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Get the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) and Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg) downloads. The debugging tools are included in the WDK, but you can also download the standalone versions separately.
The WDK is also available to Windows Insiders. Join the Windows Insider Program to get WDK Insider Preview builds.
Used together, Visual Studio 2015 and WDK 10 provide an integrated development environment for creating efficient, high-quality drivers for devices running Windows 10. Visual Studio includes the Visual Studio Tools for Windows 10 and the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 10.
Install the tools and start building, testing, debugging, and deploying Windows drivers.
All four editions of Visual Studio 2015 support driver development.
Important: The WDK is not yet compatible with Visual Studio 2017. Use Visual Studio 2015 for driver development.
Important: If you install the WDK, you will not be able to develop Modern Applications.
You can also install the Enterprise Windows Driver Kit (EWDK) to build drivers and basic Win32 test applications in a command-line build environment. This environment doesn't include all the features available in Visual Studio, such as the integrated development environment (IDE), so you'll need to use a code editor of your choice.
Important: If you have installed WDK for Windows 10, version 1607, some WDK files get removed when installing the WDK for Windows 10, version 1703 on top of the WDK for Windows 10, version 1607. To restore these files:
You can use WDK for Windows 10, version 1703 to develop drivers for these operating systems. You can also use the WDK on any of these operating systems:
To get universal Windows driver samples, do one of the following:
Download WDK 8.1 Update, which has tools to build, test, debug, and deploy drivers for Windows 8.1 Update, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7. When you have the WDK, we recommend that you install the WDK 8.1 Update Test Pack. It has the tests for device fundamentals, graphics, imaging, mobile broadband (CDMA, GSM, WLAN), sensors, and other utilities.
Important: Before installing WDK 8.1 Update, you need to install Visual Studio 2013.
We provide Windows Driver Kit (WDK) 8 to give you time to migrate to WDK 8.1 Update and Visual Studio 2013. Microsoft does not support WDK 8 and will make no further updates to this kit. We recommend that you use the latest versions of the WDK and Visual Studio to build drivers for Windows.
Important: You must install Visual Studio Professional 2012 or Visual Studio Ultimate before you install WDK 8.
Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg) are included in the WDK 8.1 Update, but you can also install them as a standalone component from the Windows 8.1 SDK. In the installation wizard, select Debugging Tools for Windows, and clear all other components.
With the Windows Remote Debugging client, you can work remotely with developers from Microsoft, over the internet, to debug kernel-mode failures using the kernel debugger. Learn more and prepare for remote debugging.
Developing a driver for Windows XP or Windows Server 2003? WDK 7.1.0 has the tools, code samples, docs, compilers, headers, and libraries that you can use to create drivers for these operating systems.
If you're debugging Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008 (or using one of these operating systems to run Debugging Tools for Windows), you need to use the Windows 7 release of the debugging tools. It's included in the SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4.0. To install the Debugging Tools for Windows as a standalone component, in the SDK installation wizard, select Debugging Tools for Windows, and clear all other components.
Important: Newer versions of the Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable can cause issues when you install the SDK for Windows 7. For more information, see support for the Windows SDK.
