# Symbol and Binary Indexing

DevFeed: [Symbol and Binary Indexing](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/symbol-and-binary-indexing-39727.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.timdbg.com/posts/symbol-indexing/>)

Author: Tim Misiak

Published: 2022-08-10T15:30:09Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [TimDbg](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/timdbg.md>)

Topics: [debugging](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/debugging.md>), [Windows](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/windows.md>), [Visual Studio](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/visual-studio.md>)

Tags: [binaries](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/binaries.md>), [debug](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/debug.md>), [debugger](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/debugger.md>), [debugging](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/debugging.md>), [files](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/files.md>), [symbols](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/symbols.md>), [windbg](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/windbg.md>), [windows](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/windows.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains why WinDbg debugging benefits from indexing both symbols and binaries. Symbols provide names, type definitions, and source files, while indexed binaries help debuggers reconstruct missing module data and perform reliable stack walking, especially when analyzing crash dumps from another machine.

## Source excerpt

Symbol indexing is one of those features of WinDbg that can make things "just work" in a way that seems like magic. But it can also be the most painful things when it goes wrong. Why should I index symbols and binaries? Most of us have tried to debug without symbols at one point, and it can quickly become an exercise in frustration. It's much more productive to debug an executable where you have symbols because it gives you function names, variable names, type definitions, and source files.