Overview

When debugging a crash in Unreal Engine using Rider or Visual Studio, you might run into a screen filled with low-level assembly code instead of your C++ source. This usually happens when debug symbols are missing. it’s easy to fix.

Environment

• Engine: Unreal Engine 5.x
• IDE: JetBrains Rider or Microsoft Visual Studio (Windows)

Main Content

If your debugger shows only raw assembly like this:

mov     eax, dword ptr [rax+10h]

It means it can’t find the symbol files (.pdb). These are essential for mapping compiled code back to your C++ source.

✅ How to Fix It

1. Open Epic Games Launcher
2. Go to the Library tab
3. Find your installed UE version
4. Click the ▼ arrow next to the Launch button
5. Click Options
   
6. Enable Editor symbols for debugging
   
7. Click Apply to download them (may take time — it's large)

This will install the debug symbols needed for proper source-level debugging.

Result

After installing the symbols:

• Rider or Visual Studio will now show C++ source lines and call stacks
• You’ll be able to trace crashes or runtime issues back to your own code

💡 Tip: When installing a new version of Unreal Engine, the debug symbols setting is disabled by default.
Make sure to turn it back on before debugging!

References

• Install Debug Symbols – VS Tools for Unreal