SetWindowText

Sets the text of a window's title bar (if it has one). The function sends a WM_SETTEXT message to the specified window.

Syntax

C
BOOL SetWindowTextA(
    HWND   hWnd,
    LPCSTR lpString
);
BOOL SetWindowTextW(
    HWND   hWnd,
    LPCWSTR lpString
);
#ifdef UNICODE
#define SetWindowText  SetWindowTextW
#else
#define SetWindowText  SetWindowTextA
#endif

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`hWnd`	`HWND`	Handle to the window whose text is to be changed.
`lpString`	`LPCSTR` or `LPCWSTR`	Pointer to the null-terminated string to be set as the window's title.

Return Value

Returns TRUE if the operation succeeds; otherwise, FALSE. Use GetLastError for extended error information.

Remarks

The function updates the window's title bar. For child windows that do not have a title bar, the text may be used for accessibility or other purposes.
If the window is a control, the text may be used as the control's label (e.g., button text).
This function sends a WM_SETTEXT message which may be intercepted by the window procedure.

Note: In Unicode builds, use SetWindowTextW. In ANSI builds, use SetWindowTextA. The SetWindowText macro resolves automatically.

Example

C
#include <windows.h>

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrevInst, LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nCmdShow)
{
    HWND hWnd = CreateWindowEx(
        0,
        L"STATIC",
        L"Initial Title",
        WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
        CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, 400, 200,
        NULL, NULL, hInst, NULL);

    ShowWindow(hWnd, nCmdShow);
    UpdateWindow(hWnd);

    // Change the window title after 2 seconds
    Sleep(2000);
    SetWindowTextW(hWnd, L"New Title Set by SetWindowText");

    MSG msg;
    while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0))
    {
        TranslateMessage(&msg);
        DispatchMessage(&msg);
    }
    return (int)msg.wParam;
}