diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 39ff1a40cc..de2033d22b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -649,12 +649,13 @@ add_subdirectory(Externals/FreeSurround)
 if (APPLE OR WIN32)
   message(STATUS "Using ed25519 from Externals")
   add_subdirectory(Externals/ed25519)
+  include_directories(Externals/ed25519)
 endif()
 
 # Using static soundtouch from Externals
 # Unable to use system soundtouch library: We require shorts, not floats.
 add_subdirectory(Externals/soundtouch)
-include_directories(Externals)
+include_directories(Externals/soundtouch)
 
 find_package(Cubeb)
 if(CUBEB_FOUND)
@@ -755,6 +756,7 @@ endif()
 if(USE_DISCORD_PRESENCE)
   message(STATUS "Using static DiscordRPC from Externals")
   add_subdirectory(Externals/discord-rpc)
+  include_directories(Externals/discord-rpc/include)
 endif()
 
 find_package(Libsystemd)
@@ -765,6 +767,12 @@ else()
   message(STATUS "libsystemd not found, disabling traversal server watchdog support")
 endif()
 
+if (WIN32)
+  include_directories(Externals/OpenAL/include)
+endif()
+
+include_directories(Externals/picojson)
+
 ########################################
 # Pre-build events: Define configuration variables and write SCM info header
 #
diff --git a/Source/Core/AudioCommon/AudioStretcher.h b/Source/Core/AudioCommon/AudioStretcher.h
index 4f62733850..d83f852b7f 100644
--- a/Source/Core/AudioCommon/AudioStretcher.h
+++ b/Source/Core/AudioCommon/AudioStretcher.h
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <array>
 
-#include <soundtouch/SoundTouch.h>
+#include <SoundTouch.h>
 
 namespace AudioCommon
 {
diff --git a/Source/Core/AudioCommon/OpenALStream.h b/Source/Core/AudioCommon/OpenALStream.h
index 61fbf5c092..ab83fb892e 100644
--- a/Source/Core/AudioCommon/OpenALStream.h
+++ b/Source/Core/AudioCommon/OpenALStream.h
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 #include "Core/HW/SystemTimers.h"
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
-#include <OpenAL/include/al.h>
-#include <OpenAL/include/alc.h>
-#include <OpenAL/include/alext.h>
+#include <al.h>
+#include <alc.h>
+#include <alext.h>
 
 // OpenAL requires a minimum of two buffers, three or more recommended
 #define OAL_BUFFERS 3
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Common.vcxproj b/Source/Core/Common/Common.vcxproj
index db8f850615..2f05fd2999 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Common.vcxproj
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Common.vcxproj
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@
     <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)libpng\png\png.vcxproj">
       <Project>{4c9f135b-a85e-430c-bad4-4c67ef5fc12c}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\curl\curl.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)curl\curl.vcxproj">
       <Project>{bb00605c-125f-4a21-b33b-7bf418322dcb}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
     <ProjectReference Include="SCMRevGen.vcxproj">
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/MinizipUtil.h b/Source/Core/Common/MinizipUtil.h
index 8d8bc7d692..13589dd1b3 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/MinizipUtil.h
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/MinizipUtil.h
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <algorithm>
 
-#include <minizip/unzip.h>
+#include <unzip.h>
 
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
 #include "Common/ScopeGuard.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/DiscIO/VolumeVerifier.cpp b/Source/Core/DiscIO/VolumeVerifier.cpp
index 18e86481b2..6a620131fb 100644
--- a/Source/Core/DiscIO/VolumeVerifier.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/DiscIO/VolumeVerifier.cpp
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 
 #include <mbedtls/md5.h>
 #include <mbedtls/sha1.h>
-#include <minizip/unzip.h>
 #include <pugixml.hpp>
+#include <unzip.h>
 #include <zlib.h>
 
 #include "Common/Align.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DiscordJoinRequestDialog.cpp b/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DiscordJoinRequestDialog.cpp
index a49b341cba..1372488506 100644
--- a/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DiscordJoinRequestDialog.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/DolphinQt/DiscordJoinRequestDialog.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #include <QPixmap>
 #include <QPushButton>
 
-#include <discord-rpc/include/discord_rpc.h>
+#include <discord_rpc.h>
 
 #include "Common/HttpRequest.h"
 #include "Common/StringUtil.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/UICommon/AutoUpdate.cpp b/Source/Core/UICommon/AutoUpdate.cpp
index b7c26fb707..9d4fffbe02 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UICommon/AutoUpdate.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/UICommon/AutoUpdate.cpp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "UICommon/AutoUpdate.h"
 
