Is it possible to install different versions or editions of Visual Studio 2022 on the same machine?

Question

I have visual studio 2022 community version 17.7.6. I would like to keep this setup and have another instance of visual studio 2022 community with a higher version on the same machine. Is that possible?

Would i need to get another edition (Professional or Enterprise) to do this? Would it share the same files as the existing community version if i installed it on the same machine?

My goal is to have two IDEs on the same machine that are completely separate and do not share or override eachother files.

What is the best option?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hello @Lpatz-4663,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

It’s possible if you try to install the second VS by using command line with argument --installPath.

As you can see, in the above screenshot, I can even install two identical versions(17.9.4) of VS 2022 Community.

The steps are

1.Have a previous version of VS 2022 Community installed on your machine, for your scenario, you have 17.7.6.

2.Download a new bootstrapper of VS 2022 Community from here: Downloads.

3.Open CMD(Press Win+R, type and run cmd), use the command line to install the second VS 2022 Community, and pick a different installation location. For example, "C:\VisualStudioSetup.exe" --installPath C:\VSCom2.

Would I need to get another edition (Professional or Enterprise) to do this?

No need, but of course you can install other versions of Visual Studio side-by-side on the same machine.

Would it share the same files as the existing community version of I installed it on the same machine?

Some files/framework/components are shared, some files/components are not shared. Normally, different versions of VS are installed in different folders. For example, for VS 2022 Community => C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community, for VS 2022 Professional => C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional.

My goal is to have two IDEs on the same machine that are completely separate and do not share or override each other files.

"Completely separate", it’s hard to say. As you know, VS needs some features from .NET Framework/.NET or Windows OS(so VS cannot be completely installed on other drive), and for packages cache(C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages), they are usually saved(shared) in the same folder. I don’t think "completely separate" is possible.

What is the best option?

Perhaps you can consider trying to use (remote)virtual machines or install VS on two different machines.

Have a great day.

Kind Regards,

Tianyu

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Answer 2

visual studio 2022 community with a higher version on the same machine. Is that possible?

No, that is not possible: One machine = one version of Visual Studio.