diff --git a/cli/cli.vcxproj b/cli/cli.vcxproj
index 5d4ee25b0e3..05d1cf2916d 100644
--- a/cli/cli.vcxproj
+++ b/cli/cli.vcxproj
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
       <BufferSecurityCheck>true</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;WIN32;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
       <BufferSecurityCheck>true</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\lib;..\frontend;..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <BufferSecurityCheck>false</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;NDEBUG;WIN32;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;NDEBUG;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\lib;..\frontend;..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <BufferSecurityCheck>false</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;TINYXML2_IMPORT;NDEBUG;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
diff --git a/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp b/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
index 58659739d79..c5daf5079e9 100644
--- a/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
+++ b/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
 #include <windows.h>
 #endif
 
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
 #include <sys/wait.h> // WIFEXITED and friends
 #endif
 
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ int CppCheckExecutor::executeCommand(std::string exe, std::vector<std::string> a
         //std::cout << "pclose() errno " << std::to_string(err) << std::endl;
         return res;
     }
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
     if (WIFEXITED(res)) {
         return WEXITSTATUS(res);
     }
diff --git a/cli/processexecutor.cpp b/cli/processexecutor.cpp
index 7efd4106db1..2f2f14a385e 100644
--- a/cli/processexecutor.cpp
+++ b/cli/processexecutor.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 #include "processexecutor.h"
 
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
 
 #include "cppcheck.h"
 #include "errorlogger.h"
diff --git a/cmake/compilerDefinitions.cmake b/cmake/compilerDefinitions.cmake
index 6ad938fa009..a5b002db233 100644
--- a/cmake/compilerDefinitions.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compilerDefinitions.cmake
@@ -4,10 +4,8 @@ if(MSVC)
     # Visual Studio only sets _DEBUG
     add_compile_definitions($<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DEBUG>)
 
-    add_definitions(-DWIN32)
     add_definitions(-D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
     add_definitions(-DWIN32_LEAN_MEAN)
-    add_definitions(-D_WIN64)
 endif()
 
 # TODO: this should probably apply to the compiler and not the platform - I think it is only "broken" with MinGW
diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj b/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
index 78e9eaecd69..d0175b2997f 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.vcxproj
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <MultiProcessorCompilation>true</MultiProcessorCompilation>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);WIN32;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;$(BoostInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ if exist "$(OutDir)platforms\unix64-unsigned.xml" del /q "$(OutDir)platforms\uni
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <MultiProcessorCompilation>true</MultiProcessorCompilation>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;$(BoostInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ if exist "$(OutDir)platforms\unix64-unsigned.xml" del /q "$(OutDir)platforms\uni
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;$(BoostInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;WIN32;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <MultiProcessorCompilation>true</MultiProcessorCompilation>
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ if exist "$(OutDir)platforms\unix64-unsigned.xml" del /q "$(OutDir)platforms\uni
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;$(BoostInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT;TINYXML2_EXPORT;SIMPLECPP_EXPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <MultiProcessorCompilation>true</MultiProcessorCompilation>
diff --git a/releasenotes.txt b/releasenotes.txt
index 75e1175f41d..0642d2b5051 100644
--- a/releasenotes.txt
+++ b/releasenotes.txt
@@ -42,5 +42,6 @@ Infrastructure & dependencies:
 - Updated Qt to 6.10.0 (official Windows release only).
 - The official Windows binary is now built against Boost 1.89 for increased performance.
 - Updated to simplecpp 1.6.2
+- The Visual Studio builds not longer set the `WIN32` define.
 
 The changes focus heavily on stability (crash fixes), C/C++ compatibility, reducing false positives, and improving performance.
diff --git a/test/testprocessexecutor.cpp b/test/testprocessexecutor.cpp
index 51480619dc2..90f6100bde1 100644
--- a/test/testprocessexecutor.cpp
+++ b/test/testprocessexecutor.cpp
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class TestProcessExecutorBase : public TestFixture {
     }
 
     void run() override {
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
         mNewTemplate = true;
         TEST_CASE(deadlock_with_many_errors);
         TEST_CASE(many_threads);
diff --git a/test/testrunner.vcxproj b/test/testrunner.vcxproj
index 6acc2a937b1..cd7a039c418 100755
--- a/test/testrunner.vcxproj
+++ b/test/testrunner.vcxproj
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@
       <BufferSecurityCheck>true</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);WIN32;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@
       <BufferSecurityCheck>true</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <DebugInformationFormat>ProgramDatabase</DebugInformationFormat>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <DisableSpecificWarnings>4018;4127;4146;4244;4251;4267;4389;4701;4706;4800;4805</DisableSpecificWarnings>
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\cli;..\frontend;..\lib;..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;$(BoostInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <BufferSecurityCheck>false</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;WIN32;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\cli;..\frontend;..\lib;..\externals;..\externals\picojson;..\externals\simplecpp;..\externals\tinyxml2;$(BoostInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <BufferSecurityCheck>false</BufferSecurityCheck>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;WIN32;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;_WIN64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT;SIMPLECPP_IMPORT;$(HaveBoost);NDEBUG;HAVE_RULES;_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
       <InlineFunctionExpansion>AnySuitable</InlineFunctionExpansion>
diff --git a/test/testsuppressions.cpp b/test/testsuppressions.cpp
index 6c6b06be8e7..0ecb71fb16a 100644
--- a/test/testsuppressions.cpp
+++ b/test/testsuppressions.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class TestSuppressions : public TestFixture {
         TEST_CASE(suppressionsSettingsFS);
         TEST_CASE(suppressionsSettingsThreadsFiles);
         TEST_CASE(suppressionsSettingsThreadsFS);
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
         TEST_CASE(suppressionsSettingsProcessesFiles);
         TEST_CASE(suppressionsSettingsProcessesFS);
 #endif
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ class TestSuppressions : public TestFixture {
         return exitCode;
     }
 
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
     unsigned int checkSuppressionProcessesFiles(const char code[], const std::string &suppression = "") {
         return _checkSuppressionProcesses(code, false, suppression);
     }
@@ -928,7 +928,7 @@ class TestSuppressions : public TestFixture {
         runChecks(&TestSuppressions::checkSuppressionThreadsFS);
     }
 
-#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+#if !defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__MINGW32__) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
     void suppressionsSettingsProcessesFiles() {
         runChecks(&TestSuppressions::checkSuppressionProcessesFiles);
     }