ARM64EC Support in Visual Studio

Moyo Okeremi

ARM64EC (“Emulation Compatible”) is a new application binary interface (ABI) for building apps for Windows 11 on ARM. With ARM64EC, you can build new native apps that can run on ARM or incrementally transition existing x64 apps to native performance on ARM. For more information about ARM64EC, check out the Windows Developer blog.

Why Should Developers Target ARM64EC?

Applications that are built to run on ARM, give customers the benefit of a great native experience that unlocks the full power of the ARM device. However, from a developer perspective, porting an app to run on ARM can be all-or-nothing, since all the binaries within a process need to be rebuilt as ARM before a customer can enjoy the benefits.

With ARM64EC, you can choose to start small and build incrementally. Once you identify the part of your codebase that would benefit most from native performance, you can simply rebuild it as ARM64EC. The rest of the app will remain fully functional as emulated x64, but the recompiled ARM64EC parts will now have native speed.

In addition, the ability to mix and match x64 and ARM64EC makes it possible to build an app on ARM even if it depends on x64 code outside of your control. For example, projects with third-party dependencies that don’t support ARM can leave them as x64. Also, apps with an in-proc plugin ecosystem can build as ARM64EC to get native speed on ARM, while continuing to load and use x64 plugins.

How to Target ARM64EC in Visual Studio

To start using Visual Studio to build your projects as ARM64EC, you’ll need to install these prerequisites:

Graphical user interface, text, application, email Description automatically generated

Once you have installed all the prerequisites, you can now target ARM64EC in your MSBuild and CMake Projects as explained in the following sections.

Note: In 17.4, in order to get ARM64EC support, install the ARM64 build tools instead.

MSBuild Projects

Open your C++ project or solution in Visual Studio. If you don’t have one yet, create a new one by navigating to: Create a new project > C++ Console App:

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Open up the configuration manager by navigating to the tool bar and clicking build > configuration manager:

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

In the Active solution platform box, select <New…> to create a new platform:

Graphical user interface, text, application, Word, email Description automatically generated

Select ARM64EC, Copy settings from x64, check the Create new project platforms checkbox and click OK:

Image Picture1

Finally, ensuring that ARM64EC is the active solution configuration, select Build from the menu to successfully build your ARM64EC project.

Note: By design, not all projects in the ARM64EC solution need to be targeting ARM64EC as they can target x64 instead. Ensure that you configure those x64 projects in the configuration manager to target x64 under the ARM64EC solution build:

Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated

For more information on working with MSBuild C++ Projects, see our documentation on Visual Studio Projects – C++ | Microsoft Docs and Remote Debug a C++ Project – Visual Studio (Windows) | Microsoft Docs

CMake Projects

If you haven’t already, install the CMake Build tools from the Visual Studio Installer:

Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generated

Open your C++ CMake project in Visual Studio. If you don’t have one yet, create a new one by navigating to: Create a new project > CMake Project:

Graphical user interface Description automatically generated

With CMakePresets.json integration in Visual Studio, the default active configuration of the new project will be the Windows default which targets configuring and building on the local Windows Machine. This is the scenario we are interested in.

Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generated

Open up the CMakePresets.json file by going to the active configuration dropdown and selecting Manage Configurations:

Graphical user interface, text Description automatically generated

Modify the architecture property under the windows configuration you want for ARM64EC:

 "architecture": { 
    "value": "arm64ec", 
    "strategy": "external"
 }

Note: The default generator is Ninja. If using the visual studio generator (2019 or 2022), change the strategy field to set.

If using Ninja generator, you’ll also need to set some environment variables by adding the environment object to your CMakePresets configuration:

 "environment": { 
    "CXXFLAGS": "/arm64EC",
    "CFLAGS": "/arm64EC" 
 }

Save the CMakePresets file and make sure the active configuration is set to the arm64ec configuration. From the menu bar, select project menu, then select Configure <Project Name> in order to generate your CMake cache.

Build your CMake Project targeting ARM64EC like any other CMake project: navigate to the Build Menu and select build all.

For more information on working with CMake projects and CMakePresets, see our documentation on  CMake projects in Visual Studio | Microsoft Docs , Configure and build with CMake Presets | Microsoft Docs and Tutorial: Debug a CMake project on a remote Windows machine | Microsoft Docs.

Developer Command Prompt

If you are interested in using the Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt for compiling and linking source files for ARM64EC, you need to use the ARM64 Developer Command Prompt, and then run your cl and link commands separately:

vsdevcmd -host_arch=x64 -arch=arm64 // creates an ARM64 Developer Command Prompt from your default Developer Command Prompt

cl /arm64EC /c <args>

link /MACHINE:ARM64EC <args>

Give us your feedback

Download the latest Visual Studio 2019 Preview or Visual Studio 2022 Preview  today and give it a try. We’d love to hear from you to help us prioritize and build the right features for you. We can be reached via the comments below, Developer Community, and Twitter (@VisualC). The best way to file a bug or suggest a feature is via Developer Community.