Upgrade to Visual Studio 2026

change/@react-native-windows-cli-543cf36f-0ce7-4df7-a391-285985d3f62c.json

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "type": "prerelease",
+  "comment": "Upgrade to Visual Studio 2026",
+  "packageName": "@react-native-windows/cli",
+  "email": "julio.rocha@microsoft.com",
+  "dependentChangeType": "patch"
+}

change/react-native-windows-2a20c629-48b2-458d-80e6-26b5546c04e0.json

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "type": "prerelease",
+  "comment": "Upgrade to Visual Studio 2026",
+  "packageName": "react-native-windows",
+  "email": "julio.rocha@microsoft.com",
+  "dependentChangeType": "patch"
+}

packages/@react-native-windows/cli/src/commands/healthCheck/healthCheckList.ts

@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ export const HealthCheckList = [
   [true, 'WindowsVersion', 'Windows version >= 10.0.17763.0'],
   [true, 'DeveloperMode', 'Developer mode is on'],
   [true, 'LongPath', 'Long path support is enabled'],
-  [true, 'VSUWP', 'Visual Studio 2022 (>= 17.11.0) & req. components'],
+  [true, 'VSUWP', 'Visual Studio 2026 (>= 18.6.1) & req. components'],
   [true, 'Node', 'Node.js (LTS, >= 22.0)'],
   [true, 'Yarn', 'Yarn'],
-  [true, 'DotNetCore', '.NET SDK (LTS, = 8.0)'],
+  [true, 'DotNetCore', '.NET SDK (LTS, = 10.0)'],
 ];

vnext/Desktop.UnitTests/React.Windows.Desktop.UnitTests.vcxproj

@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
         $(VCInstallDir)UnitTest\include;
         %(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)
       </AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
-      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions Condition="$(PlatformToolsetVersion)&lt;145">%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <!--

vnext/Microsoft.ReactNative.Cxx.UnitTests/Microsoft.ReactNative.Cxx.UnitTests.vcxproj

@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_CONSOLE;MSO_MOTIFCPP;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
-      <AdditionalOptions>/await %(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions Condition="$(PlatformToolsetVersion)&lt;145">%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
       <CallingConvention>Cdecl</CallingConvention>
     </ClCompile>

vnext/Microsoft.ReactNative.IntegrationTests/Microsoft.ReactNative.IntegrationTests.vcxproj

@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@
         /bigobj -
         /FS     - Force Synchronous PDB writes. Useful when setting MultiProcCL.
       -->
-      <AdditionalOptions>/await %(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj /FS</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj /FS</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions Condition="$(PlatformToolsetVersion)&lt;145">%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
       <CallingConvention>Cdecl</CallingConvention>
       <!-- We need RuntimeTypeInfo for JSI tests -->

vnext/Microsoft.ReactNative/Microsoft.ReactNative.vcxproj

@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@
       <PrecompiledHeaderOutputFile>$(IntDir)pch.pch</PrecompiledHeaderOutputFile>
       <ForcedIncludeFiles>pch.h</ForcedIncludeFiles>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
-      <AdditionalOptions>/await %(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj /ZH:SHA_256</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj /ZH:SHA_256</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions Condition="$(PlatformToolsetVersion)&lt;145">%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
         $(ExternalDir)fmt\include;
         $(ReactNativeWindowsDir)Microsoft.ReactNative;

vnext/Microsoft.ReactNative/Utils/LocalBundleReader.cpp

@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ std::string GetBundleFromEmbeddedResource(const winrt::Windows::Foundation::Uri
   return std::string(start, start + size);
 }
 
-std::future<std::string> LocalBundleReader::LoadBundleAsync(const std::wstring bundleUri) {
+winrt::Windows::Foundation::IAsyncOperation<winrt::hstring> LocalBundleReader::LoadBundleAsync(
+    const std::wstring &bundleUri) {
   try {
     co_await winrt::resume_background();
 
