MSbuild Error: The builds tools for v140 (Platform Toolset = 'v140') cannot be found

Question

I have a solution which is consists of a large number of projects (C++ and C#). I upgraded the solution to VS2015, so the toolset version for most of them are now set to V14

Answer 1

I had the same issue. Steps given in this Solution helped me solve my issue. Repeating the steps here for future reference.

If you're attempting to build a Win32 "Desktop" application, the easiest way to get the v140 Platform Toolset is via the Visual Studio Installer (please see the image, below, for an illustration of steps '3.' and '4.'):

1. Launch the "Visual Studio Installer" from your start menu.
2. Select "Modify" for the instance of Visual Studio 2017 you have installed.
3. Under the "Summary" pane of the workload selector, click the "Desktop development with C++" expander (if it is collapsed)
4. Check the "VC++ 2015.3 v140 toolset (x86,x64)" optional feature.