Debug tool window

When you start a debugger session, the Debug tool window opens. Use this window to control the debugger session, view and analyze the program data (frames, variables, and so on), and perform debugger actions.

By default, the Debug tool window opens when your program hits a breakpoint and is not hidden when the session is terminated. To change this behavior, go to the Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger page of settings Ctrl+Alt+S and clear the Show debug window on breakpoint checkbox.

Sessions

The available debug sessions are separated into tabs in the top part of the Debug tool window.

If you enable the Services tool window for specific run/debug configurations, the entire view of the Debug tool window will be displayed inside the Services tool window when you debug any of these configurations.

All the information in the editor, like inline variable values and execution point, is shown for the selected session tab. This is important if you are running several debug sessions in parallel that use the same .

When you close a tab, the corresponding debug session terminates.

Debug toolbar

Regardless of the selected tab, you can always use the following toolbar controls in the left part of the window:

Item	Tooltip and Shortcut	Description
	Rerun `Ctrl+F5`	Click this button to stop the current application and run it again.
	Resume Program `F9`	When an application is paused, click this button to resume program execution.
	Pause Program `Ctrl+Pause`	Click this button to pause program execution.
	Stop `Ctrl+F2`	Click this button to terminate the current process externally by means of the standard `shutdown` script .
	View Breakpoints `Ctrl+Shift+F8`	Click this button to open the Breakpoints dialog where you can configure breakpoints behavior.
	Mute Breakpoints	Use this button to toggle breakpoints status. When the button is pressed in the toolbar of the Debug tool window, all the breakpoints in the project are muted, and their icons become grey: . You can temporarily mute all breakpoints in the project to execute the program without stopping at breakpoints.
	More	Opens the menu with the following additional actions: Force Step Over Smart Step Into Run to Cursor Show Execution Point Evaluate Expression Debugger Settings Modify Run Configuration
	Debugger Settings	Opens the menu with the following options: Open Files in Preview Tab: select this option to open files in a preview tab when the corresponding frame is selected. Show Variable Values in Editor: select this option to enable the Inline Debugging feature that allows viewing the values of variables right next to their usage in the editor. Sort Variables Alphabetically: select this option to sort the values in the Variables pane in the alphabetical order. Unmute Breakpoints on Session Finish: select this option to re-enable all disabled breakpoints after the debugging session has been finished. Show Return Values: select this option to display the return values of the executed functions in the current frame while stepping. Simplified Variables View: Select this option to include the following names into the Special Variables group: all variables with the dunder names. all instances of `function`, `classobj` and `module`. all the IPython internal variables, if debug console with IPython has been started. Variables Loading Policy. You can choose one of the following policies: Synchronously: If this option is enabled, the message shown is `Collecting data`, and after that the debugger shows the variables' values. Asynchronously: If this option is enabled, the variables in the debugger are loaded separately (asynchronously). In this case, if loading a variable takes a long time, the debugger shows `...Loading Value` message, and only after that it shows its value or the `Loading timed out` message, if the variable is too slow. Mind the warning message that suggest switching to the on demand mode. On demand: If this option is enabled, the debugger shows `Show Value` message. Click it to enable loading. Note that any changes in the loading policies become effective after you rerun the debugging process.

Item	Tooltip and Shortcut	Description
	Rerun `Ctrl+F5`	Click this button to stop the current application and run it again.
	Resume Program `F9`	When an application is paused, click this button to resume program execution.
	Pause Program `Ctrl+Pause`	Click this button to pause program execution.
	Stop `Ctrl+F2`	Click this button to terminate the current process externally by means of the standard `shutdown` script .
	View Breakpoints `Ctrl+Shift+F8`	Click this button to open the Breakpoints dialog where you can configure breakpoints behavior.
	Mute Breakpoints	Use this button to toggle breakpoints status. When the button is pressed in the toolbar of the Debug tool window, all the breakpoints in the project are muted, and their icons become grey: . You can temporarily mute all the breakpoints in a project to execute the program without stopping at breakpoints.
	Settings	Click this button to open the menu with the following options: Show Values Inline: select this option to enable the Inline Debugging feature that allows viewing the values of variables right next to their usage in the editor. Sort Values Alphabetically: select this option to sort the values in the Variables pane in the alphabetical order. Unmute Breakpoints on Session Finish: select this option to re-enable all disabled breakpoints after the debugging session has been finished. Show Return Values: select this option to display the return values of the executed functions in the current frame while stepping. Simplified Variables View: Select this option to include the following names into the Special Variables group: all variables with the dunder names. all instances of `function`, `classobj` and `module`. all the IPython internal variables, if debug console with IPython has been started. Variables Loading Policy. You can choose one of the following policies: Synchronously: If this option is enabled, the message shown is `Collecting data`, and after that the debugger shows the variables' values. Asynchronously: If this option is enabled, the variables in the debugger are loaded separately (asynchronously). In this case, if loading a variable takes a long time, the debugger shows `...Loading Value` message, and only after that it shows its value or the `Loading timed out` message, if the variable is too slow. Mind the warning message that suggest switching to the on demand mode. On demand: If this option is enabled, the debugger shows `Show Value` message. Click it to enable loading. Note that any changes in the loading policies become effective after you rerun the debugging process.
	Pin Tab	Click this button to pin or unpin the current tab. You may need to pin a tab to prevent it from closing automatically when the maximum number of tabs is reached in this window.

