diff --git a/common/include/common/debug.h b/common/include/common/debug.h
index 6c5cb55f..302ee17a 100644
--- a/common/include/common/debug.h
+++ b/common/include/common/debug.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ enum DebugLevel
   DEBUG_LEVEL_INFO,
   DEBUG_LEVEL_WARN,
   DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR,
+  DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE,
   DEBUG_LEVEL_FIXME,
   DEBUG_LEVEL_FATAL
 };
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ enum DebugLevel
 extern const char ** debug_lookup;
 
 void debug_init(void);
+void debug_enableTracing(void);
 
 // platform specific debug initialization
 void platform_debugInit(void);
@@ -81,6 +83,9 @@ void debug_warn(const char * file, unsigned int line, const char * function,
 void debug_error(const char * file, unsigned int line, const char * function,
     const char * format, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 4, 5)));
 
+void debug_trace(const char * file, unsigned int line, const char * function,
+    const char * format, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 4, 5)));
+
 #define STRIPPATH(s) ( \
   sizeof(s) >  2 && (s)[sizeof(s)- 3] == DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR ? (s) + sizeof(s) -  2 : \
   sizeof(s) >  3 && (s)[sizeof(s)- 4] == DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR ? (s) + sizeof(s) -  3 : \
@@ -112,6 +117,7 @@ void debug_error(const char * file, unsigned int line, const char * function,
 #define DEBUG_INFO(fmt, ...) DEBUG_PRINT(DEBUG_LEVEL_INFO, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 #define DEBUG_WARN(fmt, ...) DEBUG_PRINT(DEBUG_LEVEL_WARN, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 #define DEBUG_ERROR(fmt, ...) DEBUG_PRINT(DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define DEBUG_TRACE(fmt, ...) DEBUG_PRINT(DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 #define DEBUG_FIXME(fmt, ...) DEBUG_PRINT(DEBUG_LEVEL_FIXME, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 #define DEBUG_FATAL(fmt, ...) do { \
   DEBUG_BREAK(); \
diff --git a/common/src/debug.c b/common/src/debug.c
index fcd1878d..6b264a8c 100644
--- a/common/src/debug.c
+++ b/common/src/debug.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 static uint64_t startTime;
+static bool     traceEnabled = false;
 
 void debug_init(void)
 {
@@ -32,9 +33,17 @@ void debug_init(void)
   platform_debugInit();
 }
 
+void debug_enableTracing(void)
+{
+  traceEnabled = true;
+}
+
 inline static void debug_levelVA(enum DebugLevel level, const char * file,
     unsigned int line, const char * function, const char * format, va_list va)
 {
+  if (level == DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE && !traceEnabled)
+    return;
+
   const char * f = strrchr(file, DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
   if (!f)
     f = file;
@@ -94,3 +103,12 @@ void debug_error(const char * file, unsigned int line, const char * function,
   debug_levelVA(DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR, file, line, function, format, va);
   va_end(va);
 }
+
+void debug_trace(const char * file, unsigned int line, const char * function,
+    const char * format, ...)
+{
+  va_list va;
+  va_start(va, format);
+  debug_levelVA(DEBUG_LEVEL_INFO, file, line, function, format, va);
+  va_end(va);
+}
diff --git a/common/src/platform/linux/debug.c b/common/src/platform/linux/debug.c
index ccbd19fb..cd541569 100644
--- a/common/src/platform/linux/debug.c
+++ b/common/src/platform/linux/debug.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #define COLOR_RED    "\033[0;31m"
 #define COLOR_CYAN   "\033[0;36m"
 #define COLOR_WHITE  "\033[0;37m"
+#define COLOR_GREY   "\033[0;90m"
 
 const char ** debug_lookup = NULL;
 
