Why can't the target framework of a WinUI app be changed?

Question

Why can't the target framework of a WinUI app be changed?

Hong 1,436

When I try to change the target framework of a WinUI app from .NET 8.0 to anything else, it reverts to .NET 8.0 instantly.

For example, I installed .NET 10.0, restarted Visual Studio, and tried to change the target framework to .NET 10.0, but VS changed it back to .NET 8.0 immediately.

Could anyone shed some light on this?

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Viorel 125.7K Reputation points

2025-12-06T16:41:49.3766667+00:00

Which Visual Studio?
Hong 1,436 Reputation points

2025-12-06T17:09:04.0466667+00:00

VS 2026 (V18.02).

Thank you for asking. I should have included the VS information. I have just edited the question by adding it.
Viorel 125.7K Reputation points

2025-12-06T17:57:13.4533333+00:00

I think .NET 10 should have been included in Visual Studio 2026 without additional installations. Did you check if .NET 10 is selected in Visual Studio Installer, Individual Components tab?
Hong 1,436 Reputation points

2025-12-06T18:07:52.3866667+00:00

I have just checked it per your suggestion.

.NET 10.0 Runtime (Long Term Support) is included.
Hong 1,436 Reputation points

2025-12-06T18:16:37.2966667+00:00

I have been working on this WinUI app created by VS 2022 a while ago. I started to use VS 2026 yesterday, and this is the first app that I work on with VS 2026.

Out of curiosity, I created a dummy app with VS 2026 a moment ago, and it used .NET 8.0 by default. However, I could change it to .NET 10.0. Actually, I can change the target framework to any one I want and VS 2026 accepts it.

So, the problem is specific to this app created by VS 2022.

BTW, with this app created by VS 2022, I cannot change the target OS version either. Whenever I change it, it reverts to 10.0.19041.0 instantly.

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Viorel 125.7K Reputation points

2025-12-06T16:41:49.3766667+00:00

Which Visual Studio?
Hong 1,436 Reputation points

2025-12-06T17:09:04.0466667+00:00

VS 2026 (V18.02).

Thank you for asking. I should have included the VS information. I have just edited the question by adding it.
Viorel 125.7K Reputation points

2025-12-06T17:57:13.4533333+00:00

I think .NET 10 should have been included in Visual Studio 2026 without additional installations. Did you check if .NET 10 is selected in Visual Studio Installer, Individual Components tab?
Hong 1,436 Reputation points

2025-12-06T18:07:52.3866667+00:00

I have just checked it per your suggestion.

.NET 10.0 Runtime (Long Term Support) is included.
Hong 1,436 Reputation points

2025-12-06T18:16:37.2966667+00:00

I have been working on this WinUI app created by VS 2022 a while ago. I started to use VS 2026 yesterday, and this is the first app that I work on with VS 2026.

Out of curiosity, I created a dummy app with VS 2026 a moment ago, and it used .NET 8.0 by default. However, I could change it to .NET 10.0. Actually, I can change the target framework to any one I want and VS 2026 accepts it.

So, the problem is specific to this app created by VS 2022.

BTW, with this app created by VS 2022, I cannot change the target OS version either. Whenever I change it, it reverts to 10.0.19041.0 instantly.

Answer 1

Raymond Huynh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 3,955 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Hong,

Thanks for writing up your issue so clearly. There are publicly documented compatibility problems that can prevent a WinUI 3 / Windows App SDK project from successfully changing target framework under newer .NET versions, especially when older RuntimeIdentifiers (RIDs) remain. Here’s what I found:

Starting in .NET 8 (and later), the .NET SDK switched to using a smaller “portable” RID graph. That means version-specific or OS-version-specific RIDs (like win10-x64, win10-arm64 etc.) are no longer valid by default. Projects using them may get build errors such as: NETSDK1083: The specified RuntimeIdentifier 'win10-x64' is not recognized. Documentation: .NET SDK uses a smaller RID graph https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/compatibility/sdk/8.0/rid-graph
This exact error has been observed on freshly created WinUI templates targeting .NET 8. For example: issue “WinUI project template does not build when .Net 8 is selected” reports that the template-generated project fails to compile because the RIDs win10-x86, win10-x64, and win10-arm64 are not recognized. See https://github.com/microsoft/WindowsAppSDK/issues/3994

If your WinUI / Windows App SDK project was created with older RID values (e.g. win10-x64 / win10-arm64), upgrading to .NET 8 (or newer) without updating the RIDs likely causes the SDK to reject the configuration. Please try these steps:

Open your .csproj with a text editor (instead of using the GUI).
Find your <RuntimeIdentifiers> (or <RuntimeIdentifier>) tag.
Replace old RID values like win10-x64, win10-x86, win10-arm64 with the newer portable ones: win-x64, win-x86, win-arm64.
Save, reload the project, and attempt to retarget / build again.

