Enable xdebug in xampp php8 environement

Maybe you updated your php version from 7 to 8 and you had installed xdebug with your old php version. Now it is missing because in the official download of php it isn’t included.

Go to the download page of xdebug and look out for the right newest version concerning thread safety and architecture. If you are not sure which one suits your needs have a look at this post.

Once you downloaded it into xampp/php/ext you can rename it to php_xdebug.dll and open your php.ini (in xampp/php).

Add following lines at the end, if there is no other section named „[XDebug]“

zend_extension = "c:\xampp\php\ext\php_xdebug.dll"
xdebug.start_with_request=yes
xdebug.mode = debug
xdebug.discover_client_host = true
xdebug.client_host = "127.0.0.1"
xdebug.client_port = "9003"
xdebug.log_level = 0

I use log_level = 0 to prevent xdebug from excessive logging.

This are default settings copied elsewhere from the net but they work so far for me.

Save php.ini and restart apache from the xampp control panel.

Be aware: XDebug is a performance killer on my windows / xampp environement. Any help, tips or advises are highly appreciated to get around this bottle neck.