How to add an assembly manifest to a .NET executable?

If you want to add custom information to your application’s manifest, you can follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer.
2. Click “Add New Item”.
3. Select “Application Manifest File”.

This adds a file named app.manifest to your project, which you can open and modify as desired.

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Similar steps, with screenshots, lifted from Declaring Managed Applications As DPI-Aware on MSDN:

1. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on your project, point to Add, and then click New Item.

2. In the Add New Item dialog box, select Application Manifest File, and then click Add. The app.manifest file appears.

   

3. Copy and paste the following text into the app.manifest file and then save.

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <asmv1:assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" 
                   xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" 
                   xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2" 
                   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
   
     <assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" name="MyApplication.app"/>
   
       <!-- Disable file and registry virtualization. -->
       <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2">
         <security>
           <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
            <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false" />
            <!--  <requestedExecutionLevel  level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false" />
                  <requestedExecutionLevel  level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />
                  <requestedExecutionLevel  level="highestAvailable" uiAccess="false" />
            -->
           </requestedPrivileges>
         </security>
       </trustInfo>
   
       <!-- We are high-dpi aware on Windows Vista -->
       <asmv3:application xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
         <asmv3:windowsSettings xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2005/WindowsSettings">
           <dpiAware>true</dpiAware>
         </asmv3:windowsSettings>
       </asmv3:application>
   
       <!-- Declare that we were designed to work with Windows Vista and Windows 7-->
       <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
         <application>
           <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows Vista -->
           <supportedOS Id="{e2011457-1546-43c5-a5fe-008deee3d3f0}"/>
           <!--The ID below indicates application support for Windows 7 -->
           <supportedOS Id="{35138b9a-5d96-4fbd-8e2d-a2440225f93a}"/>
         </application>
       </compatibility>
   
       <!-- Enable themes for Windows common controls and dialogs (Windows XP and later) -->
       <dependency>
         <dependentAssembly>
           <assemblyIdentity
               type="win32"
               name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
               version="6.0.0.0"
               processorArchitecture="*"
               publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
               language="*"
           />
         </dependentAssembly>
       </dependency>
   
     </asmv1:assembly>
   

4. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on the project, and then click Properties to verify that the app.manifest is used.

   

5. Your application is now manifested as required to be “designed for Windows”, and is

   • disables file and registry virtualization
   • disables DWM scaling of applications
   • announces that you were designed and tested on Windows 7 and Windows Vista
   • takes a dependency on Common Controls library version 6 (enabling the use of visual styles by the common controls)