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 qgroundcontrol.exe is stored, and then run it. This is shown below for each platform (using the --logging:full option):

Windows Command Prompt:

cd "\Program Files (x86)\qgroundcontrol"
qgroundcontrol --logging:full

OSX Terminal app (Applications/Utilities):

cd /Applications/qgroundcontrol.app/Contents/MacOS/
./qgroundcontrol --logging:full

Linux Terminal:

./qgroundcontrol-start.sh --logging:full

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:full,LinkManagerVerboseLog,ParameterLoaderLog	Turns on full logging and turns off the following listed comma-separated logging options.
--logging:LinkManagerLog,ParameterLoaderLog	Turns on the specified comma separated logging options
--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).