[Windows] The windows-11-arm image label will use Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 image in September 2026

Breaking changes

Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 is ready to become the default image for the windows-11-arm label in GitHub Actions.

The windows-11-arm label in GitHub Actions will be migrated to use Visual Studio 2026 by default. Customers who need an image without Visual Studio can use the windows-11-arm image label only until the migration is complete; after that, use a self-hosted runner or an alternative supported image that meets your tooling requirements.

Target date

This change will be rolled out over a week beginning September 21, 2026 and will complete by September 30 2026.

The motivation for the changes

GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps have supported Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 and, starting from August 19, 2026, the image is generally available for all customers.

We have monitored customer feedback to improve the Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 image stability and are ready to make it the default for the windows-11-arm label.

Possible impact

During this period, workflows using windows-11-arm will gradually switch to the image with Visual Studio 2026 as the default.

If you want to test before the migration, use the windows-11-vs2026-arm label.

Software difference between Windows 11 Arm64 and Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026

Tool name	Windows 11 Arm64	Windows 11 Arm64 with VS 2026	Notes
Visual Studio	Visual Studio Enterprise 2022 (17.14.37516.0)	Visual Studio Enterprise 2026 (18.8.12023.21)	Updated to the recent version
CMake	4.4.2	4.4.2	Supports the Visual Studio 2026 generator
Android Command Line Tools	N/A	19.0	Installed with Visual Studio 2026

Platforms affected

Azure DevOps
GitHub Actions

Runner images affected

Mitigation ways

To test this image before the migration, use the windows-11-vs2026-arm label in your workflow:

jobs:
  jobName:
    runs-on: windows-11-vs2026-arm

Please report any problems with the new image to this repository.

windows-11-vs2026-arm

spike: arm64 on the VS 2026 image, upstream's pgo pairs included

ci: build Windows arm64 on the windows-11-vs2026-arm image

ci: move Windows jobs to VS 2026 images, pin sentry-native to the VS …

Use windows-11-vs2026-arm image for now

feat: add support for .NET 11 RC 1 (#5566)

Note the windows-11-arm VS 2026 migration where it would bite

Probe the VS 2026 ARM image before it becomes the default

Move the actions off Node.js 20 (#500)

Windows, LLVM: Update Windows ARM image

ci: locate Visual Studio with vswhere in the Windows build

ci: fix Windows arm64 build after VS2026 runner image migration

Markdown

Verificación

Build Windows presets with the newest Visual Studio installed

CI: the windows-11-arm runner builds with Visual Studio 2026 now

September 30 has passed, was this completed?

i dont believe so on it now just receiving message

…

On Wed, Oct 14, 2026 at 12:09 AM PrestigeSoraka ***@***.***> wrote: *PrestigeSoraka* left a comment (actions/runner-images#14602) <#14602 (comment)> 21. September 30 has passed, was this completed? It completed Image: Image (view on web) <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c37c1742-d069-4601-b18c-e9c9cf4fc548> Image: Image (view on web) <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ca83006e-6208-4b20-9e17-648cb3abdceb> — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#14602?email_source=notifications&email_token=CQ3DTEWV6HJS7HAJM64YJ6D5T4C7ZA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTMMJWGEZTMOJZGE42M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-6161369919>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/CQ3DTEXOC4IDN6QUYPCBFZL5T4C7ZAVCNFSNUABFKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMYTSMBUGE3DINRTHNEXG43VMU5TKMRQGU4DGOBYGU32C5QC> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/CQ3DTETMBMOJBHMAYFZZXRD5T4C7ZA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTMMJWGEZTMOJZGE42M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/CQ3DTEREM6KFYAGOQ3RTKNL5T4C7ZA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTMMJWGEZTMOJZGE42M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

fix: use the installed Visual Studio 2026 ARM64 generator

fix(runner-label): treat distinct arm images as conflicting runner la…

Add Ubuntu 26.04, Windows 11 VS2026 ARM and Xcode 27 runner labels (#8)

fix(ci): install VS 2022 Build Tools for Node 22 on windows-arm64 (#222)

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[Windows] The `windows-11-arm` image label will use Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 image in September 2026 #14602

Breaking changes

Target date

The motivation for the changes

Possible impact

Software difference between Windows 11 Arm64 and Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026

Platforms affected

Runner images affected

Mitigation ways

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[Windows] The windows-11-arm image label will use Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 image in September 2026 #14602

Description

Breaking changes

Target date

The motivation for the changes

Possible impact

Software difference between Windows 11 Arm64 and Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026

Platforms affected

Runner images affected

Mitigation ways

Activity

hasanbaraah143-hub commented on Sep 8, 2026

19 remaining items

Kashleymadstaccz commented on Oct 7, 2026

josueberbesi2-cmd commented on Oct 8, 2026

EwoutH commented on Oct 13, 2026

Kashleymadstaccz commented on Oct 14, 2026

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[Windows] The `windows-11-arm` image label will use Windows 11 Arm64 with Visual Studio 2026 image in September 2026 #14602