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ std::future<std::string> LocalBundleReader::LoadBundleAsync(const std::wstring b
       file = co_await winrt::Windows::Storage::StorageFile::GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(uri);
     } else if (bundleUri.starts_with(L"resource://")) {
       winrt::Windows::Foundation::Uri uri(bundleUri);
-      co_return GetBundleFromEmbeddedResource(uri);
+      co_return winrt::to_hstring(GetBundleFromEmbeddedResource(uri));
     } else {
       file = co_await winrt::Windows::Storage::StorageFile::GetFileFromPathAsync(bundleUri);
     }
@@ -87,20 +88,20 @@ std::future<std::string> LocalBundleReader::LoadBundleAsync(const std::wstring b
         reinterpret_cast<uint8_t *>(&script[0]), reinterpret_cast<uint8_t *>(&script[script.length()])});
     dataReader.Close();
 
-    co_return script;
+    co_return winrt::to_hstring(script);
   }
   // RuntimeScheduler only handles std::exception or jsi::JSError
   catch (winrt::hresult_error const &e) {
-    throw std::exception(winrt::to_string(e.message()).c_str());
+    throw std::runtime_error(winrt::to_string(e.message()));
   }
 }
 
 std::string LocalBundleReader::LoadBundle(const std::wstring &bundlePath) {
-  return LoadBundleAsync(bundlePath).get();
+  return winrt::to_string(LoadBundleAsync(bundlePath).get());
 }
 
 StorageFileBigString::StorageFileBigString(const std::wstring &path) {
-  m_futureBuffer = LocalBundleReader::LoadBundleAsync(path);
+  m_pendingLoad = LocalBundleReader::LoadBundleAsync(path);
 }
 
 bool StorageFileBigString::isAscii() const {
@@ -118,8 +119,9 @@ size_t StorageFileBigString::size() const {
 }
 
 void StorageFileBigString::ensure() const {
-  if (m_string.empty()) {
-    m_string = m_futureBuffer.get();
+  if (m_pendingLoad) {
+    m_string = winrt::to_string(m_pendingLoad.get());
+    m_pendingLoad = nullptr;
   }
 }
 

vnext/Microsoft.ReactNative/Utils/LocalBundleReader.h

@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
 
 #pragma once
 #include <cxxreact/JSBigString.h>
-#include <future>
+#include <winrt/Windows.Foundation.h>
 #include <string>
 
 namespace Microsoft::ReactNative {
 
 class LocalBundleReader {
  public:
-  static std::future<std::string> LoadBundleAsync(const std::wstring bundlePath);
+  static winrt::Windows::Foundation::IAsyncOperation<winrt::hstring> LoadBundleAsync(const std::wstring &bundlePath);
   static std::string LoadBundle(const std::wstring &bundlePath);
 };
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class StorageFileBigString : public facebook::react::JSBigString {
   void ensure() const;
 
  private:
-  mutable std::future<std::string> m_futureBuffer;
+  mutable winrt::Windows::Foundation::IAsyncOperation<winrt::hstring> m_pendingLoad;
   mutable std::string m_string;
 };
 

vnext/Mso.UnitTests/Mso.UnitTests.vcxproj

@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@
         /bigobj -
         /FS     - Force Synchronous PDB writes. Useful when setting MultiProcCL.
       -->
-      <AdditionalOptions>/await %(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj /FS</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /bigobj /FS</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions Condition="$(PlatformToolsetVersion)&lt;145">%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
       <CallingConvention>Cdecl</CallingConvention>
     </ClCompile>

vnext/PropertySheets/React.Cpp.props

@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <RuntimeTypeInfo>true</RuntimeTypeInfo>
       <ShowIncludes Condition="'$(ShowIncludes)'=='true'">true</ShowIncludes>
-      <AdditionalOptions>/utf-8 %(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions>/utf-8 %(AdditionalOptions)</AdditionalOptions>
+      <AdditionalOptions Condition="$(PlatformToolsetVersion)&lt;145">%(AdditionalOptions) /await</AdditionalOptions>
       <ControlFlowGuard>Guard</ControlFlowGuard>
       <SpectreMitigation>Spectre</SpectreMitigation>
 

vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ param(
     [string]$Check = [CheckId]::All,
 
