Using Windows Event Viewer

The Windows Event Log Service records application, security, and system events. You can see the recorded events via Event Viewer. One of the logs available in Event Viewer is the Application log, which contains events logged by applications or programs. This log can help you to identify and diagnose the source of an application problem.

In this topic:

How to View Event Logs

To open Event Viewer in Windows XP/Vista/7/8, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Start button.
  2. Click Control Panel on the Start menu.
  3. In Control Panel, click System and Security, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Event Viewer.
  4. Expand Windows Logs and click Application.

How to Find Events

How to Search for a Specific Log Event

  1. On the Actions menu, click Find (or press Ctrl+F).
  2. Specify the options for the event that you want to view in the Find dialog box, and then click Find Next.
  3. The event that matches your search criteria is highlighted in the details pane. Click Find Next to locate the next occurrence of an event as defined by your search criteria.

How to Filter Log Events

  1. On the Actions menu, click Filter Current Log.
  2. Specify the filter options, and then click OK to apply the filter.
  3. Only events that match your filter criteria are displayed.
  4. To remove a currently applied filter, on the Actions menu, click Clear Filter.

How to Sort Log Events

An alternative to search is sorting events. You can sort events by Level (Information, Warning, and Error), Date and Time, Source, etc. To find a recent event and its details sort events by Date and Time in decreasing order (from the latest to the earliest dates).

How to View Event Details

After you select event by clicking it, event details are shown in the Preview pane, which is usually located below the events list. You can also double-click on an event to display its details in the Event Properties window. To copy event details to clipboard, click the Copy button in the Event Properties window.