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ void platform_debugInit(void)
     COLOR_RESET  "[I] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_INFO
     COLOR_YELLOW "[W] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_WARN
     COLOR_RED    "[E] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR
+    COLOR_GREY   "[T] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE
     COLOR_CYAN   "[F] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_FIXME
     COLOR_WHITE  "[!] "  // DEBUG_LEVEL_FATAL
   };
@@ -48,6 +50,7 @@ void platform_debugInit(void)
     "[I] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_INFO
     "[W] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_WARN
     "[E] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR
+    "[T] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE
     "[F] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_FIXME
     "[!] "  // DEBUG_LEVEL_FATAL
   };
diff --git a/common/src/platform/windows/debug.c b/common/src/platform/windows/debug.c
index 6b8fc7e0..0dfa9a97 100644
--- a/common/src/platform/windows/debug.c
+++ b/common/src/platform/windows/debug.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ void platform_debugInit(void)
     "[I] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_INFO
     "[W] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_WARN
     "[E] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_ERROR
+    "[T] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_TRACE
     "[F] ", // DEBUG_LEVEL_FIXME
     "[!] "  // DEBUG_LEVEL_FATAL
   };
diff --git a/host/platform/Windows/capture/D12/backend/dd.c b/host/platform/Windows/capture/D12/backend/dd.c
index 3da73021..3082e86b 100644
--- a/host/platform/Windows/capture/D12/backend/dd.c
+++ b/host/platform/Windows/capture/D12/backend/dd.c
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ static bool d12_dd_init(
   // create a DirectX11 context
   comRef_defineLocal(ID3D11Device       , d11device);
   comRef_defineLocal(ID3D11DeviceContext, d11context);
+
+  DEBUG_TRACE("D3D11CreateDevice");
   hr = D3D11CreateDevice(
     *_adapter,
     D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_UNKNOWN,
@@ -215,6 +217,7 @@ static bool d12_dd_init(
     // we try this twice in case we still get an error on re-initialization
     for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
     {
+      DEBUG_TRACE("IDXGIOutput1_DuplicateOutput");
       hr = IDXGIOutput1_DuplicateOutput(*output1, *(IUnknown **)d11device, dup);
       if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
         break;
@@ -233,6 +236,7 @@ static bool d12_dd_init(
     // we try this twice in case we still get an error on re-initialization
     for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
     {
+      DEBUG_TRACE("IDXGIOutput5_DuplicateOutput1");
       hr = IDXGIOutput5_DuplicateOutput1(
         *output5,
         *(IUnknown **)d11device,
@@ -310,12 +314,14 @@ static bool d12_dd_deinit(D12Backend * instance)
 
   if (this->release)
   {
+    DEBUG_TRACE("IDXGIOutputDuplication_ReleaseFrame");
     IDXGIOutputDuplication_ReleaseFrame(*this->dup);
     this->release = false;
   }
 
   if (this->desktop)
   {
+    DEBUG_TRACE("CloseDesktop");
     CloseDesktop(this->desktop);
     this->desktop = NULL;
   }
@@ -466,14 +472,17 @@ static ID3D12Resource * d12_dd_fetch(D12Backend * instance,
 
 static void d12_dd_openDesktop(DDInstance * this)
 {
+  DEBUG_TRACE("OpenInputDesktop");
   this->desktop = OpenInputDesktop(0, FALSE, GENERIC_READ);
   if (!this->desktop)
     DEBUG_WINERROR("Failed to open the desktop", GetLastError());
   else
   {
+    DEBUG_TRACE("SetThreadDesktop");
     if (!SetThreadDesktop(this->desktop))
     {
       DEBUG_WINERROR("Failed to set the thread desktop", GetLastError());
+      DEBUG_TRACE("CloseDesktop");
       CloseDesktop(this->desktop);
       this->desktop = NULL;
     }
diff --git a/host/platform/Windows/src/platform.c b/host/platform/Windows/src/platform.c
index 1dcbddd5..8b524d4f 100644
--- a/host/platform/Windows/src/platform.c
+++ b/host/platform/Windows/src/platform.c
@@ -571,6 +571,9 @@ bool app_init(void)
   const char * logFile = option_get_string("os", "logFile");
   const bool   ods     = option_get_bool  ("os", "ods"    );
 
+  if (ods)
+    debug_enableTracing();
+
   // redirect stderr to a file
   if (logFile && strcmp(logFile, "stderr") != 0)
   {