Locating the Message Log

Reference Number: KB-02908
Last Modified: July 24, 2025

This article also applies to the following legacy products:
Pro | Architectural | Suite

QUESTION

The Chief Architect Technical Support team requested that I send in the program's Message Log file. How do I find this file?  


ANSWER

The Message Log for Chief Architect software contains information that can help Chief Architect Technical Support determine the cause of problems experienced within the software. In this article, we will show you how to access this log file. 


To retrieve the Message Log in Chief Architect X17, Home Designer 2026, and newer versions

  1. With the program open, navigate to Help> Export Logs.

    With the program open go to Help and click Export Logs.


  2. In the dialog that appears, choose an easy to find location to save the log files to, such as your Desktop, then click Select Folder.


  3. An Information dialog will display with the location the logs have been saved to; click Open Location or OK.

    Note: When performing this action, all of the log files are exported to a single zipped (compressed) folder.

    Information box informing that the export was successful.


  4. Attach the compressed (zipped) folder to a support case in the Technical Support Center.


To locate the Message Log in Chief Architect X16, Home Designer 2025, and prior versions

  1. The instructions in this step will vary based on the operating system you're using: 

    • On Windows, press the Windows  key and the letter R at the same time, type %localappdata% in the dialog that appears, then press OK.

      Run dialog with %localappdata% in the Open field


    • On macOS, select Go> Go to folder using Finder, type ~/Library/Application Support, then press Return or Go.

      Go to Folder dialog with ~/Library/Application Support/ in the field 


  2. This will open a new File Explorer or Finder window on your system. Open the file folder corresponding to your product, and inside you will see a text file named Message Log.txt.


  3. Open the Message Log and select File> Save As from the menu, then save a copy of the log to your Desktop.


  4. The file can now be attached to a support case in the Technical Support Center. 

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