posit-dev
Builds of Positron for arm64 on Windows
Requested in https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/discussions/5252, https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/discussions/5249, and by a couple of users in https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/issues/2934.
Depends on building Ark for arm64 Windows: https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/issues/2934.
I tried installing Positron on my Asus Vivobook using WSL. So yeah, I went ahead and set it up on Ubuntu. But obviously, it didn't work. lol Any updates on this?
We don't currently have any updates on Windows ARM builds but we appreciate any 👍 on the issue or additional info on this issue, to help with prioritization for this work!
Does Positron run in an arm64 Linux PC? If so, which distribution could I install for that?
Yes it does! You can get a build of Positron for arm64 Linux on our download page. Ubuntu 24 is a good choice for a Linux distribution if you don't have other constraints. https://positron.posit.co/download.html
Request in discussions at https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/discussions/6945
Yep! I would love this. I think positron is amazing, and being able to use it on the snapdragon chip I have on my laptop would be great.
Really need arm64 for Windows. I've been using Mac / Apple Silicon version but need to switch to a Windows device. I've had to switch back to Jupyter.
had to switch back to Jupyter
If you are going that way, you might consider Marimo, which I find to be a much better implementation of the notebook idea.
Am interested in an ARM64 version of Positron.
Loyal RStudio / Quarto user on Windows 11 x64. On second machine with ARM64 I've installed WSL2 to try and run RStudio / Quarto; but, it's not satisfactory. Would be interested in hearing if the Ubuntu version of Positron works well in WSL2?
Happy to embrace the future and make the switch to Positron, if that's recommended? An ARM64 version would seal the deal.
Thank you for the good work. Exciting stuff.
Am interested in an ARM64 version of Positron.
Loyal RStudio / Quarto user on Windows 11 x64. On second machine with ARM64 I've installed WSL2 to try and run RStudio / Quarto; but, it's not satisfactory. Would be interested in hearing if the Ubuntu version of Positron works well in WSL2?
Happy to embrace the future and make the switch to Positron, if that's recommended? An ARM64 version would seal the deal.
Thank you for the good work. Exciting stuff.
I should add that my current workaround uses R and Quarto in VS Code within standard Windows 11 ARM64. https://www.r-project.org/nosvn/winutf8/aarch64/R-4-signed/ https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools44/rtools.html
If Positron on Windows ARM64 were available it would be a better fit.
I am using a Dell Inspiron 14 Plus with a Snapdragon X Plus. It is good machine overall, until it is not, and the problem is that used to use Rstudio a lot, which does not support ARM on windows. Now, I found out that Positron does not support it as well. So, I switched to VS Code and I use the R version for ARM64 on windows (which is not visible do download on the main download page for R but can be installed with the links they provided in their blog post). So, for everyone struggling with R development (specially doing stats for academic pourpouses) my recommendation is to switch to VS Code. But I am just adding my vote for Positron for ARM64 on Windows.
Just here to add my vote to this. Was very surprised to find I cannot run Positron on a new Surface Pro with snapdragon.
Chiming in as another person with Snapdragon/ARM64 wanting to try Positron!
Requested again in https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/discussions/9639
There is another issue, this time not related to Positron. I tried installing RcppParallel using the ARM64 version of R, but it failed due to a missing library. Therefore, WSL seems to be the best option for R development on Windows machines with an ARM chip.
There is another issue, this time not related to Positron. I tried installing RcppParallel using the ARM64 version of R, but it failed due to a missing library. Therefore, WSL seems to be the best option for R development on Windows machines with an ARM chip.
It's off-topic, but you may try installing the RcppParallel development version directly from GitHub with
pak::pak("RcppCore/RcppParallel")
There is another issue, this time not related to Positron. I tried installing RcppParallel using the ARM64 version of R, but it failed due to a missing library. Therefore, WSL seems to be the best option for R development on Windows machines with an ARM chip.
I tried installing Positron on WSL, but I got an error saying it had to be installed on the host operating system..
We've got Kallichore now! https://github.com/posit-dev/kallichore/pull/51 ✅
I think next is ark as tracked in https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/issues/2934.
We now have ark builds for Windows ARM! https://github.com/posit-dev/ark/pull/940 🎉
We do need some of the r-lib tools like GH actions and rig and such to be updated to work with the Windows ARM GitHub runners for them to be usable in Positron. I think that's the next step.
Am interested in an ARM64 version of Positron. Loyal RStudio / Quarto user on Windows 11 x64. On second machine with ARM64 I've installed WSL2 to try and run RStudio / Quarto; but, it's not satisfactory. Would be interested in hearing if the Ubuntu version of Positron works well in WSL2? Happy to embrace the future and make the switch to Positron, if that's recommended? An ARM64 version would seal the deal. Thank you for the good work. Exciting stuff.
