How to Enable Combat Logging in WoW

Your raid leader says "I'll check the logs." Your M+ group says "link logs." That one guy in trade chat says "post your parse or shut up." And you're sitting there thinking: what logs? Where are these logs? Is this something I should have been doing this whole time?

Yeah. It is. But nobody ever showed you how, because every guide assumes you already know.

Let me fix that. In about two minutes, you'll have combat logging enabled, and you'll actually understand what it does. Then I'll show you what to do with the file — because having a combat log and actually using it are two very different things.

What Is a Combat Log?

Every time you fight something in WoW, the game can record every single event that happens: every ability cast, every damage number, every heal, every buff, every death, every interrupt. All of it, for every player, with millisecond timestamps.

This record is your combat log — a text file called WoWCombatLog.txt that WoW writes to your hard drive while you play.

It's the raw data behind every WarcraftLogs parse, every DPS ranking, every wipe analysis, and every "why did I die?" answer. Without it, none of those tools work. With it, you can see everything that happened in a fight — not just what you remember, but what actually occurred.

The catch: WoW doesn't record it by default. You have to turn it on.

Step 1: Enable Advanced Combat Logging

Before you start recording, flip this setting so your logs capture everything.

Open System menu (Escape → System)
Click Network
Check the box that says Advanced Combat Logging

That's it. This setting persists across sessions — set it once and forget it.

What "advanced" means: Standard combat logging records the basics. Advanced combat logging adds positioning data, absorb amounts, and other details that analysis tools need to give you accurate results. Every combat log site — WarcraftLogs, WowCoach, all of them — wants advanced logging enabled. There's no reason not to use it.

Prefer a slash command? Type this in chat: /console advancedCombatLogging 1 Same result, saves you three clicks.

Step 2: Start Recording

Here's the part that trips everyone up: the setting above doesn't start logging. It just configures the format. You need to actually tell WoW to start writing the file.

Type this in chat:

/combatlog

You'll see a message: "Combat logging enabled."

That's it. WoW is now recording everything. Every ability, every damage event, every heal, every death — all being written to a file on your hard drive in real time.

Important: You need to type /combatlog every time you log in or reload your UI. WoW doesn't remember that you were logging. This is the single most common reason people think they have logs and don't.

Step 3: Make It Automatic (So You Never Forget)

Typing /combatlog every session gets old fast. Here are two ways to make it automatic:

Option A: A Simple Macro

Create a macro with this command and put it on your action bar:

/combatlog

Click it once when you log in. If logging is already on, it toggles off — so only click it once. Not glamorous, but it works.

Option B: Use an Auto-Logger Addon

Addons like AutoCombatLogger will automatically start combat logging when you enter a raid or M+ dungeon. No manual step required. Install it, configure which content types to log, and never think about it again.

This is what most serious raiders use. You don't need to log your dailies or auction house browsing — the addon starts recording when content starts and stops when you leave.

Option C: Skip All of This

If you install the WowCoach Desktop App, it handles everything. It detects when WoW is running, watches your log folder, and uploads your logs automatically when your M+ or raid session ends. You still need combat logging enabled in-game (Option A or B above), but the Desktop App eliminates the entire "find the file, open a website, upload it" workflow.

Where Is Your Combat Log File?

Once logging is enabled, WoW writes to this location:

World of Warcraft\_retail_\Logs\WoWCombatLog.txt

On most Windows installs, the full path is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\_retail_\Logs\WoWCombatLog.txt

A few things to know about this file:

It grows fast. A full raid night can produce a 500MB+ log file. A busy M+ session, 100-200MB.
It doesn't reset automatically. WoW appends to the same file until you delete it or rename it. After a few weeks of logging, you might have a multi-gigabyte file.
Delete it periodically. Or at least before each raid night, rename or delete the old file so you get a clean log. Most upload tools handle large files fine, but there's no reason to carry around three weeks of data.

Classic WoW players: Your log is in _classic_\Logs\ or _classic_era_\Logs\ instead of _retail_\Logs\. Same filename, different folder.

Now What? What Do You Do With a Combat Log?

You've got logging enabled. You ran a dungeon or raided for the night. You have a WoWCombatLog.txt file sitting on your hard drive. Now the interesting part.

A raw combat log is a wall of text — millions of lines of comma-separated data that no human should try to read directly. You need a tool to parse it.

