How to Use IntelliJ IDEA’s Reset Frame to Step Back in Debugging

When debugging, pressing "Step Over" too quickly can skip code you want to examine; IntelliJ IDEA provides a "Reset Frame" feature that lets you roll back to a previous stack frame.

Using Reset Frame

The button labeled Reset Frame (shown below) is the key.

When Reset Frame Cannot Be Used

For simple sequential code like the following, resetting is not possible:

void test() {
    int a = 1;
    int b = 2;
    int c = a + b;
    System.out.println(c);
}

When Reset Frame Can Be Used

Consider this example with a separate method call:

void test2() {
    int a = 1;
    int b = 2;
    int c = add(a, b);
    System.out.println(c);
}

int add(int a, int b) {
    System.out.println("a = " + a);
    System.out.println("b = " + b);
    return a + b;
}

When execution reaches int c = add(a, b), the debugger enters add. At this point you can use Reset Frame to return to the previous line in the calling method.

Can’t Find Reset Frame?

In versions prior to IDEA 2022.1 the feature is called Drop Frame and appears as the button shown below.