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How to: View, save, and configure build log files

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Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

After you build a project in the Visual Studio IDE, you can view information about that build in the Output window. By using this information, you can, for example, troubleshoot a build failure.

  • For C++ projects, you can also view the same information in a log file that's created and saved when you build a project.

  • For managed code projects, you can click in the build output window and press Ctrl+S. Visual Studio prompts you for a location to save the information from the Output window into a log file.

You can also use the IDE to specify what kinds of information you want to view about each build.

If you build any kind of project by using MSBuild, you can create a log file to save information about the build. For more information, see Obtain build logs.

To view the build log file for a C++ project

  1. In Windows Explorer or File Explorer, open the following file (relative to the project root folder): Release\{ProjectName}.Log* or Debug\{ProjectName}.log

To create a build log file for a managed-code project

  1. On the menu bar, choose Build > Build Solution.

  2. In the Output window, click somewhere in the text.

  3. Press Ctrl+S.

    Visual Studio prompts you for a location to save the build output.

You can also generate logs by running MSBuild directly from the command line, using the -fileLogger (-fl) command-line option. See Obtain build logs with MSBuild.

To change the amount of information included in the build log

  1. On the menu bar, choose Tools > Options.

  2. On the Projects and Solutions page, choose the Build and Run page.

  3. In the MSBuild project build output verbosity list, choose one of the following values, and then choose the OK button.

    Verbosity level Description
    Quiet Displays a summary of the build only.
    Minimal Displays a summary of the build and errors, warnings, and messages that are categorized as highly important.
    Normal Displays a summary of the build; errors, warnings, and messages that are categorized as highly important; and the main steps of the build. You'll use this level of detail most frequently.
    Detailed Displays a summary of the build; errors, warnings, and messages that are categorized as highly important; all of the steps of the build; and messages that are categorized as of normal importance.
    Diagnostic Displays all data that's available for the build. You can use this level of detail to help debug issues with custom build scripts and other build issues.

    For more information, see Options dialog box, Projects and Solutions, Build and Run and LoggerVerbosity.

    Important

    You must rebuild the project for your changes to take effect in the Output window (all projects) and the <ProjectName>.txt file (C++ projects only).

Use binary logs to make it easier to browse large log files

Binary logs are an optional feature for .NET projects that lets you have a richer log browsing experience that might make it easier to find information in large logs. To use binary logs, install the Project System Tools. For more information, see https://msbuildlog.com and Binary Log

See also