If after updating RIDs you still can’t change the Target Framework (or get other build/runtime issues), the most reliable workaround is to create a fresh WinUI 3 project under your current Visual Studio + .NET SDK version, then migrate your code/assets over. That way you avoid hidden legacy metadata, packaging/RID issues and other upgrade-path pitfalls.

Hope this helps you move forward and good luck with the migration!

Hong 1,436

Thank you for your help.

I created a new project with VS 2026, and everything is fine now.

This issue is a mystery. I cannot change the target framework with either VS2026 or VS2022, which created this project.

Here are the RuntimeIdentifiers of the project:

    <RuntimeIdentifiers>win-x86;win-x64;win-arm64</RuntimeIdentifiers>


<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows10.0.20348.0</TargetFramework>
    <TargetPlatformMinVersion>10.0.17763.0</TargetPlatformMinVersion>
    <RootNamespace>FolderFoo</RootNamespace>
    <ApplicationManifest>app.manifest</ApplicationManifest>
    <Platforms>x86;x64;ARM64</Platforms>
    <RuntimeIdentifiers>win-x86;win-x64;win-arm64</RuntimeIdentifiers>
    <PublishProfile>win-$(Platform).pubxml</PublishProfile>
    <UseWinUI>true</UseWinUI>
    <EnableMsixTooling>true</EnableMsixTooling>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="Assets\SplashScreen.scale-200.png" />
    <Content Include="Assets\LockScreenLogo.scale-200.png" />
    <Content Include="Assets\Square150x150Logo.scale-200.png" />
    <Content Include="Assets\Square44x44Logo.scale-200.png" />
    <Content Include="Assets\Square44x44Logo.targetsize-24_altform-unplated.png" />
    <Content Include="Assets\StoreLogo.png" />
    <Content Include="Assets\Wide310x150Logo.scale-200.png" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Manifest Include="$(ApplicationManifest)" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <!--
    Defining the "Msix" ProjectCapability here allows the Single-project MSIX Packaging
    Tools extension to be activated for this project even if the Windows App SDK Nuget
    package has not yet been restored.
  -->
  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(DisableMsixProjectCapabilityAddedByProject)'!='true' and '$(EnableMsixTooling)'=='true'">
    <ProjectCapability Include="Msix" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Windows.SDK.BuildTools" Version="10.0.26100.7175" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.WindowsAppSDK" Version="1.8.251106002" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\Uno6\Libraries\ClassLibraryUno\ClassLibraryUno.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <!--
    Defining the "HasPackageAndPublishMenuAddedByProject" property here allows the Solution
    Explorer "Package and Publish" context menu entry to be enabled for this project even if
    the Windows App SDK Nuget package has not yet been restored.
  -->
  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(DisableHasPackageAndPublishMenuAddedByProject)'!='true' and '$(EnableMsixTooling)'=='true'">
    <HasPackageAndPublishMenu>true</HasPackageAndPublishMenu>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <!-- Publish Properties -->
  <PropertyGroup>
    <PublishReadyToRun Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'">False</PublishReadyToRun>
    <PublishReadyToRun Condition="'$(Configuration)' != 'Debug'">True</PublishReadyToRun>
    <PublishTrimmed Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'">False</PublishTrimmed>
    <PublishTrimmed Condition="'$(Configuration)' != 'Debug'">True</PublishTrimmed>
    <GenerateTemporaryStoreCertificate>True</GenerateTemporaryStoreCertificate>
    <GenerateAppInstallerFile>False</GenerateAppInstallerFile>
    <AppxPackageSigningEnabled>False</AppxPackageSigningEnabled>
    <AppxPackageSigningTimestampDigestAlgorithm>SHA256</AppxPackageSigningTimestampDigestAlgorithm>
    <AppxAutoIncrementPackageRevision>True</AppxAutoIncrementPackageRevision>
    <AppxSymbolPackageEnabled>True</AppxSymbolPackageEnabled>
    <GenerateTestArtifacts>True</GenerateTestArtifacts>
    <AppxBundle>Always</AppxBundle>
    <HoursBetweenUpdateChecks>0</HoursBetweenUpdateChecks>
    <AppxPackageDir>C:\WinUI\FolderCleaner\Packages\</AppxPackageDir>
    <AppxBundlePlatforms>x86|x64|arm64</AppxBundlePlatforms>
    <Title>Folder Cleaner</Title>
    <Description>Folder Cleaner</Description>
    <SupportedOSPlatformVersion>10.0.19041.0</SupportedOSPlatformVersion>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

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Why can't the target framework of a WinUI app be changed?

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