     [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments)]
-    [ValidateSet('appDev', 'rnwDev', 'buildLab', 'vs2022', 'clone')]
+    [ValidateSet('appDev', 'rnwDev', 'buildLab', 'vs2026', 'clone')]
     [String[]]$Tags = @('appDev'),
     [switch]$Enterprise = $false
 )
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ $vsComponents = @('Microsoft.Component.MSBuild',
     $vcToolsComponent,
     'Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.UWP.Support',
     'Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.NativeDesktop.Core',
-    'Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows10SDK.19041',
     'Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows11SDK.22621');
 
 # UWP.VC is not needed to build the projects with msbuild, but the VS IDE requires it.
@@ -113,12 +112,12 @@ $wingetver = "1.7.11261";
 
 # The minimum VS version to check for
 # Note: For install to work, whatever min version you specify here must be met by the current package available on winget.
-$vsver = "17.11.0";
+$vsver = "18.6.1";
 
 # The exact .NET SDK version to check for
-$dotnetver = "8.0";
+$dotnetver = "10.0";
 # Version name of the winget package
-$wingetDotNetVer = "8";
+$wingetDotNetVer = "10";
 
 $v = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version;
 if ($env:Agent_BuildDirectory) {
@@ -242,9 +241,9 @@ function InstallVS {
 
         if ($Enterprise) {
             # The CI machines need the enterprise version of VS as that is what is hardcoded in all the scripts
-            WinGetInstall Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Enterprise
+            WinGetInstall Microsoft.VisualStudio.Enterprise
         } else {
-            WinGetInstall Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community
+            WinGetInstall Microsoft.VisualStudio.Community
         }
 
         $vsWhere = Get-VSWhere;
@@ -458,8 +457,8 @@ $requirements = @(
     },
     @{
         Id=[CheckId]::VSUWP;
-        Name = "Visual Studio 2022 (>= $vsver) & req. components";
-        Tags = @('appDev', 'vs2022');
+        Name = "Visual Studio 2026 (>= $vsver) & req. components";
+        Tags = @('appDev', 'vs2026');
         Valid = { CheckVS; }
         Install = { InstallVS };
         HasVerboseOutput = $true;
@@ -491,18 +490,18 @@ $requirements = @(
             $downloadPath = "$env:TEMP\WindowsApplicationDriver.msi"
             Write-Verbose "Downloading WinAppDriver from $url";
             Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing $url -OutFile $downloadPath
-            
+
             # SDL Compliance: Verify signature (Work Item 58386093)
             $signature = Get-AuthenticodeSignature $downloadPath
             if ($signature.Status -ne "Valid") {
                 Remove-Item $downloadPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
                 throw "WinAppDriver signature verification failed"
             }
             if ($signature.SignerCertificate.Subject -notlike "*Microsoft*") {
-                Remove-Item $downloadPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue  
+                Remove-Item $downloadPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
                 throw "WinAppDriver not signed by Microsoft"
             }
-            
+
             & $downloadPath /q
             Remove-Item $downloadPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
         };
@@ -600,7 +599,7 @@ function WinGetInstall {
         Write-Verbose "Executing `winget install `"$wingetPackage`"";
         & winget install "$wingetPackage" --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
     }
-    
+
     # Refresh PATH environment variable to pick up newly installed tools
     $env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")
  }
@@ -693,12 +692,12 @@ foreach ($req in $filteredRequirements)
                     try {
                         $validAfterInstall = Invoke-Command $req.Valid;
                     } catch { }
-                    
+
                     if ($validAfterInstall) {
                         $Installed++;
                         continue; # go to the next item
                     }
-                    
+
                     if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
                         throw "Last exit code was non-zero: $LASTEXITCODE - $outputFromInstall";
                     }
@@ -737,4 +736,4 @@ if ($NeedsRerun -ne 0) {
     $Tags | Out-File $MarkerFile;
     if (!$ShellInvocation) { Read-Host 'Press Enter to exit' }
     exit 0;
-}
+}