Stepping toolbar

Item	Tooltip and Shortcut	Description
	Show Execution Point `Alt+F10`	Click this button to highlight the current execution point in the editor and show the corresponding stack frame in the Frames pane.
	Step Over `F8`	Click this button to execute the program until the next line in the current method or file, skipping the methods referenced at the current execution point (if any). If the current line is the last one in the method, execution steps to the line executed right after this method.
	Force Step Over `Alt+Shift+F8`	Click this button to have the debugger step over the method even if this method has breakpoints inside.
	Step Into `F7`	Click this button to have the debugger step into the method called at the current execution point.
	Smart Step Into `Shift+F7`	If the current line contains several nested calls, PyCharm lets you choose a call to step into. Consider the following code line: print(foo(bar("Hello")+baz("world"))) The line contains several calls and if you use Step Into, the debugger will first step into the implementation of `bar()`, then into the implementation of `baz()` and so on. If you want to choose which of the calls should be stepped into, for example, `foo()`, you can use Smart Step Into `Shift+F7`: When you choose the function to step into, the debugger will set the execution pointer at the first statement of the selected function. You can enable the 'smart step into' behavior when you invoke Step Into `F7` in a line that contains multiple method calls. To do so, select Always do smart step into on the Build, Execution, Deployment \| Debugger \| Stepping page of settings `Ctrl+Alt+S`.
	Step Into My Code `Alt+Shift+F7`	Click this button to skip stepping into library sources and keep focused on your own code.
	Step Out `Shift+F8`	Click this button to have the debugger step out of the current method, to the line executed right after it.
	Run to Cursor `Alt+F9`	Click this button to resume program execution and pause until the execution point reaches the line at the current caret location in the editor. No breakpoint is required. Actually, there is a temporary breakpoint set for the current line at the caret, which is removed once program execution is paused. Thus, if the caret is positioned at the line which has already been executed, the program will be just resumed for further execution, because there is no way to roll back to previous breakpoints. This action is especially useful when you have stepped deep into the methods sequence and need to step out of several methods at once. If there are breakpoints set for the lines that should be executed before bringing you to the specified line, the debugger will pause at the first encountered breakpoint. Use this action when you need a kind of a temporary breakpoint at a specific line, where program execution should not be interrupted.
	Run to Cursor Non-Stop `Ctrl+Alt+F9`	If there are breakpoints between the current execution point and the target statement, you can force the debugger to skip these breakpoints with the Run to Cursor Non-Stop command `Ctrl+Alt+F9`.
	Evaluate Expression `Alt+F8`	Click this button to evaluate expressions.

Item	Tooltip and Shortcut	Description
	Show Execution Point `Alt+F10`	Click this button to highlight the current execution point in the editor and show the corresponding stack frame in the Frames pane.
	Step Over `F8`	Click this button to execute the program until the next line in the current method or file, skipping the methods referenced at the current execution point (if any). If the current line is the last one in the method, execution steps to the line executed right after this method.
	Step Into `F7`	Click this button to have the debugger step into the method called at the current execution point.
	Force Step Into `Alt+Shift+F7`	Click this button to have the debugger step into the method called in the current execution point even if this method is to be skipped.
	Step Into My Code `Alt+Shift+F7`	Click this button to skip stepping into library sources and keep focused on your own code.
	Step Out `Shift+F8`	Click this button to have the debugger step out of the current method, to the line executed right after it.
	Run to Cursor `Alt+F9`	Click this button to resume program execution and pause until the execution point reaches the line at the current cursor location in the editor. No breakpoint is required. Actually, there is a temporary breakpoint set for the current line at the caret, which is removed once program execution is paused. Thus, if the caret is positioned at the line which has already been executed, the program will be just resumed for further execution, because there is no way to roll back to previous breakpoints. This action is especially useful when you have stepped deep into the methods sequence and need to step out of several methods at once. If there are breakpoints set for the lines that should be executed before bringing you to the specified line, the debugger will pause at the first encountered breakpoint. Use this action when you need a kind of a temporary breakpoint at a specific line, where program execution should not be interrupted.
	Evaluate Expression `Alt+F8`	Click this button to evaluate expressions.

Last modified: 24 October 2024