {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    JFrame.setDefaultLookAndFeelDecorated(true);
    JFrame frame = new JFrame("JComboBox Test");
    frame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    String[] selections = { "green", "red", "orange", "dark blue" };
    JComboBox comboBox = new JComboBox(selections);
    comboBox.setSelectedIndex(1);
    System.out.println(comboBox.getSelectedItem());
    frame.add(comboBox);
    frame.pack();
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }
}