Download Visual Studio Command Line Tools
Roseanne Devon
Both shells have specific environment variables set that enable you to use command-line developer tools more easily. After opening one of these shells, you can enter the commands for different utilities without having to know where they're located.
If you have other SDKs installed, such as the Windows SDK or previous versions, you may see additional command prompts. Check the documentation for the individual tools to determine which version of the command prompt you should use.
For build tools -- like the C++ compiler -- that create outputs targeting specific CPU architectures, the developer shells can be configured using the appropriate command-line argument. The architecture of the build tool binaries can also be configured by using command-line arguments. This is useful when the build machine is a different architecture than the target architecture.
For Developer PowerShell, the starting directory of the shell is the Visual Studio Project Location. This default locale overrides any other paths, such as working directory. This behavior can be turned off by using the command-line argument -SkipAutomaticLocation. This can be useful if you want the shell to stay in the current directory after initialization.
You can build C and C++ applications on the command line by using tools that are included in Visual Studio. The Microsoft C++ (MSVC) compiler toolset is also downloadable as a standalone package. You don't need to install the Visual Studio IDE if you don't plan to use it.
This article is about how to set up an environment to use the individual compilers, linkers, librarian, and other basic tools. The native project build system in Visual Studio, based on MSBuild, doesn't use the environment as described in this article. For more information on how to use MSBuild from the command line, see MSBuild on the command line - C++.
If you've installed Visual Studio and a C++ workload, you have all the command-line tools. For information on how to install C++ and Visual Studio, see Install C++ support in Visual Studio. If you only want the command-line toolset, download the Build Tools for Visual Studio. When you run the downloaded executable, it updates and runs the Visual Studio Installer. To install only the tools you need for C++ development, select the Desktop development with C++ workload. You can select optional libraries and toolsets to include under Installation details. To build code by using the Visual Studio 2015, 2017, or 2019 toolsets, select the optional MSVC v140, v141, or v142 build tools. When you're satisfied with your selections, choose Install.
If you've installed Visual Studio and a C++ workload, you have all the command-line tools. For information on how to install C++ and Visual Studio, see Install C++ support in Visual Studio. If you only want the command-line toolset, download the Build Tools for Visual Studio 2017. When you run the downloaded executable, it updates and runs the Visual Studio Installer. To install only the tools you need for C++ development, select the Visual C++ build tools workload. You can select optional libraries and toolsets to include under Installation details. To build code by using the Visual Studio 2015 toolset, select the optional MSVC v140 build tools. When you're satisfied with your selections, choose Install.
When you choose one of the C++ workloads in the Visual Studio Installer, it installs the Visual Studio platform toolset. A platform toolset has all the C and C++ tools for a specific Visual Studio version. The tools include the C/C++ compilers, linkers, assemblers, and other build tools, and matching libraries and header files. You can use all of these tools at the command line. They're also used internally by the Visual Studio IDE. There are separate x86-hosted and x64-hosted compilers and tools to build code for x86, x64, ARM, and ARM64 targets. Each set of tools for a particular host and target build architecture is stored in its own directory.
To work correctly, the tools require several specific environment variables to be set. These variables are used to add the tools to the path, and to set the locations of include files, library files, and SDKs. To make it easy to set these environment variables, the installer creates customized command files, or batch files, during installation. You can run one of these command files to set a specific host and target build architecture, Windows SDK version, and platform toolset. For convenience, the installer also creates shortcuts in your Start menu. The shortcuts open developer command prompt windows by using these command files for specific combinations of host and target. These shortcuts ensure all the required environment variables are set and ready to use.
The toolsets, command files, and shortcuts installed depend on your computer processor and the options you selected during installation. The x86-hosted tools and cross tools that build x86 and x64 code are always installed. If you have 64-bit Windows, the x64-hosted tools and cross tools that build x86 and x64 code are also installed. If you choose the optional C++ Universal Windows Platform tools, then the x86 and x64 tools that build ARM and ARM64 code also get installed. Other workloads may install these and other tools.
The MSVC command-line tools use the PATH, TMP, INCLUDE, LIB, and LIBPATH environment variables, and also use other environment variables specific to your installed tools, platforms, and SDKs. Even a simple Visual Studio installation may set twenty or more environment variables. This complexity is why we strongly recommend that you use a developer command prompt shortcut or one of the customized command files. We don't recommend you set these variables in the Windows environment yourself.
To see which environment variables are set by a developer command prompt shortcut, you can use the SET command. Open a plain command prompt window and capture the output of the SET command for a baseline. Open a developer command prompt window and capture the output of the SET command for comparison. Use a diff tool such as the one built into Visual Studio to highlight the environment variables set by the developer command prompt. For more information about the compiler and linker environment variables, see CL environment variables.
Several command-line tools or tool options may require Administrator permission. If you have permission issues when you use them, we recommend that you open the developer command prompt window by using the Run as Administrator option. Right-click to open the shortcut menu for the command prompt window, then choose More, Run as administrator.
In the folder, choose the Developer Command Prompt for your version of Visual Studio. This shortcut starts a developer command prompt window that uses the default build architecture of 32-bit, x86-native tools to build 32-bit, x86-native code. If you prefer a non-default build architecture, choose one of the native or cross tools command prompts to specify the host and target architecture.
The primary developer command prompt command file, VsDevCmd.bat, is located in the Common7\Tools subdirectory. When no parameters are specified, it sets the environment to use the x86-native tools to build 32-bit x86 code.
The simplest way to specify a particular build architecture in an existing command window is to use the vcvarsall.bat file. Use vcvarsall.bat to set environment variables to configure the command line for native 32-bit or 64-bit compilation. Arguments let you specify cross-compilation to x86, x64, ARM, or ARM64 processors. You can target Microsoft Store, Universal Windows Platform, or Windows Desktop platforms. You can even specify which Windows SDK to use, and select the platform toolset version.
Enter the command for your preferred developer environment. For example, to build ARM code for UWP on a 64-bit platform, using the latest Windows SDK and Visual Studio compiler toolset, use this command line:
The architecture-specific batch files set the architecture parameter and call vcvarsall.bat. You can pass the same options to these batch files as you would pass to vcvarsall.bat, or you can just call vcvarsall.bat directly. To specify parameters for your own command shortcut, add them to the end of the command in double-quotes. For example, here's a shortcut to build ARM code for UWP on a 64-bit platform, using the latest Windows SDK. To use an earlier compiler toolset, specify the version number. Use something like this command target in your shortcut:
When you build on the command line, the F1 command isn't available for instant help. Instead, you can use a search engine to get information about warnings, errors, and messages. You can also download and use the offline help files. To use the search in Microsoft Learn, enter your query in the search box at the top of any article.
MSBuild
Use MSBuild (msbuild.exe) and a project file (.vcxproj) to configure a build and invoke the toolset without loading the Visual Studio IDE. It's equivalent to running the Build project or Build Solution command in the Visual Studio IDE. MSBuild has advantages over the IDE when you build at the command line. You don't have to install the full IDE on all your build servers and build pipelines. You avoid the extra overhead of the IDE. MSBuild runs in containerized build environments, and supports a binary logger.
DEVENV
Use DEVENV (devenv.exe) combined with a command-line switch such as /Build or /Clean to execute certain build commands without displaying the Visual Studio IDE.
These articles show how to build apps on the command line, and describe how to customize the command-line build environment. Some show how to use 64-bit toolsets, and target x86, x64, ARM, and ARM64 platforms. They also describe use of the command-line build tools MSBuild and NMAKE.
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