lvgl/lv_port_pc_visual_studio

LVGL for Visual Studio

[!NOTE] If you want to use CMake-based LVGL projects, please use lv_port_pc_vscode in Visual Studio. This repository is for MSBuild-based LVGL projects, which is suitable for traditional Visual Studio (not Code) users. The Windows backend integration support for lv_port_pc_vscode is on the way, read https://github.com/lvgl/lv_port_pc_vscode/pull/106 for more information.

Note: If you want to use the stable version, please use branches with the "release/" prefix. The master branch is the current development version which may contains some issues like compilation failed and etc. Read https://github.com/lvgl/lv_port_pc_visual_studio/issues/101 for the 2025 Roadmap of the LVGL Visual Studio repository.

Introduction

This is a pre-configured Visual Studio project to try LVGL on a Windows PC. The project only depend on Win32 API, C Runtime and C++ STL, so you can compile it without any extra dependencies.

The project is currently maintained using Visual Studio 2026. It may well work without modification in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.13 or later but it is not actively supported with that version, so please install and test with Visual Studio 2026 before reporting any bugs.

If you want to use this project with Visual Studio 2017, 2019, or 2022 version before 17.13, you should use the release/v9.4/legacy-vs-solution branch.

This project is not for Visual Studio Code, it is for Visual Studio.

Instructions for cloning, building and running the application are found below.

Known Issues

• The LV_MEM_SIZE macro in lv_conf.h should be 128 KiB or larger because you may meet the out of memory issue when you are using the 64-bit simulator.
  • Note: In this project, the size is set to 256 KiB.
• Users need to check the target selected in Visual Studio, because the simulator project support ARM64 and Visual Studio will choose ARM64 in the first time because of the alphabetical order.

Supported Features

All Mode

• Only depends on Win32 API, C Runtime and C++ STL.
• Native support for x86, x64 and ARM64 Windows.
• Support compiling with VC-LTL toolchain to make the binary size as smaller as using MinGW.
• Support LVGL pointer, keypad and encoder devices integration..
• Support Windows touch input.
• Support Windows input method integration input.
• Support Per-monitor DPI Aware (both V1 and V2).

Specific for Simulator Mode

• Designed for LVGL simulation scenario.
• Keep the LVGL display resolution all time for trying best to simulate UI layout which will see in their production devices.
• When Windows DPI scaling setting is changed, Windows backend will stretch the display content.
• FreeType integration.

Specific for Application Mode

• Designed for Windows desktop application development scenario.
• Have the Window resizing support and LVGL display resolution will be changed.
• When Windows DPI scaling setting is changed, the LVGL display DPI value will also be changed.

How to Clone

This repository contains other, necessary LVGL software repositories as git submodules. Those submodules are not pulled in with the normal git clone command and they will be needed. There are a couple of techniques to pull in the submodules.

Everything at Once

This command will clone the lv_port_pc_visual_studio repository and all submodules in a single step.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/lvgl/lv_port_pc_visual_studio.git

Main Repository First, Submodules Second

If you've already cloned the main repository you can pull in the submodules with a second command. Both commands are shown below.

git clone https://github.com/lvgl/lv_port_pc_visual_studio.git
cd lv_port_win_visual_studio
git submodule update --init --recursive

Keeping Your Clone Up-To-Date

If you have cloned this repository and would like to pull in the latest changes, you will have to do this in two steps. The first step will pull in updates to the main repo, including updated references to the submodules. The second step will update the code in the submodules to match those references. The two commands needed to accomplish this are shown below, run these commands from inside the main repository's directory (top level lv_port_pc_visual_studio directory works fine).

git pull
git submodule update --init --recursive

If you have chosen to fork this repository then updating the fork from upstream will require a different, more involved procedure.

How To Build & Run

Open the LVGL.slnx solution file in Visual Studio. Set the LvglWindowsSimulator project as the startup project. Click on the Local Windows Debugger button in the top toolbar. The included project will be built and run, launching from a cmd window.

Trying Things Out

There are a list of possible test applications in the LvglWindowsSimulator.cpp file. Each test or demo is launched via a single function call. By default the lv_demo_widgets function is the one that runs, but you can comment that one out and choose any of the others to compile and run.

Demos outside of the default two widgets (lv_demo_widgets and lv_demo_benchmark) can be enabled by editing lv_conf.h around line 1199 (DEMO USAGE section) and setting the associated variable to 1 instead of 0 (i.e., #define LV_USE_DEMO_MUSIC 0 -> #define LV_USE_DEMO_MUSIC 1

Use these examples to start building your own application test code inside the simulator.

A Note About Versions

This repository has its submodule references updated shortly afk with minor version updates. When submodule updates take place a matching version tag is added tter the release of new, major releases of LittlevGL's core lvgl project. Occasionally it is updated to woro this repository.

If you need to pull in bug fixes in more recent changes to the submodules you will have to update the references on your own. If source files are added or removed in the submodules then the visual studio project will likely need adjusting. See the commit log for examples of submodule updates and associated visual studio file changes to guide you.

Documents

• ARM32 Support Removed Notice
• How to synchronize LVGL related submodules
• Default lv_conf.h Configuration