.dll is loaded at runtime. You are showing a link-time error message. The linker wants a .lib as input, at link-time. To get the .lib, open a visual studio command prompt (this will give a console window that has "lib.exe" on its path) Go to the directory containing sqlite3.def (probably the same one containing sqlite3.dll). Run: lib /def:sqlite3.def /out:sqlite3.lib Add sqlite3.lib as a source file to our project (the same way you add a .cpp file) xor Add sqlite3.lib as a (Linker->Input->Additional Dependencies in the IDE). Make sure the directory containing sqlite3.lib is in your list of Additional Library Directories).