Run applications
Last modified: 16 January 2023CLion enables running entire applications as well as unit tests.
note
If you are working with a CMake project, choose the desired Cmake profile before running your application.
If you have configured Before launch tools in a Run/Debug configuration, CLion runs them first, and then will run the application. Otherwise, the program will start immediately.
Quick way
Run from the editor
If you are not going to pass any parameters to your program, and your program does not require any specific actions to be performed before start, you can run it right from the editor.
Click
in the gutter near the class declaration and select Run.
To run a script, open it in the editor or select it in the Project tool window, and then select Run <script file name> from the context menu.
Customizable way
If you are going to pass parameters to your program or otherwise customize the startup of your program, use a run/debug configuration.
On the main toolbar, select the run/debug configuration you are going to use.
Click
or press Shift+F10.
When the application starts, you can view its output and interact with it in the Run tool window. Every run/debug configuration creates a separate tab when you run it.

tip
Use the Ctrl+F shortcut to search for text occurrences in the console output.
To learn more about tool windows and how to manage them, see the Tool windows topic.
Re-run applications
On the toolbar of the Run tool window, click
or press Shift+F10
tip
If you re-run an application, the output of the previous run is lost. To preserve the output of an application, click the Pin Tab button on the toolbar of the Run tool window. When a tab is pinned, new sessions are opened in another tab.
Stop and pause applications
When you stop a program, its process is interrupted and exits immediately. When you pause a program, it continues running in the background, but its output is suspended.
Stop a program
In the Run tool window, click
on the toolbar. Alternatively, press Ctrl+F2 and select the process to stop.
Pause a program
Right-click in the Run tool window and select Pause Output from the context menu. Use the same toggle to resume the program.
note
Only the output is suspended. Pausing the output does not affect the execution of the program.
Show running processes
You can view the list of all active run or debug sessions and navigate between them.
From the main menu, select Run | Show Running List. In the top-right corner of the editor, CLion shows a list with all active applications.
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