Install Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise

Visual Studio comes from Microsoft as a small installer that downloads the rest during setup. Lizensa delivers the product key only, also for licences with a fixed term. After installation, Visual Studio runs as a trial until it is unlocked with a product key or a Visual Studio subscription. This guide covers installation. Entering the key has its own guide: Activate Visual Studio with your product key.

What you received

Your order confirmation email contains your product key, shown here as XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. You also find it in your Lizensa account under My Library. There is no installer in your order: Visual Studio is delivered as a licence key only.

This guide applies to Professional and Enterprise in three versions:

• Visual Studio 2026: Professional, Enterprise
• Visual Studio 2022: Professional, Enterprise
• Visual Studio 2019: Professional, Enterprise

Licences for a fixed term of 12, 24 or 36 months, such as Visual Studio 2026 Professional for 12 months, install the same way.

Install the version and edition named in your order, for example Visual Studio Professional 2022 for a Professional 2022 order.

Get the software

Visual Studio 2026. Open visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads. Select the download for Professional or Enterprise. Your browser saves a small file named VisualStudioSetup.exe.

Visual Studio 2022. Open Microsoft's Visual Studio 2022 release history. Under the bootstrappers, select Professional or Enterprise for the latest release. Microsoft supports version 17.14 until January 2032.

Visual Studio 2019. Open the Visual Studio 2019 release history and select Professional or Enterprise for the newest 16.11 release. The file is named vs_professional.exe or vs_enterprise.exe.

Microsoft also has an older-downloads page, but it asks you to sign in with an active Visual Studio subscription. The release history pages above do not.

Before you start

• Windows: all three versions support Windows 11 and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025. Visual Studio 2022 and 2019 also support Windows Server 2016.
• Hardware for 2026 and 2022: a 64-bit x64 or ARM64 processor, quad-core recommended. At least 4 GB of RAM; Microsoft recommends 16 GB. Visual Studio 2019 does not run on ARM.
• Disk space: a typical installation needs 20 to 50 GB free. Microsoft recommends a solid-state drive.
• Permissions: the person who runs the first installation needs administrator rights on the PC.
• Updates: install the latest Windows updates and restart the PC before you begin.

You can install several Visual Studio versions side by side, for example 2022 next to 2026.

Install

1. Open your Downloads folder and double-click the installer file.
2. Windows asks whether the app may make changes to your device. Select Yes.
3. Microsoft shows the licence terms and privacy statement. Select Continue. The Visual Studio Installer downloads and opens.
4. Visual Studio 2026 may ask how to configure the installation. Choose Manually choose workloads and components for a fresh start. If Visual Studio 2022 or later is already installed, you can migrate its configuration instead.
5. On the Workloads tab, select what you develop, for example ASP.NET and web development. The summary next to each workload tells you what it contains.
6. Optional: on Individual components, add single tools. On Language packs, choose the language of the Visual Studio interface.
7. Optional: on Installation locations, move the program or the download cache to another drive. You can change these drives only during the first installation.
8. Select Install. The installer shows its progress while it downloads and installs. Keep the PC online until it finishes.
9. When it finishes, select Launch.

You can add or remove workloads later. In Visual Studio, select Tools > Get Tools and Features, or open the Visual Studio Installer from the Start menu and select Modify.

Activate

After installation, Professional and Enterprise run as a 30-day trial. Signing in with a Microsoft account extends the trial once to 90 days. Holders of a Visual Studio subscription unlock it by signing in with the account the subscription is assigned to. With the key from your order, you unlock it like this:

1. In Visual Studio, select File > Account Settings.
2. Select License with a Product Key. Microsoft's documentation also calls this link Unlock with a Product Key.
3. In the Enter a product key dialog, enter your key and confirm.

For Visual Studio 2026, Microsoft describes sign-in for subscribers and says that 2026 keys may be available through Volume Licensing for offline or managed deployments. If Visual Studio 2026 does not accept your key, contact our support. Details, the licence check and error messages are in Activate Visual Studio with your product key.

Check it worked

1. Open the Visual Studio Installer from the Start menu and select Modify for your installation. The selected workloads are the ones installed. Close the installer without changes.
2. Start Visual Studio and open File > Account Settings. The licence information on the right shows the edition and whether you are on the trial or licensed.

If the installed edition is not the one in your order, open the Visual Studio Installer, uninstall that edition and install the correct one.

If something goes wrong

The installer stops with an error. Check Microsoft's known-issues list for your version first. Then open the Visual Studio Installer, select More next to your installation and select Repair.

An update keeps failing. Close the Visual Studio Installer. Delete the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer. Run the installer file from your Downloads folder again. This resets the installer without touching your projects.

You need to send the installation logs. Collect the setup logs with Microsoft's log collection tool first. Then select Report a problem in the Visual Studio Installer. For Visual Studio 2022 and later, the latest Visual Studio Installer log is attached automatically. For Visual Studio 2019, attach the file the tool creates, usually %TEMP%\vslogs.zip.

The download page wants a Visual Studio subscription. That is the older-downloads page. Use the release history page for your version instead, as shown above.

The installer says your Windows version is not supported. Compare your Windows with the list above. Windows 10 is not on Microsoft's current supported list for these versions, and Visual Studio 2026 does not support Windows in S mode.

Setup ran, but the edition is wrong. A Professional installer installs Professional. Download the installer for the edition in your order and install that edition.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number, the Visual Studio version and the exact message you see.