Run manual tests with Microsoft Test Manager

Microsoft Test Runner sits at the side of the screen while you test your application. It displays the steps you planned and the results you expected, and you check them off as you work. It can record your actions along with comments, screenshots, and other data, so that if you find a bug, it’s easy to reproduce.

Note

Team Web Access or Microsoft Test Runner? There are two ways of running manual tests in Visual Studio. You’ll probably find it more convenient to run tests with Team Web Access, unless you want these additional features of Microsoft Test Runner:

• If you create a bug, the bug description automatically includes:

  1. Screenshots taken as you work.

  2. A record of the actual actions you performed – not just the test steps that you checked off.

  3. System information such as the operating system version and machine id.

• Replay your actions so that you can repeat a test quickly and accurately.

• Collect additional diagnostic data during your tests

Running test cases with Microsoft Test Runner

1. Get ready to test. Here are a few things you might need to do before running your tests:

   1. Install the latest version of your app.

   2. Create some test cases. Typically you create them at the start of a sprint, and aim to have them all pass by the end of the sprint. You can create them either with Team Web Access or Microsoft Test Manager.

   3. Install Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) on the machine where you want to run your tests. To get MTM, install Visual Studio Test Professional or Visual Studio Ultimate.

   4. Connect MTM to your test plan

2. Run a test case.

   

   Tip

   If you are already looking at a test case in Team Web Access, you can start Test Runner directly from there by choosing Run in Client.

   Test Runner appears at the side of the screen. It will stay there while you work with your application.

3. Create an action recording so that you can quickly repeat the test later.

   

4. Follow the steps in the test. Mark each step as either Passed or Failed. When a step fails, add a comment to describe what was wrong. You can attach screenshots, too.

   

   If you have to attend to something else, Pause the test. You don’t want your emails or password included in the recording.

5. Create a bug if you find a problem.

   

6. Name the bug and describe the failure.

   

   You can assign the bug if you know who'll fix it.

7. End the test and save the results.

   

   Now the results are stored in TFS.

Replay previous tests

If you ran a test before, you can repeat it quickly by replaying the same actions.

(This works with most applications, though not all.)

1. Start the test. Don’t overwrite the recording.

   

2. Play your recorded actions. You have to verify the results of each step.

   

Track the progress of your tests

Monitor the progress of your project by seeing how many tests have passed.

Tests begin in the Active state, meaning that they are ready to run. When a bug has been fixed, you can set the state of a failed test back to Active.

See Also

Tasks

Testing Windows Store apps

Concepts

Test configurations: specifying test platforms

Test on a lab environment

Record and play back manual tests

Other Resources

Repeat a test with different data

Collect more diagnostic data in manual tests