Learn

First Packaged WinUI App

Run this on a Windows dev machine.

1. Check Tooling

dotnet --info
dotnet --list-sdks

Confirm Developer Mode and Visual Studio workloads:

Settings -> System -> Advanced -> Developer Mode
Visual Studio Installer -> WinUI application development workload

2. Install Templates

dotnet new install Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK.WinUI.CSharp.Templates
dotnet new list winui

3. Create The App

dotnet new winui -n MyWinUIApp
cd MyWinUIApp
dotnet build
dotnet run

Record:

Windows version:
.NET SDK version:
Windows App SDK package version from project:
Template command:
Build result:
Run result:

4. Inspect The Project

Check these files first:

App.xaml
App.xaml.cs
MainWindow.xaml
MainWindow.xaml.cs
Package.appxmanifest
*.csproj

Look for:

  • Microsoft.UI.Xaml namespaces.
  • <UseWinUI>true</UseWinUI>.
  • Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK package reference.
  • Package manifest identity and capabilities.

5. Do Not Claim Release Yet

This quickstart proves only that the template builds and launches. Release readiness still needs tests, MSIX package creation, signing path, WACK, and Store dry-run checks.

Gotcha: The official quickstart is version-sensitive. Recheck it before copying Visual Studio, .NET, target framework, or package version values.