I should add that my current workaround uses R and Quarto in VS Code within standard Windows 11 ARM64. https://www.r-project.org/nosvn/winutf8/aarch64/R-4-signed/ https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools44/rtools.html
If Positron on Windows ARM64 were available it would be a better fit.
Can you explain how to set up R aarch64 in VS Code? I have downloaded the aarch64 from the link you mentioned. I am currently using R 4.5.1 x86_64-w64-mingw32, which I installed through the VS Code Extension, but it's not the aarch64 version.
R on 64-bit ARM Windows - The R Bloghttps://blog.r-project.org/2024/04/23/r-on-64-bit-arm-windows/index.html
R in Visual Studio Codehttps://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/r
// Jonathan J Digby
From: Kamarul @.> Sent: 08 October 2025 14:02 To: posit-dev/positron @.> Cc: Jonathan Digby @.>; Comment @.> Subject: Re: [posit-dev/positron] Builds of Positron for arm64 on Windows (Issue #5254)
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[https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/6749223?s=20&v=4]drkamarul left a comment (posit-dev/positron#5254)https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/issues/5254#issuecomment-3381415734
Am interested in an ARM64 version of Positron. Loyal RStudio / Quarto user on Windows 11 x64. On second machine with ARM64 I've installed WSL2 to try and run RStudio / Quarto; but, it's not satisfactory. Would be interested in hearing if the Ubuntu version of Positron works well in WSL2? Happy to embrace the future and make the switch to Positron, if that's recommended? An ARM64 version would seal the deal. Thank you for the good work. Exciting stuff.
I should add that my current workaround uses R and Quarto in VS Code within standard Windows 11 ARM64. https://www.r-project.org/nosvn/winutf8/aarch64/R-4-signed/ https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/rtools44/rtools.html
If Positron on Windows ARM64 were available it would be a better fit.
Can you explain how to set up R aarch64 in VS Code? I have downloaded the aarch64 from the link you mentioned. I am currently using R 4.5.1 x86_64-w64-mingw32, which I installed through the VS Code Extension, but it's not the aarch64 version.
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Voting for ARM64 support. I really do not understand if Posit wants Positron to be adopted, this is still missing. I have a surface as a second computer and this implementation is badly needed.
Voting for ARM64 support. I really do not understand if Posit wants Positron to be adopted, this is still missing. I have a surface as a second computer and this implementation is badly needed.
I just wanted to jump in here to express my appreciation for the great work the Positron team is doing.
The desire for a native ARM64 version for Windows is completely understandable, especially with the new devices coming out. From what I've read in the developers' comments here, it seems this topic already has a certain priority, which is fantastic to see.
I think it's important to remember that Windows on ARM, particularly with the new Snapdragon processors in the latest Surface laptops, is still a very young and rapidly evolving ecosystem. Porting an application to a new architecture is often much more complex than a simple "recompile." It involves verifying dependencies, adapting toolchains, and thoroughly testing everything on new hardware.
Therefore, I think it's completely reasonable that this kind of fundamental development takes time. Comparing it to other, sometimes much larger, projects isn't always a fair comparison.
A big thank you to the team for having this on your radar! I'm happy to wait patiently for a stable release.
Hi all, I'm pleased to announce that we have started producing experimental builds of Positron for Windows ARM64. If you have time to try them we'd very much appreciate your feedback. You can get an early build here:
System install - https://cdn.posit.co/positron/dailies/win/arm64/Positron-2025.12.0-79-Setup-arm64.exe
User install - https://cdn.posit.co/positron/dailies/win/arm64/Positron-2025.12.0-79-UserSetup-arm64.exe
Some important notes:
- Currently, only the arm64 version of Python works with this arm64 build of Positron. You'll see errors if you attempt to use the x64 version of Python. See this issue for details: https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/issues/10426
- You can use either the aarch64 version of R or x64 version of R. Note that if you use the aarch64 version of R, you will have increased performance but won't be able to install most packages since CRAN does not yet publish binaries for aarch64. If you use aarch64 R, install the RTools for 64-bit ARM so packages can be compiled locally.
- Positron does not bundle Quarto because Quarto itself does not have a native Windows ARM64 build. If Quarto is essential to your workflow, you may have success installing the x64 version of Quarto, which will run under emulation.
Please ensure auto update is set to the Daily channel so that you can receive updates to this build.
We hope to release arm64 support as an experimental feature in the next monthly release of Positron. Thanks for the support!
I just installed it.
Works flawlessly at the moment.
Connected to GitHub.
Managed to render a quarto presentation as well.
Added Claude extension.
Have not tried Python codes yet.
My specs: R version 4.5.1 [Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64]
Thanks everyone. I am super excited.
