Break point in release mode

You can use the __debugbreak() intrinisic. This is also very handy if you want to break on a specific condition. For example:

if (var > LIMIT)
  __debugbreak();

I'm using VS2015. after lots of failed solutions I found one that worked for me. Just uncheck "Enable Just My Code" under Menu->Debug->Options->Debugging->General. See attached image: enable debug in release mode-VS2015

I really hope this will solve the problem to you :)

In release mode your code is optimized and that can change the flow of your program. For example, if a function is simple and only called once, the compiler can inline the function in release mode.

Debug mode doesn't have these kind of optimization and is designed for debugging your code.