error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _WinMain@16

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MS-Windows Troubleshooting

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error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _WinMain@16

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Symptom:

Microsoft Visual C++ generates the link error:

msvcrt.lib(crtexew.obj) : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _WinMain@16

or

msvcrtd.lib(crtexew.obj) : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _WinMain@16

Cause:

The linker is looking for the entry point for a console application, but the application is being compiled and linked as a windows application (i.e. not a console application).

This error has been observed after changing the project settings from using MBCS to UNICODE characters.

Remedy:

Under the project settings, under the ‘Link’ tab, category ‘output’, set the ‘Entry-point symbol’ to ‘wWinMainCRTStartup’.