Dealing with a sudden application crash or a complete reboot of the smartphone is unpleasant, but it is at these moments that the Android system generates critical data. Custom Error Report (User Bug Report) is a mechanism that allows you to collect all the technical information about the failure in one file for subsequent analysis. The average person sees only a black screen or an "Application has stopped" message, but in the background the operating system records memory status, processor activity, and kernel errors.
Understanding that how to create an error reporttransforms you from a passive observer to an active participant in software improvement. Google's app developers and engineers cannot physically test their products on thousands of different combinations of hardware and firmware versions. Therefore, your logs become the only source of truth, helping to identify the cause of instability Android OS or specific software.
In this guide, we will examine not only standard methods of collecting data through the menu, but also advanced methods using computer utilities. You will learn which settings need to be activated in advance so as not to lose valuable data at the time of a critical system failure.
What is a technical error log
The report file is not just a text description of the problem, but a comprehensive dump of system processes. The archive contains event logs (logcat), information about KERNEL (dmesg), battery status and a list of running services at the time of the incident. System log records each action in chronological order, which allows a specialist to restore the chain of events that led to the crash.
For the average user, this file looks like a set of incomprehensible symbols and technical terms. However, for the developer, it is a treasure map that points to the exact line of code that caused the conflict. Without such data, error correction is often done at random, which delays the release of stable firmware updates.
⚠️ Attention: The error report may contain personal data, such as notification history, names of open applications, or geolocation tags. Before sending a file to third parties, make sure that you trust the recipient.
When generating a report, the system may be slow for a few minutes - this is normal because the processor is busy collecting and compressing a large amount of data.
Activating developer mode for advanced features
By default, the advanced error reporting feature is hidden from the eyes of the average user. To access it, you need to unlock a special menu. Go to Settings your device and scroll the list to the very bottom, finding the item About phone or Phone information.
Inside this section, find the line Build number. You will need to quickly press it 7 times in a row. After a few clicks, the system will warn you how many more clicks are left before activation. Once the limit is reached, you will see a notification: “You are now a developer!”
Return to the main settings menu. A new section will appear there For developers, usually located in the “System” category or immediately in the main list. This is where the tools for USB debugging and creating detailed reports are hidden. Do not change other settings in this menu unless necessary, as incorrect values may disrupt the system's stableWorkwork.
Creating a report through the power and settings menu
The fastest way to fix the problem is to use the power button combination. On many modern smartphones with shells like MIUI, OneUI or clean Android, holding the power button for a long time brings up the shutdown menu. If developer mode is activated, there may be a button Report a bug.
An alternative method is available through the developer menu. Find item Create a bug report. The system will prompt you to select the report type: Full Report or current (Interactive Report). The full report collects data from the entire system, which takes longer, but gives the most complete picture.
- 📱 Press and hold the power button until the menu appears.
- 🔍 Select “Report a Bug” or “Bug Report.”
- ⏳ Wait for the data collection to complete (progress will appear in the notification shade).
- 📤 Click on the notification to send the file via mail or messenger.
After pressing the button, the system will begin collecting data. An icon indicating the process will appear in the top notification bar. This may take from 30 seconds to several minutes depending on the complexity of the problem and the speed of the device's memory.
☑️ Check before submitting the report
Collecting logs via a computer using ADB
Professional analysis often requires the use of a computer. The utility Android Debug Bridge (ADB) allows you to extract logs in real time or save them to a file with greater detail than the standard phone menu does. This method is indispensable if the phone freezes so much that the touch screen does not respond to touches.
Pre-connect the smartphone to the PC via a high-quality USB cable. A window should appear on your phone screen asking you to allow debugging - confirm it by checking the “Always allow from this computer” checkbox. If the window does not appear, check the device drivers in the Windows Task Manager.
Open a command prompt or terminal on your computer in the folder where ADB is installed. Enter the following command to create a full report:
adb bugreport C:\bugreport.zipThis command will initiate the collection of all system logs and save them to an archive bugreport.zip at the root of drive C. The process may take a long time, and progress will be displayed as text output in the console. Do not disconnect the cable until the operation is completed.
⚠️ Attention: Menu interfaces and item names may differ depending on the Android version and the manufacturer's shell. If you do not find these items, check the official documentation for your smartphone model.
What to do if ADB does not see the device?
Make sure that the “USB Debugging” option is enabled in developer mode. Try a different USB cable or a different port on your computer. Sometimes installing universal Google USB Drivers helps.
Analysis of the contents of the report file
The resulting file usually has an extension .zip. It contains many text files with the extension .txt and dumps in the format .png (screenshots of the screen at the time of the error). The main file that developers are interested in is often called bugreport-... or logcat.
Opening this amount of data in a regular notepad can be difficult due to the file size. It is better to use advanced text editors, such as Notepad++ or VS Codethat can work with large files and have a search function. Look for keywords: FATAL EXCEPTION, CRASH, ANR (Application Not Responding).
| Data type | Description | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Logcat | Application and system event log | File logcat.txt |
| Dmesg | Linux kernel and driver messages | Dmesg.txt file |
| Battery Stats | History of charge consumption and battery status | Batterystats section |
| Window Manager | Window and interface status | Dumpsys window section |
If you plan to send the report to the developer, you do not need to analyze it yourself. However, having a brief description of the problem (what you were doing before the failure) will greatly speed up the diagnostic process on the other side.
The most valuable part of the report is the timestamp. Always indicate the exact time the error occurred so that the developer can quickly find the corresponding lines in the log.
Securely sending data to developers
When the file is generated, the question arises: where to put it? Many applications have a built-in feedback form where you can attach a report file. This is the most preferable option, since the data immediately goes into the support team’s task tracker.
If there is no such form, you can send the file by email. In the subject line of the email, be sure to indicate the device model, Android version and a brief description of the problem. For example: “Camera crash on Xiaomi Mi 11, Android 13, error when shooting 4K.”
Remember about confidentiality. Although logs rarely store passwords in clear text, they may contain lists of contacts, names of conversations, or history of visited sites. Before posting to public forums, carefully check the contents of the text files inside the archive.
⚠️ Warning: Never post full bug reports in public chats or social networks without first checking for personal information. Attackers can use this data for social engineering.
Use cloud storage (Google Drive, Yandex.Disk) to transfer large report files, since email services often have a limit on attachment size (usually 25 MB).
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Will creating a report slow down my phone?
Yes, during the actual data collection process (usually 1-3 minutes), the phone may work slower, warm up, or respond with a delay to keystrokes. This happens because the system actively reads information from memory and writes it to disk. After the process is completed, performance is completely restored.
Is it possible to create a report if the phone has already rebooted?
The standard report captures the state of the system “here and now”. If the phone has already rebooted, data about the cause of the previous crash may be lost if it was not written to permanent memory (pstore). However, in the boot logs (last_kmsg or equivalent) it is sometimes possible to find traces of a kernel panic that occurred before the reboot.
Do I need_root_ access to create a report?
No, to create a standard custom error report, superuser rights (root) are not required. Standard system permissions are sufficient to collect basic logs. Root access is only required to extract some protected system partitions, which are usually not included in the standard bug report.
Where are the generated reports stored on the device?
Usually the files are saved in a folder /sdcard/bugreports/ or in the root directory of the internal storage. You can also access them through the notification curtain immediately after the collection is complete by clicking on the corresponding notification.
What is ANR in an error report?
ANR (Application Not Responding) means that the application has stopped responding to user actions within a certain time (usually 5 seconds). The report will contain a call stack (trace), showing which process blocked the main execution thread of the application.