Runtime configuration options for WPF

This article details the settings you can use to configure Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) in .NET.

Note

.NET 6 standardizes on the prefix DOTNET_ instead of COMPlus_ for environment variables that configure .NET run-time behavior. However, the COMPlus_ prefix will continue to work. If you're using a previous version of the .NET runtime, you should still use the COMPlus_ prefix for environment variables.

Hardware acceleration in RDP

  • Configures whether hardware acceleration is used for WPF apps that are accessed through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Hardware acceleration refers to the use of a computer's graphics processing unit (GPU) to speed up the rendering of graphics and visual effects in an application. This can result in improved performance and more seamless, responsive graphics.
  • If you omit this setting, graphics are rendered by software instead. This is equivalent to setting the value to false.
Setting type Setting name Values Version introduced
runtimeconfig.json Switch.System.Windows.Media.EnableHardwareAccelerationInRdp true - enabled
false - disabled
.NET 8
Environment variable N/A

This configuration setting doesn't have a specific MSBuild property. However, you can add a RuntimeHostConfigurationOption MSBuild item instead. Use the runtimeconfig.json setting name as the value of the Include attribute. For an example, see MSBuild properties.