# Cannot open file glfw3.lib

**URL:** <https://discourse.glfw.org/t/cannot-open-file-glfw3-lib/2789>\
**Category:** support\
**Created:** [November 26, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://discourse.glfw.org/t/cannot-open-file-glfw3-lib/2789 "2024-11-26T16:49:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DavidNodeB](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.glfw.org/davidnodeb/32/983_2.png) [@DavidNodeB](https://discourse.glfw.org/u/DavidNodeB)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://discourse.glfw.org/t/cannot-open-file-glfw3-lib/2789/1 "2024-11-26T16:49:02Z")

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so I downloaded the source zip from the official website and then I extract the glfw3 zip after that I created a build folder and opened cmake and used these settings

 ![Screenshot 2024-11-26 114523](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/glfw/original/1X/4288b30a2f89c08992aaba96aa66cd3f9d78cfb6.png)  
I then opened the glfw.sln file in the build folder and build the solution but I get this error cannot open file ‘…\src\Debug\glfw3.lib’ and I went to the debug folder and the glfw3 file is not there so is this problem in the cmake part ?

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**Author:** ![lucasa98](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.glfw.org/lucasa98/32/1015_2.png) [@lucasa98](https://discourse.glfw.org/u/lucasa98)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://discourse.glfw.org/t/cannot-open-file-glfw3-lib/2789/2 "2025-03-17T15:58:54Z")

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Configure and build again and then, on the /build folder try “cmake --build .”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dougbinks](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.glfw.org/dougbinks/32/39_2.png) [@dougbinks](https://discourse.glfw.org/u/dougbinks)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://discourse.glfw.org/t/cannot-open-file-glfw3-lib/2789/3 "2025-03-17T16:21:13Z")

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You should have `GLFW_BUILD_WIN32` set `ON`, which is the default for Windows. This means build binaries for the Windows system, rather than build 32bit binaries. WIN32 is a common name for the modern Windows system.