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Building Files from source

1: Prerequisites

  • Git
  • Visual Studio 2022 with the following components installed:
    • Windows 11 SDK (10.0.22621.0)
    • .NET 7 SDK
    • MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 or ARM64 build tools (latest)
    • C++ ATL for latest v143 build tools (x86 & x64 or ARM64)
    • Git for Windows
  • Windows App SDK 1.2

2: Clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com/files-community/Files

This will create a local copy of the repository.

3: Build the project

To build the app in development mode, open the sln file in Visual Studio (Files.sln) and set the Files.Package project as the startup item by right-clicking on Files.Package in the solution explorer & hitting ‘Set as Startup item’.

In the architecture pane, select the correct architecture for your system as Debug which should look like this:

VS Run config: Debug, x64, Files.Package, Local Machine

You’re good to go!