If you’ve ever dug into a .vcxproj file, browsed the Visual Studio Installer, or debugged a failing CI/CD pipeline, you’ve likely encountered the cryptic string: (often seen as PlatformToolset v142 ).
Demystifying msvc v142 : The Heart of VS 2019 for x64/x86 Builds msvc v142 - vs 2019 c x64/x86 build tools
Microsoft's policy is that the v142 toolset (VS 2019) is fully supported as long as the runtime libraries are included in the Windows OS. Since Windows 10 and 11 ship with the v142 redistributables, your binaries will run indefinitely. If you’ve ever dug into a
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\BuildTools\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x64 msbuild MySolution.sln /p:PlatformToolset=v142 /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=x64 The toolset is not the IDE
Run the Visual Studio Installer, select "Modify" on VS 2019, go to the "Individual components" tab, and search for "MSVC v142" . Check the box for the latest version of "MSVC v142 - VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 build tools".
Why your pipeline says “v142” and why you shouldn’t confuse it with your IDE.
The toolset is not the IDE. You can build v142 code inside VS 2022, and you can build v143 code inside VS 2019 (with extensions). But for consistency across your team and your CI server—pin your toolset to v142 and never look back. Have you run into a strange v142 linker error? Let me know in the comments below.