Option 1: Upload to WowCoach

Drag your WoWCombatLog.txt file onto the WowCoach upload page and it gets parsed in seconds. You'll see:

Every fight in your session broken out — boss encounters, trash pulls, M+ runs, all of it
Damage and healing breakdowns by player and ability
Death recaps showing the exact sequence of damage that killed each player, including which defensive cooldowns they had available
M+ run timelines with pull-by-pull breakdowns

And then you can do something no spreadsheet will ever give you: ask questions in plain English.

"Why did we wipe on pull 7?" "What killed the tank?" "Am I using my defensives enough?" Coach Clutch reads every event in your log and answers like a raid leader who actually looked at the data — not "do better on mechanics," but specific, timestamped, actionable feedback.

Option 2: Upload to WarcraftLogs

WarcraftLogs is the industry standard. Upload your log file through their uploader client, and you'll get detailed breakdowns, parse percentiles, and rankings. It's powerful — and complex. If you've never used it before, expect to spend some time learning the interface. (If you're wondering how the tools compare, I wrote a full breakdown of WarcraftLogs vs WoWAnalyzer vs WowCoach.)

Option 3: Use the WowCoach Desktop App

This is the "I don't want to think about any of this" option.

Download the Desktop App, sign in with Battle.net, and play WoW. The app watches your log file in real time and uploads automatically when your M+ key or raid session ends. Your reports appear on WowCoach ready to review — no manual upload, no file hunting, no alt-tabbing.

Pro subscribers get live analysis: each boss pull uploads as it ends, so you can check your wipe analysis between pulls instead of waiting until tomorrow.

Troubleshooting

"I uploaded my log but there's nothing in it." You forgot to type /combatlog before pulling. The advanced logging setting alone doesn't start recording — you need to explicitly start the log. Use an auto-logger addon to avoid this.

"My log file is huge and upload is slow." Delete or rename your WoWCombatLog.txt before each session so you start fresh. A single raid night's log uploads in seconds. Three weeks of accumulated data takes longer.

"I can't find the Logs folder." Make sure you've typed /combatlog at least once — WoW creates the Logs folder the first time you enable logging. If it still doesn't exist, check that WoW is installed where you think it is. Open the Battle.net launcher, click the gear icon on WoW, and "Show in Explorer" to find your install directory.

"Do I need to log every session?" Only if you want to analyze it. Most players log raids and M+ keys but skip open-world content. An auto-logger addon handles this perfectly — it only records inside instanced content.

The 30-Second Version

System → Network → Check "Advanced Combat Logging" (one-time)
Type /combatlog in chat (every session, or use an auto-logger addon)
Upload WoWCombatLog.txt to WowCoach or WarcraftLogs after your session
Or install the Desktop App and never think about step 3 again

That's it. Two minutes of setup and you'll never have to say "I don't have logs" again.

Your logs are talking. Your deaths, your DPS, your missed kicks, your unused defensives — it's all in there. The only question is whether you're going to listen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does combat logging affect my FPS? No. The performance impact is negligible — WoW is writing a text file to disk, which your SSD handles without breaking a sweat. You won't notice any difference in FPS or latency.

Does combat logging work in Classic WoW? Yes. The /combatlog command works in Classic, Classic Era, and Season of Discovery. The log file is in the _classic_ or _classic_era_ folder instead of _retail_. Advanced Combat Logging is available in the same Network settings.

Can other players see that I'm logging? No. Combat logging is entirely local and invisible to other players. There's no indicator, no notification, nothing. Log freely.

Do I need to stop logging manually? Typing /combatlog again toggles it off, but there's no real reason to stop manually. Logging ends automatically when you log out. If you're using an auto-logger addon, it handles start and stop for you.

What's the difference between WoW's combat log and the built-in damage meter? WoW's built-in damage meter (added in 12.0) shows you real-time DPS/HPS during combat. The combat log is a raw data file written to your hard drive that contains every event — far more detail than the in-game meter shows. External tools like WowCoach and WarcraftLogs read this file to provide analysis that goes way beyond what any in-game display can show: full death recaps, cooldown tracking, rotation analysis, and AI-powered insights.

Stay clutch.

Coach Clutch is the AI coaching engine behind WowCoach.gg. Upload your combat logs at wowcoach.gg/upload for instant analysis, or download the Desktop App to skip manual uploads entirely.

How to Enable Combat Logging in WoW — The Complete 2-Minute Setup