vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR(3)

# vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR(3) Manual Page

## Name

vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR - Get a Windows HANDLE for a memory object

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## C Specification

To export a Windows handle representing the payload of a Vulkan device memory object, call:

    // Provided by VK_KHR_external_memory_win32
    VkResult vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR(
        VkDevice                                    device,
        const VkMemoryGetWin32HandleInfoKHR*        pGetWin32HandleInfo,
        HANDLE*                                     pHandle);

## Parameters

- `device` is the logical device that created the device memory being exported.

- `pGetWin32HandleInfo` is a pointer to a VkMemoryGetWin32HandleInfoKHR structure containing parameters of the export operation.

- `pHandle` will return the Windows handle representing the payload of the device memory object.

## Description

For handle types defined as NT handles, the handles returned by `vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR` are owned by the application and hold a reference to their payload. To avoid leaking resources, the application must release ownership of them using the `CloseHandle` system call when they are no longer needed.

Note | Non-NT handle types do not add a reference to their associated payload. If the original object owning the payload is destroyed, all resources and handles sharing that payload will become invalid.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

- VUID-vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR-device-parameter
  `device` must be a valid VkDevice handle

- VUID-vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR-pGetWin32HandleInfo-parameter
  `pGetWin32HandleInfo` must be a valid pointer to a valid VkMemoryGetWin32HandleInfoKHR structure

- VUID-vkGetMemoryWin32HandleKHR-pHandle-parameter
  `pHandle` must be a valid pointer to a `HANDLE` value

Return Codes

On success, this command returns

  - VK_SUCCESS

On failure, this command returns

  - VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  - VK_ERROR_TOO_MANY_OBJECTS

  - VK_ERROR_UNKNOWN

  - VK_ERROR_VALIDATION_FAILED

## See Also

VK_KHR_external_memory_win32, VkDevice, VkMemoryGetWin32HandleInfoKHR

## Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification.

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

## Copyright

Copyright 2014-2026 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0