Whether you are migrating a legacy .NET Framework application to the modern .NET 8/9 ecosystem or ensuring your libraries support multi-platform environments like Linux and macOS, understanding your code’s "portability score" is essential. The (often referred to as API Port or simply the Portability Analyzer ) has long been the gold standard for this task.
Download the API Portability Analyzer as a console app or install the extension for Visual Studio 2017/2019 (note: it is not supported in Visual Studio 2022 and later).
A newer UI-driven tool specifically for binary analysis that offers color-coded dependency graphs (gray for safe, yellow for warnings, red for errors). How to Use the .NET Portability Analyzer portability analyzer new
Once you have migrated to .NET Core, this analyzer helps identify specific APIs that might throw PlatformNotSupportedException at runtime.
Set your target platforms (e.g., .NET 8.0) in the tool settings. Run Analysis: Whether you are migrating a legacy
If you prefer the classic Portability Analyzer Console App , here is how to get started:
The New Era of Code Portability: Mastering the .NET Portability Analyzer A newer UI-driven tool specifically for binary analysis
This is the current primary tool for migration. It includes an "Analyze" command that provides portability reports similar to the original analyzer but with a richer, guided UI within Visual Studio or via a CLI.
A list of specific non-portable APIs and recommended alternatives. Benefits of Portability Analysis The .NET Portability Analyzer - Microsoft Learn
Right-click your project and select Analyze Assembly Portability .