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Does VS 2026 support .NET Framework 4.8.1? Configuration file specifies .NET 8 and I cannot change it .NET Framework 4.8.1.
App was developed in VS 2022 using VB.net
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Yep - it does - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/releases/2026/compatibility
As far as I can tell, the issue might be caused by using the wrong project format or missing .NET Framework development components. If the project properties window only shows the newer .NET versions such as .NET 8, the project is likely configured as an SDK-style project targeting modern .NET. SDK-style projects are designed for current cross-platform .NET versions and do not always expose legacy .NET Framework versions in the standard target framework dropdown.
To restore your original VB.NET setup, make sure the required .NET Framework 4.8.1 development tools are installed. Open Visual Studio Installer, select Modify for your Visual Studio 2026 installation, and verify that the .NET desktop development workload is enabled. Then open the Individual components tab, search for .NET Framework 4.8.1 Targeting Pack and the related SDK components, select them, and click Modify to install them.
Next, verify that the project was created with the correct template. Modern .NET projects (such as .NET 8, .NET 9, or .NET 10) and legacy .NET Framework 4.8.1 projects use different project structures. If you created a new project in Visual Studio 2026 instead of opening your original Visual Studio 2022 project, you may have selected the wrong template. Create a new project and specifically choose Windows Forms App (.NET Framework) or Console App (.NET Framework). The template name should include (.NET Framework), after which the target framework dropdown should include .NET Framework 4.8.1.
If the project has already been converted to the newer SDK-style format but still needs to target .NET Framework 4.8.1, you can manually update the project file. In Solution Explorer, right-click the VB.NET project, select Unload Project, then right-click it again and choose Edit Project File. Locate the <TargetFramework> entry, which may currently look like this:
<TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
Change it to:
<TargetFramework>net481</TargetFramework>
Save the file, right-click the project, and select Reload Project. If the project uses the older non-SDK project format, look instead for the following entry:
<TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.8.1</TargetFrameworkVersion>
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hth
Marcin
I am very impressed with your answer. Thank you so much.