LVGL Setup

28 July 2026 - 2 mins read time
Tags: Coding

This post explains how to set up an LVGL development environment on different platforms.

Run LVGL on Windows (MinGW toolchain)

This section shows how to run LVGL in a simulator using VS Code on Windows.

Template source code: lv_port_pc_vscode

Follow these steps:

  1. Install the MinGW-w64 compiler toolchain, then add MinGW to your PATH.

    Verify the installation:

    • gcc --version
    • g++ --version

  2. Install CMake.

    Verify the installation:

    • cmake --version

  3. Install SDL2 for MinGW by following the official guide.

    Open the MSYS2 UCRT64 command prompt and run:

    pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-ninja mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-cmake
pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-SDL2

  4. Clone the official LVGL PC simulator repository, lv_port_pc_vscode, into your workspace.

  5. In CMakeLists.txt, make sure the following lines are present:

     # Add LVGL subdirectory
 add_subdirectory(lvgl)
 target_include_directories(lvgl PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR} ${SDL2_INCLUDE_DIRS})

  6. Update the launch section in simulator.code-workspace:

    // launch.json section
"launch": {
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Debug LVGL demo with gdb",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/bin/main",
      "args": [],
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "preLaunchTask": "Build",
      "stopAtEntry": false,
      "linux": {
        "MIMode": "gdb",
        "miDebuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb"
      },
      "osx": {
        "MIMode": "lldb"
      },
      "windows": {
        "MIMode": "gdb",
        "miDebuggerPath": "C:\\msys64\\ucrt64\\bin\\gdb.exe" // path to gdb.exe
      }
    }
  ]
}

  7. Start debugging with the Debug LVGL demo with gdb configuration.

Run LVGL on an embedded display (Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-2.1)

This section covers LVGL setup for the Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-2.1.

Template source code: lv_port_waveshare_esp32_s3

Follow these steps to kick off:

  1. Install the prerequisites:

  2. Clone the repository lv_port_waveshare_esp32_s3.

  3. Build and flash the device with the PioArduino toolchain.