# How to use msvc abi on windows **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Tags:** build-system\ **Created:** [May 23, 2026, 11:30am UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676 "2026-05-23T11:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eddineimad0](https://ziggit.dev/user_avatar/ziggit.dev/eddineimad0/32/6879_2.png) [@eddineimad0](https://ziggit.dev/u/eddineimad0)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 11:30am UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676/1 "2026-05-23T11:30:10Z")
hello i wanted to make a d3d11 example in zig using the new translate-c the following is the translate c part of my build.zig ```zig const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{}); if (target.result.os.tag == .windows) { target = b.resolveTargetQuery(.{ .abi = .msvc, .os_tag = .windows, }); } const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{}); const cwin32 = b.addTranslateC(.{ .root_source_file = b.path("src/c/win32.h"), .target = target, .optimize = optimize, }); cwin32.linkSystemLibrary("user32", .{}); cwin32.linkSystemLibrary("gdi32", .{}); cwin32.linkSystemLibrary("d3d11", .{}); cwin32.linkSystemLibrary("dxgi", .{}); cwin32.linkSystemLibrary("d3dcompiler", .{}); ``` when using the mingw/gnu abi if fails to find d3dcompiler lib when using msvc abi (my prefered option) it fails with the following error **error: coff does not support linking multiple objects into one.** am i not doing something correctly or is it a current limitation of zig ? ---
**Author:** ![dimdin](https://ziggit.dev/user_avatar/ziggit.dev/dimdin/32/1457_2.png) [@dimdin](https://ziggit.dev/u/dimdin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 11:41am UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676/2 "2026-05-23T11:41:21Z")
~~I am guessing that `mingw` provides some kind of package config for `d3dcompiler` that is not available in `msvcrt`.~~ A possible fix might be to use the actual `dll` name in `linkSystemLibrary` i.e. `"d3dcompiler_47"` or whatever the name of the `dll` actually is. ---
**Author:** ![eddineimad0](https://ziggit.dev/user_avatar/ziggit.dev/eddineimad0/32/6879_2.png) [@eddineimad0](https://ziggit.dev/u/eddineimad0)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676/3 "2026-05-23T12:44:32Z")
d3dcompiler\_47 fixes the issue on the mingw/gnu abi as it’s now able to find the dll. on msvc side however it can’t find the dll using this name. ---
**Author:** ![dimdin](https://ziggit.dev/user_avatar/ziggit.dev/dimdin/32/1457_2.png) [@dimdin](https://ziggit.dev/u/dimdin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676/4 "2026-05-23T13:20:00Z")
read: [Not So Direct Setup | Games for Windows and the DirectX SDK blog](https://aka.ms/dxsetup) see also: [HLSL, FXC, and D3DCompile | Games for Windows and the DirectX SDK blog](https://walbourn.github.io/hlsl-fxc-and-d3dcompile/) ---
**Author:** ![dimdin](https://ziggit.dev/user_avatar/ziggit.dev/dimdin/32/1457_2.png) [@dimdin](https://ziggit.dev/u/dimdin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676/5 "2026-05-23T13:43:25Z")
On a windows system with the latest Windows 10 SDK installed (from Visual Studio) the files are included in `C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10` ```zig > fd d3dcompiler Include\10.0.26100.0\um\d3dcompiler.h Include\10.0.26100.0\um\d3dcompiler.inl Lib\10.0.26100.0\um\arm64\d3dcompiler.lib Lib\10.0.26100.0\um\x64\d3dcompiler.lib Lib\10.0.26100.0\um\x86\d3dcompiler.lib Redist\D3D\arm64\d3dcompiler_47.dll Redist\D3D\x64\d3dcompiler_47.dll Redist\D3D\x86\d3dcompiler_47.dll bin\10.0.26100.0\arm64\d3dcompiler_47.dll bin\10.0.26100.0\x64\d3dcompiler_47.dll bin\10.0.26100.0\x86\d3dcompiler_47.dll ``` Note that there is a `d3dcompiler.lib` so your initial version was correct for `msvcrt`. That means that your system is not configured to use the visual studio locations or you did not install the Windows 10(/11) SDK or the dlls are not in your `PATH`. Normally zig autodetects the installation. You can verify it using: ```zig ❯ zig libc # The directory that contains `stdlib.h`. # On POSIX-like systems, include directories be found with: `cc -E -Wp,-v -xc /dev/null` include_dir=C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Include\10.0.26100.0\ucrt # The system-specific include directory. May be the same as `include_dir`. # On Windows it's the directory that includes `vcruntime.h`. # On POSIX it's the directory that includes `sys/errno.h`. sys_include_dir=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.51.36231\include # The directory that contains `crt1.o` or `crt2.o`. # On POSIX, can be found with `cc -print-file-name=crt1.o`. # Not needed when targeting MacOS. crt_dir=C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Lib\10.0.26100.0\ucrt\x64 # The directory that contains `vcruntime.lib`. # Only needed when targeting MSVC on Windows. msvc_lib_dir=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.51.36231\Lib\x64 # The directory that contains `kernel32.lib`. # Only needed when targeting MSVC on Windows. kernel32_lib_dir=C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Lib\10.0.26100.0\um\x64 # The directory that contains `crtbeginS.o` and `crtendS.o` # Only needed when targeting Haiku. gcc_dir= ``` To install the SDK from visual studio, look in individual components: ![Screenshot From 2026-05-23 16-49-16](https://ziggit.dev/uploads/default/original/2X/7/764f616cfd640d650ff2b909c6ef336e7dc545d3.png) If the `PATH` does not include `C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin` you can either add it or copy the files from `redist` into your application folder. ---
**Author:** ![eddineimad0](https://ziggit.dev/user_avatar/ziggit.dev/eddineimad0/32/6879_2.png) [@eddineimad0](https://ziggit.dev/u/eddineimad0)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://ziggit.dev/t/how-to-use-msvc-abi-on-windows/15676/6 "2026-09-27T13:08:17Z")
Ok so i finally managed to get both msvc and gnu abi compilation to work and i wanted to reply to document the steps needed for msvc specifically because it was the most difficult to get working. **By the way i’m on zig 0.16.0** # Gnu ABI This the one that the zig compiler picks by default when you don’t specify a target flag on windows platform. The problem was that d3dcompiler library had different name **d3dcompiler\_47** upon using this the build should work. # MSVC ABI Getting this one to work was very hard first off the arro-c compiler that is used to translate c code to zig code throws an error if you use the msvc abi, the only solution is to use a separate target for the translateC step like this ```zig // On windows force msvc toolchain const default_target:std.Target.Query = if(builtin.os.tag == .windows) .{ .os_tag = .windows, .abi = .msvc, } else .{}; const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{}); const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{.default_target = default_target }); const header_target = b.resolveTargetQuery(.{ .abi = .gnu, .os_tag = .windows, .cpu_arch = target.result.cpu.arch, }); const main = b.createModule(.{ .root_source_file = b.path("src/main.zig"), .target = target, .optimize = optimize, }); if(target.result.os.tag == .windows){ // -- win32api -- const cwin32 = b.addTranslateC(.{ .root_source_file = b.path("src/c/win32.h"), .target = header_target, .optimize = optimize, }); main.addImport("cwin32", cwin32.createModule()); main.linkSystemLibrary("user32", .{}); main.linkSystemLibrary("gdi32", .{}); main.linkSystemLibrary("d3d11", .{}); main.linkSystemLibrary("dxgi", .{}); main.linkSystemLibrary("dxguid", .{}); main.linkSystemLibrary(if (target.result.abi == .msvc) "d3dcompiler" else "d3dcompiler_47", .{}); } ``` Also on msvc abi you shouldn’t call linkSystemLibrary on the result of addTranslateC because that also produces an error. so it’s better to call it on the main module directly. Also thanks to @dimdin for the help.