Visual Studio 2013: Working in the Breakpoints Window

NOTE: This is an older feature. I’ve updated the information for VS2013.

The Breakpoints Window (CTRL+ALT+B) is an awesome tool. We use it frequently to aid us in our debugging efforts. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do when working in this window.

Deleting Breakpoints

Getting rid of breakpoints is a common task. There are two main ways you can remove breakpoints using the Breakpoints Window.

Deleting Selected Breakpoints

This one is pretty simple. Select one or more breakpoints and click on the Delete The Selected Breakpoints button:

It will remove the selected breakpoint entries and you are good to go:

Deleting Breakpoints Based on a Search

In my last post I showed you how to do a search with labels (or any column for that matter) and it turns out you can delete the results of a search. For example, if you have a set of breakpoints:

And have filtered them with search criteria:

You can delete the results of the search by using the Delete All Breakpoints Matching The Current Search Criteria button:

(Note: Using this button without having a search filter will delete all your breakpoints so use this button with caution)

Which will delete all visible breakpoints:

This does not impact breakpoints that were not part of the search result. You can verify this by clearing the search criteria:

Export and Import Breakpoints

In addition to deleting breakpoints you can export breakpoints based on the current search criteria (or all breakpoints if no search is set):

The exported breakpoints are saved to an XML file and can be imported later on:

Special Note: At the time of this writing my breakpoint export wasn’t working. This may be a bug in the VS2013 Preview or just my installation.

Finally

Make sure to take full advantage of the Breakpoints Window during your debugging efforts. Take some time to work with these techniques to save you time and frustration.