-#include <picojson/picojson.h>
+#include <picojson.h>
 #include <string>
 
 #include "Common/CommonPaths.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/UICommon/DiscordPresence.cpp b/Source/Core/UICommon/DiscordPresence.cpp
index 068b7994bd..c1aab0720b 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UICommon/DiscordPresence.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/UICommon/DiscordPresence.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
 
-#include <discord-rpc/include/discord_rpc.h>
+#include <discord_rpc.h>
 #include <fmt/format.h>
 
 #include "Common/Hash.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/UICommon/NetPlayIndex.cpp b/Source/Core/UICommon/NetPlayIndex.cpp
index 476a43eabc..0edf223acc 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UICommon/NetPlayIndex.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/UICommon/NetPlayIndex.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #include <numeric>
 #include <string>
 
-#include <picojson/picojson.h>
+#include <picojson.h>
 
 #include "Common/Common.h"
 #include "Common/HttpRequest.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/Manifest.cpp b/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/Manifest.cpp
index 9c2bc6883e..b99372a137 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/Manifest.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/Manifest.cpp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "UICommon/ResourcePack/Manifest.h"
 
-#include <picojson/picojson.h>
+#include <picojson.h>
 
 namespace ResourcePack
 {
diff --git a/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/ResourcePack.cpp b/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/ResourcePack.cpp
index f03a7d58a0..75f178a840 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/ResourcePack.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/UICommon/ResourcePack/ResourcePack.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <algorithm>
 
-#include <minizip/unzip.h>
+#include <unzip.h>
 
 #include "Common/CommonPaths.h"
 #include "Common/FileSearch.h"
diff --git a/Source/Core/UICommon/UICommon.vcxproj b/Source/Core/UICommon/UICommon.vcxproj
index 9feb25db4e..e39a6c24df 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UICommon/UICommon.vcxproj
+++ b/Source/Core/UICommon/UICommon.vcxproj
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
     <ProjectReference Include="$(CoreDir)Core\Core.vcxproj">
       <Project>{E54CF649-140E-4255-81A5-30A673C1FB36}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\picojson\picojson.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)picojson\picojson.vcxproj">
       <Project>{2c0d058e-de35-4471-ad99-e68a2caf9e18}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
     <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)discord-rpc\src\discord-rpc.vcxproj">
diff --git a/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.cpp b/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.cpp
index 89a963609c..dc7318827a 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #include <optional>
 
