Missing Visual Studio 2026 support #15399
Description
Problem Description
Having Visual Studio 2026 installed but not VS2022, the command npx @react-native-community/cli run-windows --logging won't work, reporting missing MSBuild.
I'm opening this as a bug, as VS2022 installation is inherently complicated/buggy, at least if you have VS2026 already.
Steps To Reproduce
In a fresh project created with npx --yes @react-native-community/cli@latest init <projectName> --version "^0.80.0", and without VS2022, execute:
> npx @react-native-community/cli run-windows --logging
i Running x64 node on a x64 machine
i Verbose: ON
Looking for VS installs with version range: [17.11.0,18.0)
Looking for vswhere at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe
‼ No public VS release found
i Trying pre-release VS
Looking for VS installs with version range: [17.11.0,18.0]
Looking for vswhere at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe
× Could not find MSBuild with VCTools for Visual Studio 17.11.0 or later. Make sure all required components have been installed
Command failed with error NoMSBuild: Could not find MSBuild with VCTools for Visual Studio 17.11.0 or later. Make sure all required components have been installedExpected Results
It should work, as it's the newest release of VS2026. Also, installing VS2022 is difficult if you have VS2026 installed.
Temporary solution
Manually changing the value '17.11.0' with '18.0.0' in /node_modules/@react-native-windows/cli/lib-commonjs/utils/msbuildtools.js solved the problem for me (for anybody interested).
Obviously this isn't a solution, as proper support should be added, but a escape hatch
CLI version
20.0.0
Environment
info Fetching system and libraries information...
System:
OS: Windows 11 10.0.26200
CPU: "(24) x64 AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12-Core Processor "
Memory: 28.26 GB / 63.14 GB
Binaries:
Node:
version: 24.11.1
path: C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE
Yarn: Not Found
npm:
version: 11.6.3
path: C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD
Watchman: Not Found
SDKs:
Android SDK: Not Found
Windows SDK:
AllowDevelopmentWithoutDevLicense: Enabled
Versions:
- 10.0.22621.0
- 10.0.26100.0
IDEs:
Android Studio: Not Found
Visual Studio:
- 18.0.11217.181 (Visual Studio Community 2026)
Languages:
Java:
version: 22.0.2
path: C:\Program Files\OpenJDK\jdk-22.0.2\bin\javac.EXE
Ruby: Not Found
npmPackages:
"@react-native-community/cli":
installed: 20.0.0
wanted: 20.0.0
react:
installed: 19.1.1
wanted: 19.1.1
react-native:
installed: 0.80.1
wanted: 0.80.1
react-native-windows:
installed: 0.80.0
wanted: ^0.80.0
npmGlobalPackages:
"*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
hermesEnabled: true
newArchEnabled: true
iOS:
hermesEnabled: Not found
newArchEnabled: Not found
info React Native v0.82.1 is now available (your project is running on v0.80.1).
info Changelog: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases/tag/v0.82.1
info Diff: https://react-native-community.github.io/upgrade-helper/?from=0.80.1&to=0.82.1
info For more info, check out "https://reactnative.dev/docs/upgrading?os=windows".Community Modules
No response
Target React Native Architecture
New Architecture (WinAppSDK) Only
Target Platform Version
None
Visual Studio Version
None
Build Configuration
None
Snack, code example, screenshot, or link to a repository
None