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How to: Use Edit and Continue (C#)

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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

With Edit and Continue, you can make and apply changes to your code in break mode while debugging, without having to stop and restart the debugging session.

Edit and Continue for C# happens automatically when you make code changes in break mode, then continue debugging by using Continue, Step, or Set Next Statement, or evaluate a function in a debugger window.

For more information, see Edit and Continue (Visual C#).

Note

Edit and Continue is not supported for optimized, mixed, or SQL Server common language runtime (CLR) integration code. For information on other unsupported scenarios, see Supported code changes (C# and Visual Basic). If you try to Edit and Continue with one of these scenarios, a message box appears stating that Edit and Continue is not supported.

To enable or disable Edit and Continue:

  1. If you're in a debugging session, stop debugging (Debug > Stop Debugging or Shift+F5).

  2. In Tools > Options (or Debug > Options) > Debugging > General, select or clear the Enable Edit and Continue check box.

The setting takes effect when you start or restart the debugging session.

To use Edit and Continue:

  1. While debugging, in break mode, make a change to your source code.

  2. From the Debug menu, click Continue, Step, or Set Next Statement, or evaluate a function in a debugger window.

    Debugging continues with the new, compiled code.

Some types of code changes are not supported by Edit and Continue. For more information, see Supported code changes (C# and Visual Basic).