 #include <OptionParser.h>
-#include <ed25519/ed25519.h>
+#include <ed25519.h>
 #include <mbedtls/base64.h>
 #include <mbedtls/sha256.h>
 #include <zlib.h>
diff --git a/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.vcxproj b/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.vcxproj
index c9cbb526a7..f968ef20a5 100644
--- a/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.vcxproj
+++ b/Source/Core/UpdaterCommon/UpdaterCommon.vcxproj
@@ -48,22 +48,22 @@
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" />
   <PropertyGroup />
   <ItemGroup>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\Common\Common.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(CoreDir)Common\Common.vcxproj">
       <Project>{2e6c348c-c75c-4d94-8d1e-9c1fcbf3efe4}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\curl\curl.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)curl\curl.vcxproj">
       <Project>{bb00605c-125f-4a21-b33b-7bf418322dcb}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\externals\ed25519\ed25519.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)ed25519\ed25519.vcxproj">
       <Project>{5bdf4b91-1491-4fb0-bc27-78e9a8e97dc3}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\mbedtls\mbedTLS.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)mbedtls\mbedTLS.vcxproj">
       <Project>{bdb6578b-0691-4e80-a46c-df21639fd3b8}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\zlib\zlib.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)zlib\zlib.vcxproj">
       <Project>{ff213b23-2c26-4214-9f88-85271e557e87}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\cpp-optparse\cpp-optparse.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)cpp-optparse\cpp-optparse.vcxproj">
       <Project>{c636d9d1-82fe-42b5-9987-63b7d4836341}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
   </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoBackends/Vulkan/Vulkan.vcxproj b/Source/Core/VideoBackends/Vulkan/Vulkan.vcxproj
index d1a7e520f0..807e2aee31 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoBackends/Vulkan/Vulkan.vcxproj
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoBackends/Vulkan/Vulkan.vcxproj
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
     <ProjectReference Include="$(CoreDir)VideoCommon\VideoCommon.vcxproj">
       <Project>{3de9ee35-3e91-4f27-a014-2866ad8c3fe3}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\..\Externals\glslang\glslang.vcxproj">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)glslang\glslang.vcxproj">
       <Project>{d178061b-84d3-44f9-beed-efd18d9033f0}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
   </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VideoCommon.vcxproj b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VideoCommon.vcxproj
index 668dbc34ec..dec1ffb34b 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VideoCommon.vcxproj
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VideoCommon.vcxproj
@@ -198,6 +198,9 @@
     <Text Include="CMakeLists.txt" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)imgui\imgui.vcxproj">
+      <Project>{4c3b2264-ea73-4a7b-9cfe-65b0fd635ebb}</Project>
+    </ProjectReference>
     <ProjectReference Include="$(ExternalsDir)libpng\png\png.vcxproj">
       <Project>{4c9f135b-a85e-430c-bad4-4c67ef5fc12c}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
@@ -210,9 +213,6 @@
     <ProjectReference Include="$(CoreDir)Common\Common.vcxproj">
       <Project>{2e6c348c-c75c-4d94-8d1e-9c1fcbf3efe4}</Project>
     </ProjectReference>
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\Externals\imgui\imgui.vcxproj">
-      <Project>{4c3b2264-ea73-4a7b-9cfe-65b0fd635ebb}</Project>
-    </ProjectReference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
diff --git a/Source/VSProps/Base.props b/Source/VSProps/Base.props
index 5d6fcb094d..adea16d6f3 100644
--- a/Source/VSProps/Base.props
+++ b/Source/VSProps/Base.props
@@ -33,13 +33,14 @@
         Note: Directory containing source file being compiled is always searched first.
       -->
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(CoreDir);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)Bochs_disasm;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)bzip2;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)cpp-optparse;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)FreeSurround\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)cubeb\include;$(ExternalsDir)cubeb\msvc;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)curl\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)discord-rpc\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)ed25519;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)enet\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)ffmpeg\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)fmt\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
@@ -51,9 +52,13 @@
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)libusb\libusb;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)LZO;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)miniupnpc\src;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)minizip;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)mbedtls\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)OpenAL\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)picojson;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)pugixml;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)SFML\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)soundtouch;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)Vulkan\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)WIL\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(ExternalsDir)xxhash;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
diff --git a/Source/VSProps/QtCompile.props b/Source/VSProps/QtCompile.props
index 2b819aab62..e137e5adf8 100644
--- a/Source/VSProps/QtCompile.props
+++ b/Source/VSProps/QtCompile.props
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
         in order to prevent the trailing slash from escaping the doublequote after value replacement.
         -->
     <MocIncludes>"-I$(QtIncludeDir)QtWidgets" "-I$(QtIncludeDir)QtGui" "-I$(QtIncludeDir)QtCore" "-I$(QtIncludeDir) " "-I$(QtToolOutDir) " -I.</MocIncludes>
-    <MocIncludes>"-I$(ExternalsDir)xxhash" "-I$(ExternalsDir)zlib" "-I$(ExternalsDir)SFML\include" "-I$(ExternalsDir)mbedtls\include" "-I$(ExternalsDir)miniupnpc\src" "-I$(ExternalsDir)LZO" "-I$(ExternalsDir)libusbx\libusb" "-I$(ExternalsDir)libpng" "-I$(ExternalsDir)GL" "-I$(ExternalsDir)Bochs_disasm" "-I$(ExternalsDir) " "-I$(CoreDir) " $(MocIncludes)</MocIncludes>
+    <MocIncludes>"-I$(ExternalsDir)xxhash" "-I$(ExternalsDir)zlib" "-I$(ExternalsDir)SFML\include" "-I$(ExternalsDir)mbedtls\include" "-I$(ExternalsDir)miniupnpc\src" "-I$(ExternalsDir)LZO" "-I$(ExternalsDir)libusbx\libusb" "-I$(ExternalsDir)libpng" "-I$(ExternalsDir)GL" "-I$(ExternalsDir)Bochs_disasm" "-I$(CoreDir) " $(MocIncludes)</MocIncludes>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <Target Name="QtMoc"
     BeforeTargets="ClCompile"