Edit

Share via

Debug and analyze unit tests with Test Explorer

  • Article

You can use Test Explorer to start a debugging session for your tests. Stepping through your code with the Visual Studio debugger seamlessly takes you back and forth between the unit tests and the project under test. To start debugging:

  1. In the Visual Studio editor, set a breakpoint in one or more test methods that you want to debug.

    Note

    Because test methods can run in any order, set breakpoints in all the test methods that you want to debug.

  2. In Test Explorer, select the test method(s) and then choose Debug on the right-click menu.

    Test execution details

    Test execution details

    For more information, about the debugger, see Debug in Visual Studio.

Diagnose test method performance issues

Starting in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.8, you can use any applicable tool in the Performance Profiler to help improve your code, and not just the Instrumentation tool. You can profile small units of work in isolation, make changes, and then remeasure and validate the impact of the change.

To diagnose why a test method is taking more time than you'd like, or using more memory than you'd like, select the method in Test Explorer and then choose Profile on the right-click menu. The Performance Profiler opens and you can select a profiling tool to test your code. For more information, see this blog post or see Collect profiling data without debugging.

To diagnose why a test method is taking too much time, select the method in Test Explorer and then choose Profile on the right-click menu. See Instrumentation profiling report.

Note

This feature is not currently supported for .NET Core.

Get AI assistance to debug tests

Starting in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.12 Preview 2, you can get quick assistance from GitHub Copilot to debug tests if you have an active Copilot subscription. To get help, select a failed test in Test Explorer, and then do one of the following:

  • Choose Explain failure with Copilot, or
  • Choose Debug with Copilot.

Screenshot of debugging tests with Copilot.

If you debug with Copilot, GitHub Copilot provides you with a debug plan, it sets appropriate breakpoints and watch variables, and it starts the debug session. When the debugger hits the breakpoint, it provides GitHub Copilot with values for the watched variables and Copilot determines your next step: either to continue debugging or fix the problem code. You can continue the Copilot Chat conversation until you have a passing test.

Related content