###### (This is the legacy documentation for stable SDL2, the current stable version; [SDL3](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/) is the current development version.)
# SDL_GetPrimarySelectionText

Get UTF-8 text from the primary selection, which must be freed with [SDL_free](SDL_free)().

## Header File

Defined in [SDL_clipboard.h](https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/blob/SDL2/include/SDL_clipboard.h)

## Syntax

```c
char * SDL_GetPrimarySelectionText(void);

```

## Return Value

Returns the primary selection text on success or an empty string on
failure; call [SDL_GetError](SDL_GetError)() for more information. Caller
must call [SDL_free](SDL_free)() on the returned pointer when done with it
(even if there was an error).

## Remarks

This functions returns empty string if there was not enough memory left for
a copy of the primary selection's content.

## Version

This function is available since SDL 2.26.0.

## See Also

* [SDL_HasPrimarySelectionText](SDL_HasPrimarySelectionText)
* [SDL_SetPrimarySelectionText](SDL_SetPrimarySelectionText)

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[CategoryAPI](CategoryAPI), [CategoryAPIFunction](CategoryAPIFunction)