New Project dialog says “No compiler was found” on Windows when the Visual Studio Integration plugin is disabled, even though Visual Studio and MSVC are installed

General Issues and Bug Reporting (Unreal Engine)
, ,
1

Summary

On Windows, the New Project dialog (and the New C++ Class dialog) only treats a compiler as available if the Visual Studio Integration plugin (VisualStudioSourceCodeAccess) is loaded. If that plugin is disabled in a project, which is common for Rider users, C++ templates are blocked with “No compiler was found. In order to use a C++ template, you must first install Visual Studio 2022.” This happens even when Visual Studio 2026 and the MSVC toolchain are installed and UnrealBuildTool compiles the project without problems.

The check is in FSourceCodeAccessModule::CanCompileSourceCode() (Engine/Source/Developer/SourceCodeAccess/Private/SourceCodeAccessModule.cpp):

#if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
	// Need to have Visual Studio installed to compile on Windows, regardless of chosen IDE
	return IsSourceCodeAccessorAvailable("VisualStudio2022") || IsSourceCodeAccessorAvailable("VisualStudio2026");

The VisualStudio2022 and VisualStudio2026 accessors are only registered by VisualStudioSourceCodeAccess. So the result depends on whether that plugin is enabled, not on whether a compiler is installed. It ignores the selected source code editor (for example “Rider Uproject”), and it also ignores UBT’s own toolchain detection.

Also, the error text hardcodes “Visual Studio 2022” (FSourceCodeNavigation::GetSuggestedSourceCodeIDE, SourceCodeNavigation.cpp), even though Visual Studio 2026 is accepted. This tells the user to install something they may already have a newer version of.

Engine version: 5.8.4 (source build), Windows.

What Type of Bug are you experiencing?

Editor

Steps to Reproduce

  1. On Windows, install Visual Studio 2026 with the “Game development with C++” workload, and install JetBrains Rider.
  2. Create or open any C++ project and confirm it builds.
  3. In Edit → Plugins, disable “Visual Studio Integration” (or add { “Name”: “VisualStudioSourceCodeAccess”, “Enabled”: false } to the .uproject), then restart the editor.
  4. In Editor Preferences → Source Code, set Source Code Editor to “Rider Uproject”.
  5. Open File → New Project, pick any template (for example Games → Blank), and select C++.

Expected Result

The C++ template can be selected and the project is created, because a working MSVC toolchain is installed. Disabling a plugin that only integrates an IDE for opening source files shouldn’t decide whether the editor thinks a compiler exists. If the check does fail, the message should name the requirement accurately (“Visual Studio 2022 or 2026”) and mention that the Visual Studio Integration plugin is needed.

Observed Result

The Create button is disabled and the dialog shows: “No compiler was found. In order to use a C++ template, you must first install Visual Studio 2022.” Visual Studio 2026 is installed and the same project compiles with UBT. Re-enabling the Visual Studio Integration plugin and restarting the editor makes the error go away, without any change to installed software.

Affects Versions

5.8

Platform(s)

Windows