Bugs are inevitable in software development. No matter how experienced the team is or how robust the processes are, at some point, something will break. Within this context, it’s important for QA professionals and testers to know how to report these bugs in the best way so they can be fixed.
A vague bug report (“it doesn’t work”, “there’s an error”, “it’s broken here”) generates rework, frustrates developers, and delays fixes. On the other hand, a well-structured report accelerates the entire development cycle and drastically increases the chances that the problem will be resolved on the first attempt.
Reporting bugs is a skill. And like any skill, it can be learned and improved. This guide will show you how to create reports that truly help your team solve problems quickly and efficiently.
Why is a good bug report important?
Cem Kaner, one of the world’s leading references in software testing, summed it up well: “The idea in writing a bug report is to get bugs fixed”. Seems obvious, right? However, in practice, many reports end up being rejected, ignored, or returned to QA because they lack basic information.
Poor reports make it difficult to understand the problem and can generate solutions with new problems due to misunderstanding the text. According to a study by IBM System Sciences Institute, fixing a bug found after product launch can cost up to 100 times more than if it had been detected in the design phase. When the report is poorly written, this cost increases even more, because the developer wastes time trying to understand what really happened.
A bug report matters because it’s a working tool that documents unexpected behavior and provides the development team with everything they need to reproduce, understand, and fix the problem.
Follow some rules (and convince the team to do the same)
Before thinking about the content of your report, think about the structure. Teams that follow a clear standard for documenting bugs save time, avoid confusion, and facilitate problem cataloging.
If your company already has a defined standard, great. Follow it to the letter. If not, it’s time to create one together with the team. Here are some popular formats that can serve as inspiration:
- Classic template: divides the report into sections such as title, description, steps to reproduce, expected behavior, actual behavior, and additional information. It’s straightforward, objective, and works well in tools like JIRA and Bugzilla.
- User Story format: some teams prefer to report bugs in the user story format: “As [type of user], I want [action], so that [desired result]”. This model is useful for focusing on the user experience and is common in agile methodologies (Trello, Azure DevOps).
- Incident report: used in more formal corporate environments, it includes not only the problem itself but also root cause and proposed solutions. Tools like Confluence are great for hosting this type of documentation.
The important thing is to choose a format and be consistent. Standardization makes it easier for both the writer and the reader.
Essential structure of an efficient bug report
Now let’s get to what really matters: how to build a bug report that works. Let’s break it down.
Start with the basics
Every report needs to start with three fundamental pieces of information:
Descriptive title: Summarize the problem clearly and specifically. A good title already provides enough context for the developer to know what it’s about before even opening the report.
Example:
- ❌ Poor: “Login error”
- ✅ Good: “[DEV] [HML] Valid credentials are not recognized on the login page”
Software version: Indicate the exact version where the bug was found. This is crucial because a fix may have already been made in more recent versions, or the problem may be related to a specific change.
Environment: Specify where the bug occurred: development, staging, production. Bugs that appear in one environment may not manifest in others, and this information directs the investigation.
Detailed problem description
Here you’ll contextualize what happened. The rule is simple: be objective and descriptive. Explain what you expected to happen and what actually happened.
Example:
“When trying to log in with valid credentials (user: test@company.com / password: Password123), the system doesn’t recognize the data and returns an error message ‘Authentication error’. The expected behavior would be redirection to the user’s main dashboard.”
Avoid unnecessary jargon and don’t assume the developer has prior knowledge of the context. Your report may be read by someone new to the team or someone who isn’t familiar with that specific module.
Steps to reproduce: the heart of the report
This is the most important section of your bug report. If the developer can’t reproduce the problem, they won’t be able to fix it. Simple as that.
List the steps in a numbered, sequential, and detailed manner. Include the initial state, with questions like: was the user logged in? Was there data filled in? Was any specific configuration active?
Example:
- Open Google Chrome browser (version 131.0.6778.86)
- Access the login page at https://app.company.com/login
- Enter email: test@company.com
- Enter password: Password123
- Click the “Enter” button
- Observe the displayed error message
The more specific you are, the better. If the bug is intermittent, document all the variables you can identify: time of day, access volume, browser, connection type, etc.
