# SDL_GetGlobalMouseState Query the platform for the asynchronous mouse button state and the desktop-relative platform-cursor position. ## Header File Defined in [<SDL3/SDL_mouse.h>](https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/blob/main/include/SDL3/SDL_mouse.h) ## Syntax ```c SDL_MouseButtonFlags SDL_GetGlobalMouseState(float *x, float *y); ``` ## Function Parameters | | | | | ------- | ----- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | float * | **x** | a pointer to receive the platform-cursor's x-position from the desktop's top left corner, can be NULL if unused. | | float * | **y** | a pointer to receive the platform-cursor's y-position from the desktop's top left corner, can be NULL if unused. | ## Return Value ([SDL_MouseButtonFlags](SDL_MouseButtonFlags)) Returns a 32-bit bitmask of the button state that can be bitwise-compared against the [SDL_BUTTON_MASK](SDL_BUTTON_MASK)(X) macro. ## Remarks This function immediately queries the platform for the most recent asynchronous state, more costly than retrieving SDL's cached state in [SDL_GetMouseState](SDL_GetMouseState)(). Passing non-NULL pointers to `x` or `y` will write the destination with respective x or y coordinates relative to the desktop. In Relative Mode, the platform-cursor's position usually contradicts the SDL-cursor's position as manually calculated from [SDL_GetMouseState](SDL_GetMouseState)() and [SDL_GetWindowPosition](SDL_GetWindowPosition). This function can be useful if you need to track the mouse outside of a specific window and [SDL_CaptureMouse](SDL_CaptureMouse)() doesn't fit your needs. For example, it could be useful if you need to track the mouse while dragging a window, where coordinates relative to a window might not be in sync at all times. ## Thread Safety This function should only be called on the main thread. ## Version This function is available since SDL 3.2.0. ## See Also - [SDL_CaptureMouse](SDL_CaptureMouse) - [SDL_GetMouseState](SDL_GetMouseState) - [SDL_GetGlobalMouseState](SDL_GetGlobalMouseState) ---- [CategoryAPI](CategoryAPI), [CategoryAPIFunction](CategoryAPIFunction), [CategoryMouse](CategoryMouse)