Integration

Adding to a VS solution

Using project-to-project references

In your application's solution, right-click on the Solution and use "Add \ Existing Project..." to add the appropriate .vcxproj file to your solution.

DirectXTex_Desktop_2026

Windows desktop applications for Windows 10 or later building with VS 2026 Community, Professional or higher with the latest installed Windows SDK.

DirectXTex_Desktop_2022	Windows desktop applications for Windows 8.1 or later building with VS 2022 Community, Professional or higher with the latest installed Windows SDK.
DirectXTex_Desktop_2022_Win10	Windows desktop applications for Windows 10/Windows 11 building with VS 2022 Community, Professional or higher with with the latest installed Windows SDK. This includes DirectX 12 support.
DirectXTex_Windows10_2022	Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps building with VS 2022 with the latest installed Windows SDK. This includes DirectX 12 support.
DirectXTex_GDK_2022	Windows 10, Windows 11, and Xbox games building with VS 2022 using the Microsoft GDK.
DirectXTex_GDKX_2022	Xbox games building with VS 2022 using the Microsoft GDK.

For VS 2022, use of the 17.12 is required as all previous versions are no longer supported.

In your application's project, right-click on the Project and use "References...", then "Add New Reference...", and then check the DirectXTex project name and click OK. For a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app or Xbox One solution, you need to set Reference Assembly Output to false since DirectXTex is a static C++ library and not a WinRT component.

In your application's project settings, on the "C++ / General" page set Configuration to "All Configurations", set Platform to "All Platforms", and then add the relative path to DirectXTex;--assuming you have the DirectXTex folder in the same directory as your sln file, it should be $(SolutionDir$)\DirectXTex;--to the Additional Include Directories properties. Click Apply.

See the Visual C++ Team Blog

DirectXTex was never supported on Windows Phone 8.0, because WIC is not available on that platform. The .DDS files it generates are suitable for use on Windows Phone 8.x assuming the pixel format is supported by the device (Feature Level 9.3).

Using NuGet package manager

Alternatively you can use NuGet to install one of the DirectXTex packages. Use Project / Manage NuGet Packages... then select "Online" and search for "DirectXTex".

directxtex_desktop_win10	This NuGet package is configured for Windows desktop C++ applications building with VS 2019 or VS 2022 Community/Professional or higher for Windows 10/Windows 11.This includes DirectX 12 support and ARM64 binaries.
directxtex_uwp	This NuGet package is configured for Universal Windows Platform apps for Windows 10/Windows 11 building with VS 2022 Community/Professional or higher. This includes DirectX 12 support and ARM64 binaries.

You should use the NuGet interface to check for updates if you have an older version installed.

Archived

These packages are no longer supported:

• Windows desktop app using VS 2019
• Windows desktop app using VS 2017
• Windows desktop app using VS 2015

Using the vcpkg C++ library manager

DirectXTex is also available through the vcpkg C++ Library Manager.

Using 'manifest-mode' is the recommended way to integrate VCPKG into your project.

For 'system-wide' access, use:

vcpkg install directxtex

For the 64-bit version of the library, use:

vcpkg install directxtex:x64-windows

For the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) versions, use:

vcpkg install directxtex:x64-uwp

arm, arm64, x86, x64, windows, windows-static, windows-static-md, and uwp triplets are supported.

The vcpkg port supports five optional features. The default is to build with DirectX 11 support, but without DirectX 12 support except for UWP which always includes it.

• dx11: Adds DirectX 11 API support functions for Windows desktop or UWP.
• dx12: Adds DirectX 12 API support functions for Windows 10/Windows 11
• tools: Installs texture command-line tools
• spectre: Builds the library with Spectre-mitigation enabled
• openexr: Adds OpenEXR support
• xbox: Adds support for Xbox off-line content processing; requires the Microsoft GDK with Xbox Extensions

For Windows Subsystem for Linux, use:

./vcpkg install directxtex:x64-linux

./vcpkg install directxtex:arm64-linux

To add the JPEG/PNG auxiliary functions for Linux:

./vcpkg install directxtex[jpeg,png]:x64-linux

Non-Win32 support requires a C++17 conformant compiler & library. GNUC 9 will work; GNUC 11.3 or later is recommended.

For Xbox Series X|S with the Microsoft GDK with Xbox Extensions installed:

vcpkg install directxtex:x64-xbox-scarlett

For Xbox One with the Microsoft GDK with Xbox Extensions installed:

vcpkg install directxtex:x64-xbox-xboxone

If using vcpkg+MSBuild integration and the DLL versions of the libraries (i.e. not the -static triplets), you will need to manually define the preprocessor symbol DIRECTX_TEX_IMPORT or you will get link errors. This is automatically set for CMake integration when using CMake targets.

CMake

You can reference the DirectXTex CMake package using:

find_package(directxtex CONFIG REQUIRED)

target_link_libraries(foo Microsoft::DirectXTex)

If using CMakePresets.json set the environment variable VCPKG_ROOT and add:

"cacheVariables": {
  CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE": {
    value": "$env{VCPKG_ROOT}/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake",
    "type": "FILEPATH"
  }
},

If not using vcpkg, you have to provide a per-configuration path to the individual installed package in the directxtex_DIR variable. Otherwise the find_package will fail.

With Visual Studio 2022 Update 6 or later, VCPKG is available via Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Vcpkg. Use of 'manifest-mode' is recommended.