(This is the documentation for SDL3, which is the current stable version. SDL2 was the previous version!)

SDL_CreateWindow

Create a window with the specified dimensions and flags.

Header File

Syntax

SDL_Window * SDL_CreateWindow(const char *title, int w, int h, SDL_WindowFlags flags);

Function Parameters

const char *	title	the title of the window, in UTF-8 encoding.
int	w	the width of the window.
int	h	the height of the window.
SDL_WindowFlags	flags	0, or one or more SDL_WindowFlags OR'd together.

Return Value

(SDL_Window *) Returns the window that was created or NULL on failure; call SDL_GetError() for more information.

Remarks

flags may be any of the following OR'd together:

SDL_WINDOW_FULLSCREEN: fullscreen window at desktop resolution
SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL: window usable with an OpenGL context
SDL_WINDOW_OCCLUDED: window partially or completely obscured by another window
SDL_WINDOW_HIDDEN: window is not visible
SDL_WINDOW_BORDERLESS: no window decoration
SDL_WINDOW_RESIZABLE: window can be resized
SDL_WINDOW_MINIMIZED: window is minimized
SDL_WINDOW_MAXIMIZED: window is maximized
SDL_WINDOW_MOUSE_GRABBED: window has grabbed mouse focus
SDL_WINDOW_INPUT_FOCUS: window has input focus
SDL_WINDOW_MOUSE_FOCUS: window has mouse focus
SDL_WINDOW_EXTERNAL: window not created by SDL
SDL_WINDOW_MODAL: window is modal
SDL_WINDOW_HIGH_PIXEL_DENSITY: window uses high pixel density back buffer if possible
SDL_WINDOW_MOUSE_CAPTURE: window has mouse captured (unrelated to MOUSE_GRABBED)
SDL_WINDOW_ALWAYS_ON_TOP: window should always be above others
SDL_WINDOW_UTILITY: window should be treated as a utility window, not showing in the task bar and window list
SDL_WINDOW_TOOLTIP: window should be treated as a tooltip and does not get mouse or keyboard focus, requires a parent window
SDL_WINDOW_POPUP_MENU: window should be treated as a popup menu, requires a parent window
SDL_WINDOW_KEYBOARD_GRABBED: window has grabbed keyboard input
SDL_WINDOW_VULKAN: window usable with a Vulkan instance
SDL_WINDOW_METAL: window usable with a Metal instance
SDL_WINDOW_TRANSPARENT: window with transparent buffer
SDL_WINDOW_NOT_FOCUSABLE: window should not be focusable

The SDL_Window is implicitly shown if SDL_WINDOW_HIDDEN is not set.

On Apple's macOS, you must set the NSHighResolutionCapable Info.plist property to YES, otherwise you will not receive a High-DPI OpenGL canvas.

The window pixel size may differ from its window coordinate size if the window is on a high pixel density display. Use SDL_GetWindowSize() to query the client area's size in window coordinates, and SDL_GetWindowSizeInPixels() or SDL_GetRenderOutputSize() to query the drawable size in pixels. Note that the drawable size can vary after the window is created and should be queried again if you get an SDL_EVENT_WINDOW_PIXEL_SIZE_CHANGED event.

If the window is created with any of the SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL or SDL_WINDOW_VULKAN flags, then the corresponding LoadLibrary function (SDL_GL_LoadLibrary or SDL_Vulkan_LoadLibrary) is called and the corresponding UnloadLibrary function is called by SDL_DestroyWindow().

If SDL_WINDOW_VULKAN is specified and there isn't a working Vulkan driver, SDL_CreateWindow() will fail, because SDL_Vulkan_LoadLibrary() will fail.

If SDL_WINDOW_METAL is specified on an OS that does not support Metal, SDL_CreateWindow() will fail.

If you intend to use this window with an SDL_Renderer, you should use SDL_CreateWindowAndRenderer() instead of this function, to avoid window flicker.

On non-Apple devices, SDL requires you to either not link to the Vulkan loader or link to a dynamic library version. This limitation may be removed in a future version of SDL.

Thread Safety

This function should only be called on the main thread.

Version

This function is available since SDL 3.1.3.

Code Examples

// Example program:
// Using SDL3 to create an application window

#include <SDL3/SDL.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {

    SDL_Window *window;                    // Declare a pointer

    SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_VIDEO);              // Initialize SDL3

    // Create an application window with the following settings:
    window = SDL_CreateWindow(
        "An SDL3 window",                  // window title
        640,                               // width, in pixels
        480,                               // height, in pixels
        SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL                  // flags - see below
    );

    // Check that the window was successfully created
    if (window == NULL) {
        // In the case that the window could not be made...
        SDL_LogError(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_ERROR, "Could not create window: %s\n", SDL_GetError());
        return 1;
    }

    // The window is open: could enter program loop here (see SDL_PollEvent())

    SDL_Delay(3000);  // Pause execution for 3000 milliseconds, for example

    // Close and destroy the window
    SDL_DestroyWindow(window);

    // Clean up
    SDL_Quit();
    return 0;
}