How to: Configure Projects to Target Platforms

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

Visual Studio enables you to set up your applications to target different platforms, including 64-bit platforms. For more information on 64-bit platform support in Visual Studio, see 64-bit Applications.

Targeting Platforms with the Configuration Manager

The Configuration Manager provides a way for you to quickly add a new platform to target with your project. If you select one of the platforms included with Visual Studio, the properties for your project are modified to build your project for the selected platform.

To configure a project to target a 64-bit platform

1. On the menu bar, choose Build, Configuration Manager.

2. In the Active solution platform list, choose a 64-bit platform for the solution to target, and then choose the Close button.

   1. If the platform that you want doesn’t appear in the Active solution platform list, choose New.

      The New Solution Platform dialog box appears.

   2. In the Type or select the new platform list, choose x64.

      Note

      If you give your configuration a new name, you may have to modify the settings in the Project Designer to target the correct platform.

   3. If you want to copy the settings from a current platform configuration, choose it, and then choose the OK button.

   The properties for all projects that target the 64-bit platform are updated, and the next build of the project will be optimized for 64-bit platforms.

Targeting Platforms in the Project Designer

The Project Designer also provides a way to target different platforms with your project. If selecting one of the platforms included in the list in the New Solution Platform dialog box does not work for your solution, you can create a custom configuration name and modify the settings in the Project Designer to target the correct platform.

Performing this task varies based on the programming language you are using. See the following links for more information:

• For Visual Basic projects, see /platform (Visual Basic).

• For Visual C# projects, see Build Page, Project Designer (C#).

• For Visual C++ projects, see /clr (Common Language Runtime Compilation).

See Also

Understanding Build Platforms /platform (C# Compiler Options) 64-bit Applications Visual Studio IDE 64-Bit Support