---
name: "wcsdup"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/wcsdup"
---

# wcsdup(3)

duplicate a wide-character string

## NAME

wcsdup - duplicate a wide-character string

## LIBRARY

Standard C library (*libc*, *-lc*)

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <wchar.h>
```

**wchar\_t \*wcsdup(const wchar\_t \****s***);**

Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see [**feature\_test\_macros**(7)](/feature_test_macros/7.md)):

**wcsdup**():

```
    Since glibc 2.10:
        _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L
    Before glibc 2.10:
        _GNU_SOURCE
```

## DESCRIPTION

The **wcsdup**() function is the wide-character equivalent of the [**strdup**(3)](/strdup/3.md) function. It allocates and returns a new wide-character string whose initial contents is a duplicate of the wide-character string pointed to by *s*.

Memory for the new wide-character string is obtained with [**malloc**(3)](/malloc/3.md), and should be freed with [**free**(3)](/free/3.md).

## RETURN VALUE

On success, **wcsdup**() returns a pointer to the new wide-character string. On error, it returns NULL, with *errno* set to indicate the error.

## ERRORS

- **ENOMEM**

  Insufficient memory available to allocate duplicate string.

## ATTRIBUTES

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see [**attributes**(7)](/attributes/7.md).

| | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Interface** | **Attribute** | **Value** |
| **wcsdup**() | Thread safety | MT-Safe |

## STANDARDS

POSIX.1-2008.

## HISTORY

libc5, glibc 2.0.

## SEE ALSO

[**strdup**(3)](/strdup/3.md), [**wcscpy**(3)](/wcscpy/3.md)