Command Line Options

You can start QGroundControl with command line options. These are used to enable logging, run unit tests, and simulate different host environments for testing.

Starting QGroundControl with Options

You will need to open a command prompt or terminal, change directory to where the QGroundControl executable is stored, and then run it. This is shown below for each platform (using the --logging:full --log-output options):

Windows Command Prompt (QGroundControl is a GUI application with no console window, so redirect stderr to a file to capture the output):

cd "%ProgramFiles%\QGroundControl\bin"
QGroundControl --logging:full --log-output > "%USERPROFILE%\qgc_log.txt" 2>&1

macOS Terminal app (Applications/Utilities):

cd /Applications/QGroundControl.app/Contents/MacOS
./QGroundControl --logging:full --log-output

Linux Terminal:

./QGroundControl-<arch>.AppImage --logging:full --log-output

Options

The options/command line arguments are listed in the table below.

Option	Description
--clear-settings	Clears the app settings (reverts QGroundControl back to default settings).
--logging:full	Turns on full logging. See Console Logging.
--logging:Comms.LinkManager,FactSystem.ParameterManager	Turns on the specified comma separated logging categories.
--log-output	Writes log messages to stderr (the terminal on macOS/Linux).
--unittest:name	(Debug builds only) Runs the specified unit test. Leave off :name to run all tests.
--unittest-stress:name	(Debug builds only) Runs the specified unit test 20 times in a row. Leave off :name to run all tests.
--fake-mobile	Simulates running on a mobile device.
--test-high-dpi	Simulates running QGroundControl on a high DPI device.

Notes:

• Unit tests are included in debug builds automatically (as part of QGroundControl). QGroundControl runs under the control of the unit test (it does not start normally).