How to step one step back in IntelliJ?

Question

Is it possible to step backwards through executed code in a debug session?

For example I step over a method called abc() expecting to get 12 but after re-checking the value returned I notice it's 5 instead of 12. How can I step back to where I was before and step into the method to see what is going on? I know you can do this in visual studio but I can't find how to do this in intelliJ.

Software Engineer · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-15T12:25:57.233

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You can drop the frames until you reach the point where you want to be. This isn't exactly stepping backwards, but it is quite similar in a lot of respects.

Though as the comments mention below, this will not revert the global state of your application -- which isn't a huge concern if you're developing stateless services, but could be if you're developing swing applications (if anyone actually does that any more).

On the debugger toolbar it looks like this: Drop Frame . In Idea 2016.3 the drop-frame icon changed to look like this , and since 2019.3 it changed to look like this .

Full documentation is available here: IntelliJ Debugger Docs, and there is a StackOverflow Drop Frame Question, with a few useful answers

edited Dec 15 '21 at 12:25

answered Apr 04 '14 at 16:16

Software Engineer

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Didn't find it. Isn't it available anymore ? – Rodrigo Farias Rezino Jun 03 '15 at 16:53
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The icon has changed, but it's still there. It's a box with a red x in the top left. – Software Engineer Jun 04 '15 at 09:03
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"it is functionally equivalent" - This is wrong. Dropping frames won't, for instance, revert static or field variables. It will only revert local variables. One must be aware of this before using this feature. – Bitcoin Cash - ADA enthusiast Aug 30 '15 at 22:13
IntelliJ IDEA 2022.2.3: I found it by right-clicking on a stack frame in the debugger, not on the debugger toolbar. – davidbak Nov 16 '22 at 01:06

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 21 '14 at 05:04

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Check out Chronon Debugger plugin which actually allows you to step back, not just drop the frame http://blog.jetbrains.com/idea/2014/03/try-chronon-debugger-with-intellij-idea-13-1-eap/

answered Oct 21 '14 at 05:04

tales

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I've tried this now, and I think it's really quite poor. The idea seems good at first, but it seems not to really work./ – Software Engineer Jan 14 '15 at 16:18

How to step one step back in IntelliJ?

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