New 2026 Q1 Feature: Enable/Disable VI Debugging Without File Modification

[Christina_R]

Enable/Disable VI Debugging Without File Modification

To support debugging features such as breakpoints and probes, your VIs need to “Allow Debugging.” It’s inconvenient to be in the middle of debugging and discover a subVI that doesn’t have this property enabled! Furthermore, enabling debugging creates a VI modification that complicates your source code control.

As a new feature in LabVIEW 2026 Q1, you have the option to override the VI “Allow Debugging” property when working in a project.

By default, LabVIEW will honor the “Allow Debugging” property of a VI, but you can choose to override it per-target (e.g., “My Computer”) using the Project Environment Settings dialog:

You can access this dialog from three places:

• Project » Project Environment Settings… in the menu
• Right-click on a target in the Project Explorer and select Project Environment Settings…
• Click the Project Environment Settings… button in the Debug window

You might be wondering, “Why isn’t this setting in the Project Properties dialog?”

The intent is that you can begin debugging without modifying any of your files. To support this goal, LabVIEW 2026 Q1 introduces the concept of per-user project states which are stored separately from the project file itself.

In this Beta, the settings are stored in a file next to your <project>.lvproj file and named <project>.config, but in the release version, it will be in a folder and have the file extension lvprojstate:

 .<project>UserState \<project>.lvprojstate

This structure will make it easy to exclude the file from source control.

In addition to Project » Project Environment Settings…, you can right-click on the target (e.g., “My Computer”) in the Project Explorer and select Override VI Properties to Enable Debugging to begin debugging quickly.

Known Issues:

1. LabVIEW creates <project>.config files next to the <project>.lvproj file.
2. When there are no probes or breakpoints shown in the Debug window and you open the Project Environment Settings dialog by pressing the button in the Debug window toolbar, the dialog is not functional.
3. When you are overriding the VI “Allow Debugging” property, there’s no indication in the VI Properties dialog.