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How to Compile SDL3 for UWP

Sources: SternXD/SDL3-uwp, branch uwp-3.4.8 (SDL 3.4.8). You can build the WinRT/UWP DLL either from VisualC-WinRT/SDL-UWP.sln or with CMake + Ninja using the same flags as the SDL-UWP 3.4.8 release notes.

note

Grab a prebuilt release from my fork's Releases if you don't need a local build.

Prerequisites​

  • Windows machine with room for a full C++ tree and object files.
  • Visual Studio 2026 with UWP bits installed see Visual Studio 2026 setup (WinUI application development, Desktop development with C++ is a good idea, C++ Universal Windows Platform tools). The .sln may still want C++ (v143) UWP tools add those if VS asks to retarget or complains about the toolset.
  • Git: git-scm.com/downloads
  • CMake + Ninja (command-line build only): CMake, Ninja, or e.g. winget install Kitware.CMake and winget install Ninja-build.Ninja. Both need to be on PATH.

Clone​

git clone -b uwp-3.4.8 https://github.com/SternXD/SDL3-uwp.git
cd SDL3-uwp

Visual Studio​

  1. Open VisualC-WinRT/SDL-UWP.sln in VS 2026.
  2. Configuration Release (use Debug only if you need symbols).
  3. Platform x64. Other UWP targets in the solution may be incomplete stick to x64 unless you know you need something else.
  4. Build the SDL UWP project from Solution Explorer.

Outputs go under VisualC-WinRT in the usual x64\Release-style folders (exact path depends on how the project is retargeted). Point your app at this repo's include (and include/build_config where needed), link the produced .lib, and ship the .dll inside your app package like any other UWP dependency. To put outputs somewhere else, change Output Directory on the SDL project's General properties.

There's a VisualC-WinRT/testdraw sample if you want a quick sanity check after linking.

CMake + Ninja​

Same thing as the SDL-UWP 3.4.8 release text.

  1. Start from a Developer Command Prompt for VS 2026 or x64 Native Tools prompt so cl and the SDK are set up, then cd into the clone.

  2. Set where you want the install to go. cmd:

    set INSTALLDIR=C:\sdl3-uwp-install

    PowerShell: put the path straight into CMake, e.g. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="C:\sdl3-uwp-install", or set $env:INSTALLDIR and use -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$env:INSTALLDIR" in the configure command (don't rely on %INSTALLDIR% that's cmd).

  3. Configure ( ^ is cmd line continuation):

    cmake -B build-uwp ^
      -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=WindowsStore ^
      -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0 ^
      -DCMAKE_TRY_COMPILE_TARGET_TYPE=STATIC_LIBRARY ^
      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ^
      -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="%INSTALLDIR%" ^
      -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON ^
      -DSDL_SHARED=ON ^
      -DSDL_STATIC=OFF ^
      -DSDL_TESTS=OFF ^
      -DSDL_EXAMPLES=OFF ^
      -G Ninja

  4. Build:

    cmake --build build-uwp --config Release --parallel

  5. Install:

    cmake --install build-uwp --config Release

You'll get a normal prefix layout under INSTALLDIR: include, lib, bin, etc.

Adding it to your app​

VS build: includes from this repo, libs/DLL from the VisualC-WinRT output folder you built.

CMake install: includes and libs from CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX after step 5.

API docs: wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3.