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Install tools for the Windows App SDK

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Configure your development computer with the tools required to build Windows apps using the Windows App SDK (stable release channel) and WinUI.

Before installing any tools, see System requirements for Windows app development.

Important

This article applies only to the stable release channel of the Windows App SDK. For other release channels, see Install tools for preview and experimental channels of the Windows App SDK.

Install tools with winget

[Visual Studio 2022 and later] Install the required tools and workloads using the console and one of the following commands. These commands will open Visual Studio Installer with any missing workloads selected, for which you can select Modify to install the required workloads.

For C# developers

winget install "Visual Studio Community 2022"  --override "--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.ManagedDesktop Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.WindowsAppSDK.Cs" -s msstore

For C++ developers

winget install "Visual Studio Community 2022"  --override "--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop  Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.WindowsAppSDK.Cpp"  -s msstore

Install tools manually

The following sections describe how to install the required tools and workloads manually.

Install Visual Studio

Use the following links to install Visual Studio 2022 (recommended) or Visual Studio 2019. You can choose between the free Visual Studio Community Edition, Visual Studio Professional, or Visual Studio Enterprise. Before installing either, see System requirements for Windows app development.

Important

Visual Studio 2022 is recommended for developing apps using any version of the Windows App SDK (Visual Studio 2019 supports Windows App SDK 1.1 and earlier).

Download Visual Studio 2022

Download Visual Studio 2019

Required workloads and components

During Visual Studio installation, you have the option to install workloads and components (you can also open the Visual Studio Installer and select Modify to add workloads and components after installation). We recommend installing the following:

From within the Visual Studio Installer app:

  • On the Workloads tab:

    • For C# app development using the Windows App SDK, select .NET Desktop Development.
      • Then in the Installation details pane of the installation dialog box, select Windows App SDK C# Templates (at the bottom of the list).
    • For C++ app development using the Windows App SDK, select Desktop development with C++
      • Then in the Installation details pane of the installation dialog box, select Windows App SDK C++ Templates (at the bottom of the list).
    • For Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app development, select Universal Windows Platform development
      • Then in the Installation details pane of the installation dialog box for that workload, make sure C++ (v143) Universal Windows Platform tools is selected.

  • On the Individual components tab, in the SDKs, libraries, and frameworks section, make sure Windows 10 SDK (10.0.19041.0) is selected.

Visual Studio project and item templates

The Windows App SDK includes Visual Studio project and item templates for creating and developing apps that use the WinUI 3 library to implement the user interface.

If you followed the instructions in Required workloads and components above, the templates should already be installed.

Select C# or C++ as the language, Windows as the platform, and WinUI as the Project type to create a new Windows App SDK project.

Optionally, install Template Studio for WinUI (C#) to accelerate the creation of new .NET WinUI apps using a wizard-based UI. Select from a variety of project types and features to generate a project template customized for you.

For more versions of the Windows App SDK, see Downloads for the Windows App SDK.

Hybrid C/C++ runtime library linkage

In releases 1.0.3 and 1.1 Preview 2 and later, the Windows App SDK uses Hybrid C/C++ runtime library linkage (hybrid CRT linkage). This is a CRT linkage technique that simplifies deployment. Whether you're a C++ application developer or a C++ library developer, here are some resources for learning about hybrid CRT linkage:

Next steps

To create your first WinUI 3 app that uses the Windows App SDK, see Create your first WinUI 3 project.

Also see Use the Windows App SDK in an existing project.