diff --git a/include/wx/arrstr.h b/include/wx/arrstr.h
index 1a62bef72b..cb5f986b35 100644
--- a/include/wx/arrstr.h
+++ b/include/wx/arrstr.h
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ public:
         wxBaseArray<wxString>::Add(string, copies);
         return size() - copies;
     }
+
+    const std::vector<wxString>& AsVector() const { return *this; }
 };
 
 // Unlike all the other sorted arrays, this one uses a comparison function
@@ -240,6 +242,8 @@ public:
   }
   const wxString& Last() const { return const_cast<wxArrayString*>(this)->Last(); }
 
+    // get all items as a vector
+  std::vector<wxString> AsVector() const;
 
   // item management
     // Search the element in the array, starting from the beginning if
diff --git a/interface/wx/arrstr.h b/interface/wx/arrstr.h
index 6185e5ace8..a817eda4cf 100644
--- a/interface/wx/arrstr.h
+++ b/interface/wx/arrstr.h
@@ -32,10 +32,30 @@
                                     countries);
     @endcode
 
+    When using a wxWidgets function returning an object of this class, you can
+    either use it as if it were a `std::vector<wxString>`, as this class has
+    all vector methods, or actually convert it to such vector using its
+    AsVector(), e.g.
 
-    If you do use this class directly, it's recommended to prefer using its
-    `std::vector<wxString>`-like methods instead of the legacy wxArray-like
-    ones.
+    @code
+    wxArrayString files;
+    wxDir::GetAllFiles("/some/path", &files);
+
+    // Can use the usual accessors:
+    if ( !files.empty() ) {
+        auto first = files[0];
+        auto total = files.size();
+        ...
+    }
+
+    // Can iterate over it like over a vector, too.
+    for ( const wxString& file: files ) {
+        ...
+    }
+
+    // Or can just convert it to the "real" vector:
+    const std::vector<wxString>& vec = files.AsVector();
+    @endcode
 
     @library{wxbase}
     @category{containers}
@@ -135,6 +155,25 @@ public:
     */
     void Alloc(size_t nCount);
 
+    /**
+        Constructs a std::vector containing the same strings as this array.
+
+        In @ref overview_container_std, this function actually returns a const
+        reference to this object itself, without making a copy, but in the
+        default/compatible build, it has to copy all the strings, making it
+        expensive to call for big arrays.
+
+        Note that using it like this:
+        @code
+        const std::vector<wxString>& vec = array.AsVector();
+        @endcode
+        works in all builds as long as you don't need to modify the returned
+        vector and doesn't impose any extra overhead in the STL build.
+
+        @since 3.3.0
+    */
+    std::vector<wxString> AsVector() const;
+
     /**
         Clears the array contents and frees memory.
 
diff --git a/src/common/arrstr.cpp b/src/common/arrstr.cpp
index 71b6a3c571..0d9600e29e 100644
--- a/src/common/arrstr.cpp
+++ b/src/common/arrstr.cpp
@@ -150,6 +150,14 @@ wxArrayString& wxArrayString::operator=(const wxArrayString& src)
   return *this;
 }
 
+std::vector<wxString> wxArrayString::AsVector() const
+{
+    if ( !m_pItems )
+        return {};
+
+    return std::vector<wxString>{m_pItems, m_pItems + m_nCount};
+}
+
 void wxArrayString::Copy(const wxArrayString& src)
 {
   if ( src.m_nCount > ARRAY_DEFAULT_INITIAL_SIZE )
diff --git a/tests/arrays/arrays.cpp b/tests/arrays/arrays.cpp
index 15dce0b0bc..c133a9245d 100644
--- a/tests/arrays/arrays.cpp
+++ b/tests/arrays/arrays.cpp
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ TEST_CASE("wxArrayString", "[dynarray]")
     CHECK( a9.size() == 5 );
 }
 
-TEST_CASE("wxArrayString::FromVector", "[dynarray][vector]")
+TEST_CASE("wxArrayString::Vector", "[dynarray][vector]")
 {
     SECTION("wxString")
     {
@@ -372,6 +372,14 @@ TEST_CASE("wxArrayString::FromVector", "[dynarray][vector]")
         REQUIRE( a.size() == 2 );
         CHECK( a[1] == "fourth" );
     }
+
+    SECTION("AsVector")
+    {
+        wxArrayString a{"five", "six", "seven"};
+        const std::vector<wxString>& vec = a.AsVector();
+        REQUIRE( vec.size() == 3 );
+        CHECK( vec.at(2) == "seven" );
+    }
 }
 
 TEST_CASE("wxSortedArrayString", "[dynarray]")