Just upgraded to Win11 and was presented with no options for VS-2022 (would have waited if I had known.) So this is what I did to get my UE5.6.1 project to compile successfully using VS-2026.
Major breaking errors encountered:
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Tough one, burnt quite a bit of time - it’s a BUG >>> UE5.vcxproj : warning : The build tools for Visual Studio 2022 (v143) cannot be found. Install Visual Studio 2022 (v143) to build using the Visual Studio 2022 (v143) build tools:
a) REQUIRED Insiders version: Install VS-2026 Insiders (current Release VS-2026 has a BUG - VS Developer Community ):
b) Section “Adding Required Components”, when installing according to Setting Up Visual Studio Development Environment for C++ Projects in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.7 Documentation | Epic Developer Community :
i) Also select Windows SDK 10.0.22621.0 in Installation Details panel section: “Game Development with C++”;
ii) Click Individual Components tab on top menu bar, search MSVC v143 and select the appropriate one (for UE5.6.1 >>> v14.38-17.8);
c) Click install and continue to bypass “Out of support” warning to install outdated v143 Toolchain. -
UE5.vcxproj : error : \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Insiders\VC\Auxiliary\Build\Microsoft.VCRedistVersion.v143.default.props" was not found:
a) Copy (don’t move) \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Insiders\VC\Auxiliary\Build\14.38.17.8\Microsoft.VCToolsVersion.14.38.17.8.props up one level to it’s base Build folder;
b) Rename the COPIED file ..\Build\Microsoft.VCToolsVersion.14.38.17.8.props to ..\Build\Microsoft.VCRedistVersion.v143.default.props -
Backup project just in case…
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Delete from the UE project dir:
a) ProjectDir\Intermediate folder;
b) ProjectDir\Saved folder;
c) ProjectDir\*.sln VS launch file.
d) {drive}:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Unreal Engine\UnrealBuildTool\BuildConfiguration.xml -
Right click the ProjectDir\*.uproject file and select “Generate Visual Studio project files” (may have to first select “Show more options”.)
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Run the generated *.sln (double click): I chose to bypass account stuff but did specify C++ development.
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Don’t need to run anything on the “Unreal Engine Integration Configuration” tab.
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Don’t install the “Based on your solution” options unless absolutely required for the build to complete.
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Rebuild project and confirm build.
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Install the desired options (some may be incompatible???).
My project compiled and ran fine but I have not done any packaging, advanced tool-chain stuff, etc.
FWIW