diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fed3e92c2..5eca58e03 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# build artifacts
 *_test
 *~
 *.a
@@ -32,8 +33,14 @@ __pycache__*
 docs/_build
 
 build/
-.vscode/
 
 cufinufft/python/cufinufft/docs/_build
 cufinufft/python/cufinufft/docs/_static
 cufinufft/python/cufinufft/docs/_templates
+
+# ides and editors
+.vscode/
+.vs/
+/CMakeSettings.json
+/CMakeUserPresets.json
+.~*
diff --git a/cmake/toolchain.cmake b/cmake/toolchain.cmake
index c58cb33d9..a562aca23 100644
--- a/cmake/toolchain.cmake
+++ b/cmake/toolchain.cmake
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ if(FINUFFT_ARCH_FLAGS STREQUAL "native")
         set(FINUFFT_ARCH_FLAGS -mtune=native CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
         filter_supported_compiler_flags(FINUFFT_ARCH_FLAGS FINUFFT_ARCH_FLAGS)
     endif()
-    if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "MSVC")
+    if(MSVC)
         # -march=native emulation for MSVC
-        check_arch_support()
+        check_msvc_arch_support()
     endif()
     if(NOT FINUFFT_ARCH_FLAGS)
         message(WARNING "No architecture flags are supported by the compiler.")
diff --git a/cmake/utils.cmake b/cmake/utils.cmake
index fcac8ecd7..57fb2fdcf 100644
--- a/cmake/utils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/utils.cmake
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
 
 # Define the function
 function(filter_supported_compiler_flags input_flags_var output_flags_var)
+    string(MD5 input_hash "${${input_flags_var}}")
+    if(DEFINED SUPPORTED_FLAGS_${input_hash})
+    message(STATUS "Using cached flags for ${input_flags_var}: ${SUPPORTED_FLAGS_${input_hash}}")
+        set(${output_flags_var} ${SUPPORTED_FLAGS_${input_hash}} PARENT_SCOPE)
+        return()
+    endif()
+
     # Create an empty list to store supported flags
     set(supported_flags)
     # Iterate over each flag in the input list
@@ -23,11 +30,12 @@ function(filter_supported_compiler_flags input_flags_var output_flags_var)
         # remove last flag from CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS using substring
         set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS ${ORIGINAL_LINKER_FLAGS})
     endforeach()
-    # Set the output variable to the list of supported flags
+    # Set the output variable to the list of supported flags and cache them
+    set(SUPPORTED_FLAGS_${input_hash} "${supported_flags}" CACHE INTERNAL "")
     set(${output_flags_var} ${supported_flags} PARENT_SCOPE)
 endfunction()
 
-function(check_arch_support)
+function(check_msvc_arch_support)
     message(STATUS "Checking for AVX, AVX512 and SSE support")
     try_run(
         RUN_RESULT_VAR
@@ -89,7 +97,7 @@ endif()
 
 function(enable_asan target)
     target_compile_options(${target} PRIVATE ${FINUFFT_SANITIZER_FLAGS})
-    if(NOT (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "MSVC"))
+    if(NOT MSVC)
         target_link_options(${target} PRIVATE ${FINUFFT_SANITIZER_FLAGS})
     endif()
 endfunction()