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How to: View, Save, and Configure Build Log Files

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Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. 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 .txt file that's created and saved automatically. For managed-code projects, you can copy and paste the information from the Output window into a .txt file and save it yourself. 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 .txt file to save information about the build. For more information, see Obtaining Build Logs.

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

  1. In Windows Explorer or File Explorer, open the following file: \...\Visual Studio Version\Projects\ProjectName\ProjectName\Debug\ProjectName.txt

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, highlight the information from the build, and then copy it to the Clipboard.

  3. Open a text editor, such as Notepad, paste the information into the file, and then save it.

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).

See Also

Obtaining Build Logs Building and Cleaning Projects and Solutions in Visual Studio Compiling and Building