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Migrate WPF app patterns to WinUI 3

WinUI 3 shares many XAML concepts with WPF and is optimized for modern Windows experiences. Most WPF patterns have direct equivalents in WinUI 3. In some areas WinUI 3 introduces an improved approach that replaces an older pattern, and in a few cases features are still in active development.

This topic maps common WPF patterns to their WinUI 3 equivalents so you can plan your migration.

Tip

For general WPF + Windows App SDK guidance, see Use the Windows App SDK in an existing project.

Controls

Most WPF controls have direct equivalents in WinUI 3. The following table covers controls where the mapping is not one-to-one.

WPF control WinUI 3 equivalent Notes
DataGrid No first-party equivalent WinUI 3 does not include a built-in DataGrid. The community-maintained WinUI.TableView is one option. Evaluate community projects based on your support and maintenance requirements.
Ribbon CommandBar / Community Toolkit Labs Consider CommandBar and CommandBarFlyout for toolbar-style scenarios. A Ribbon control is also available in Community Toolkit Labs (experimental).
StatusBar InfoBar + custom layout Use InfoBar for status messaging, or add a dedicated footer area to your layout.
FlowDocumentReader / FlowDocumentScrollViewer RichTextBlock Use RichTextBlock for read-only rich text display. WinUI 3 takes a different approach to document content that is better suited to modern app scenarios.
PasswordBox with SecureString PasswordBox WinUI 3's PasswordBox provides password masking. SecureString is deprecated in .NET 5+; the recommended approach is to minimize how long credentials are held in memory using ReadOnlySpan<char> patterns.
WebBrowser WebView2 WebView2 uses the modern Microsoft Edge (Chromium) engine and is the recommended approach for embedding web content across all desktop app types.

XAML features

WinUI 3 XAML uses the same core concepts as WPF — resource dictionaries, styles, data binding, and markup extensions all work similarly. Some WPF-specific patterns have evolved into improved, more composable alternatives.

WPF feature WinUI 3 approach Notes
DataTrigger / MultiTrigger Behaviors (Community Toolkit) WinUI 3 uses attached behaviors rather than inline triggers. The XAML Behaviors package supports DataTriggerBehavior, EventTriggerBehavior, and more. Behaviors are more composable and unit-testable than WPF triggers.
DynamicResource ThemeResource ThemeResource provides runtime resource lookup and responds automatically to theme changes (light, dark, high contrast). Use StaticResource for values that never change at runtime.
MultiBinding / PriorityBinding Converters or x:Bind Use a multi-value converter with individual bindings, or use x:Bind with a computed property on your view model. x:Bind is compiled and type-safe, which makes it more performant than Binding.
Style with BasedOn ✅ Supported Style inheritance with BasedOn works in WinUI 3.
Implicit styles ✅ Supported Resource dictionary implicit styles (styles without x:Key) work as expected.
AdornerLayer Custom overlay approach WinUI 3 has no adorner layer equivalent. Use a Canvas or Grid overlay in your layout to achieve similar visual decoration effects — this approach is more explicit and easier to reason about.

Threading and dispatch

WPF pattern WinUI 3 equivalent Notes
Dispatcher.Invoke / BeginInvoke DispatcherQueue.TryEnqueue WinUI 3 uses DispatcherQueue. The async pattern is await DispatcherQueue.EnqueueAsync(...) using the Community Toolkit extension.
Application.Current.Dispatcher DispatcherQueue.GetForCurrentThread() Capture the DispatcherQueue at construction time on the UI thread and store it for later use on background threads.
BackgroundWorker Task / async-await Modern .NET async patterns are the right approach in WinUI 3. Task, CancellationToken, and IProgress<T> cover all BackgroundWorker scenarios and integrate naturally with x:Bind.

App model and lifecycle

WPF concept WinUI 3 equivalent Notes
Application.Startup / Exit events App.OnLaunched / Window.Closed WinUI 3 uses OnLaunched in App.xaml.cs as the entry point. Per-window teardown is handled in Window.Closed.
Application.Current.MainWindow Your Window instance Hold a reference to your window instance in App.xaml.cs and expose it as a property.
Window subclassing AppWindow customization WinUI 3 windows are customized through AppWindow (title bar, presenter, overlapped/fullscreen/compact overlay modes) rather than subclassing. See Manage app windows.
SystemParameters DisplayArea / UISettings System display properties are available through DisplayArea and UISettings.

Resources and localization

WPF pattern WinUI 3 equivalent Notes
.resx resource files .resw + ResourceLoader WinUI 3 uses .resw files and the ResourceLoader API. The .NET Upgrade Assistant can automate much of this conversion.
x:Static markup extension x:Bind to a static property Use x:Bind with a static property or a singleton accessor. x:Bind is compiled and produces clearer error messages than x:Static.
Merged resource dictionaries ✅ Supported ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries works in WinUI 3.
Theme-specific resource dictionaries ✅ Supported ResourceDictionary.ThemeDictionaries is the WinUI 3 mechanism for per-theme resources, and integrates with automatic dark/light mode switching.

Printing

WPF feature WinUI 3 status Notes
PrintDialog / PrintDocument PrintManager Full printing support is available via PrintManager. See Print from your app.

Developer tooling

WPF tooling WinUI 3 status Notes
XAML Designer (Design tab) Not yet supported The Visual Studio XAML Designer doesn't currently support WinUI 3 projects. XAML Hot Reload is supported and is the recommended way to iterate on layout and styles without stopping the debugger.
Blend for Visual Studio ⚠️ Limited support Blend ships with Visual Studio and can open WinUI 3 projects. The XAML Document Outline is functional, but Design view is not available for WinUI 3.

See also

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