Expected result vs. actual result
Make this comparison explicitly. This eliminates ambiguity and makes clear what the behavioral deviation is.
Example:
Expected: after clicking “Enter”, the user should be redirected to the main dashboard at /dashboard.
Actual: the system displays the message “Authentication error” and remains on the login screen.
Evidence
Screenshots, recordings, animated GIFs, and logs are your best allies. They eliminate doubts and accelerate diagnosis. When reporting a software bug, if possible, attach evidence with screenshots, recordings, or even GIFs that show the problem.
Practical tip: when taking a screenshot, highlight the problem with an arrow or red circle. It seems silly, especially when the error is obvious to you. However, for someone analyzing dozens of reports, this visual marking makes a difference.
If the bug generated error logs in the browser console or backend, include them as well. Logs are gold for developers because they point directly to the technical origin of the problem.
Additional context: information is never too much
The more context you provide, the better. Here are details that may seem secondary but are often the key to understanding the problem:
Frequency: does the bug happen every time you try to reproduce it, or only occasionally? If it’s intermittent, how many attempts did it appear in?
Priority and severity: evaluate the impact on the user and the system. A bug that prevents login is critical. A misaligned button is low. This evaluation helps the team prioritize fixes.
Specific environment: does the problem only happen under certain circumstances? For example, only for admin users, or only when there are more than 100 records in the list?
Affected browsers and operating systems: list where you identified the problem. Example: “Reproduced on Google Chrome 131.0.6778.86, Windows 11. Does not occur on Firefox 115.0.”
Event history: if possible, report previous actions that may be related. Example: “The bug started happening right after the deployment of version 2.1.0.”
Complete example of additional context:
“Frequency: Occurs consistently in 10 out of 10 attempts. Priority: Medium. Affects all users, but there’s an alternative solution via password recovery. Browser: Google Chrome 131.0.6778.86 Operating system: Windows 11 Pro Note: The bug does not occur in the production environment, only in dev and staging.”
Unique ID for each bug: most bug management tools (JIRA, Azure DevOps, Bugzilla) automatically generate a unique identifier for each report. This ID facilitates tracking, referencing in conversations, and organizing the fix history.
If your tool doesn’t do this automatically, consider creating a naming convention. Example: BUG-LOGIN-001, BUG-CHECKOUT-042, etc.
What to avoid when writing a bug report
Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do. Here are the most common mistakes that sabotage the effectiveness of a bug report:
Vague descriptions: “there’s an error”, “it doesn’t work”, etc., these descriptions don’t help anyone. Always be specific about what happened.
Mixing multiple bugs in a single report: one problem per report. If you identified three different bugs on the same screen, create three separate reports. This facilitates tracking, prioritization, and allows different developers to work in parallel.
Confusing bug with enhancement: not everything that bothers you is a bug. A bug happens when the system breaks a known expectation by the team (described in specification, business rule, or agreed behavior). An enhancement is when the behavior doesn’t meet your personal expectation but wasn’t promised otherwise.
Confusing language or wordiness: be clear, objective, and straight to the point. Spelling and grammar also matter, a well-written text conveys professionalism and facilitates understanding.
Forgetting to check for duplicates: before creating a new report, search the tool to see if the bug has already been registered. Duplicates create unnecessary work and pollute the backlog.
The mindset change: from reactive to preventive
Bug reports are essential. However, there’s something even better than reporting bugs efficiently: preventing them from reaching you.
A study by the Consortium for IT Software Quality estimated that in 2022, software bugs cost the US economy about $2.41 trillion. Most of this cost comes from failures that could have been detected before reaching production.
The difference between reporting a bug after it happened and detecting it before it reaches the end user is enormous, both in terms of cost and company reputation.
TestBooster.ai: intelligent prevention with test automation
If you’ve made it this far, you already know how to write bug reports that actually work. Now, how about taking it a step further and starting to prevent these bugs instead of just reporting them afterwards?
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The idea is simple: test results come out in real-time, with descriptions of the steps and where the error occurred entirely done by AI.
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