# The complete msg.payload in Debug - howto **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [14 February 2019 02:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951 "2019-02-14T02:53:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1

**Author:** ![janek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2acd7d/32.png) [@janek](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/janek)\ **Post date:** [14 February 2019 02:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951/1 "2019-02-14T02:53:44Z")

Hi, Is it possible to see the complete msg.payload using Debug node? I have a very long string (about 4096 characters) and only a part of it is visible in debug. Is there another way to see it? Janek ---

**Author:** ![rgerrans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@rgerrans](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/rgerrans)\ **Post date:** [14 February 2019 04:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951/2 "2019-02-14T04:24:05Z")

Yes, it's an option on the Output dropdown ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/2X/7/72452614bda9aa04b9542d6da53eeb0f07c1bb6a.png) ---

**Author:** ![shrickus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/shrickus/32/517_2.png) [@shrickus](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/shrickus)\ **Post date:** [14 February 2019 05:55 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951/3 "2019-02-14T05:55:12Z")

Actually, the option to show the "complete msg object" will not help showing such a long string... it is there to show the top level fields that are defined on the incoming msg object (topic and payload are just two of those fields, but there are others). There is a section in `settings.js` that will allow you to show longer data fields in the debug sidebar: ``` // The maximum length, in characters, of any message sent to the debug sidebar tab debugMaxLength: 1000, ``` Any changes you make to this file are only read once, so you will have to restart node-red for the change to take effect -- and beware that it will affect **every** debug node. There is also a checkbox on the debug node itself that will redirect the _entire_ output to the "system console", which is probably the easiest solution to start with. Whenever a new msg arrives you see it added to wherever your node-red server is logging its output. ---

**Author:** ![janek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2acd7d/32.png) [@janek](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/janek)\ **Post date:** [14 February 2019 09:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951/4 "2019-02-14T09:35:35Z")

Thank you, it’s very helpful ---

**Author:** ![CSL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@CSL](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/CSL)\ **Post date:** [24 March 2022 10:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951/5 "2022-03-24T10:48:36Z")

![grafik](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/5/9/59a919620ce588ae5eb1ffea3c2e0fcb372014cd.png) Can somebody help and explain why that dropdown vanished? ---

**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\ **Post date:** [24 March 2022 10:52 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/the-complete-msg-payload-in-debug-howto/7951/6 "2022-03-24T10:52:34Z")

This topic is over 3 years old and has already been answered. If you have a new question please start a new topic. ---