Step through

Step over

Steps over the current line and takes you to the next line even if the current line includes function calls. The calls are skipped, and you move straight to the next line of the caller.

If there are breakpoints inside the skipped methods, the debugger will stop at them. To skip any breakpoints on the way, use Force step over.

Step into

Steps inside the code of a called function.

Some methods are skipped by Step into as you normally might not need to debug them. This list can be fine-tuned on the Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger | Stepping page of the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) .

Smart step into

Smart step into is helpful when there are several method calls on a line, and you want to be specific about which method to enter. This feature allows you to select the method call you are interested in.

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In CLion, this feature is not applicable to C/C++ debugging. However, you can use it for other languages like JavaScript and Python.

You can configure Smart step into to be used instead of the regular Step into every time there are multiple method calls on the line. This is done in Settings/Preferences | Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger | Stepping.

Step out

Steps out of the current function and takes you to the code the caller.

Run to cursor

Continues the execution until the position of the caret is reached.

You can configure whether you want Run to Cursor to work on clicking a line number in Settings/Preferences | Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger.

To skip any breakpoints on the way, use Force run to cursor.

Force step into

Steps into the function even if it is skipped by the regular Step Into by default.

In case the source code of the function that you want to step into is unavailable, you can debug disassembled code in a dedicated view.

Force run to cursor

Continues the execution until the position of the caret is reached. All breakpoints on the way are ignored.

Force step over

Steps over the current line of code and takes you to the next line even if the highlighted line has method calls in it. If there are breakpoints in the called methods, they are ignored.

Reversible debugging

Although reversible debugging is not supported in CLion out-of-the-box, you can set it up on Linux using the Undo plugin.

The plugin integrates the Undo ’s record, rewind and replay technology in CLion. With Undo, you can record the program’s execution down to single instruction for further replay and analysis. This way, the debugger gets reversible: you can step forwards and backwards in your code and see exactly what is happening.

Read this blog post and watch this webinar recording for more information.